Matchup: Oakland University 10-10, 5-4 Summit; North Dakota State 11-9, 5-4.
Tip-off: 7, Oakland Activities Center, Rochester.
Webstream:
www.ougrizzlies.com. Overview: Oakland ended a three-game losing streak with an 85-71 win at Western Illinois on Saturday. Derick Nelson (17.6 points per game) and Johnathon Jones (14.7 ppg) lead the Golden Grizzlies, who won at North Dakota State, 73-71, on Jan. 5. The Bison will look to pound the ball inside to Brett Winkleman (19.7 points, 7.8 rebounds).
At Cedar City, the Southern Utah University women's basketball posted its first two-game winning streak of the season with a victory over the Ladies of Centenary on Monday night.
With back-to-back home court victories, the Thunderbirds improved to 5-15 on the season and 3-6 in conference play. Centenary falls to 3-16 and remains winless in the conference with an 0-9 mark.
Southern Utah used a blistering pace throughout the game, building 12-0 advantage in fast break points and shooting a near perfect 5-of-6 from behind the 3-point line in the first-half to build a quick lead and stay ahead early in the game.
"We thought tonight that our bigs would be able to out run their bigs," head coach Steve Hodson said of the quicker tempo. "We knew that this was their fourth game on the road and they might be physically tired so we tried to use that to our advantage."
The strategy paid off as Southern Utah built its first double-digit lead of the game of 11 (17-6) eight minutes into the contest. Centenary chipped the lead down to single digits only once during the half (23-14), but Aubrey Mackintosh kept the visitors at bay, shooting a perfect 5-of-5 from the field, including two long balls. Freshman Caitlyn Sears also benefited from the quicker tempo with 11 points at the break.
It was Sears' shot at the buzzer of the first half that put the Thunderbirds up by their largest margin of 14 (37-23) going into the intermission.
"It is really fun when you can out run and physically out play an opponent," Sears said after the game. "We did a great job of running as a team and it just got us even more pumped up to play."
The Thunderbirds did not relent from the quickness of the game following the time in the locker rooms, building a lead of 19 (47-28) four minutes into the second half. Centenary then countered with its biggest run of game of 11-4 capped by a Sarah Wieler jumper at the 10:25 mark. However, it was the closest the opposition came as Southern Utah answered with a 10-2 run late in the half on an Erin Heuett bucket to extend the lead to 66-46 with two minutes remaining.
CC's Bethany Joseph hit her game-high fifth 3-point bucket seconds later to cut the lead to 17, but a free throw by Sears closed out the game at 67-49 when the final whistle blew.
SUU freshman Caitlin Sears led all scorers with a career-high 16 points, followed by Aubrey Mackintosh with 14 and Anne Westwood with a double-double night of 13 points and 11 rebounds. Freshman point guard Kaila Goff contributed eight assists.
Bethany Joseph led Centenary with 15 points on five 3-point baskets, followed by Anne Farrell with 13 points and a team-high nine rebounds.
Southern Utah will look to keep its winning streak alive and put to bed its road woes when the Thunderbirds travel to Western Illinois on Saturday to face the league-leading Westerwinds. Tip-off for the game is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. (Central Time) and will be broadcast live on Power 91 (91.1 FM). SUU will continue its road swing the following Monday when the team travels to IUPUI.
The perception was supposed to change this season with the addition of former West Virginia coach John Beilein. It hasn't. Michigan lost to Harvard, coached by the above-mentioned Amaker, and was schooled by those pesky Central Michigan Chippewas. When the Wolverines did beat Oakland University, there were more than a few people who viewed it as an upset.
UMKC 76, Centenary 73: At Kansas City, Mo., Dane Brumagin scored 29 points as the Kangaroos edged the Gents.
The Kangaroos (8-14, 3-6) won for the fifth consecutive time in Kansas City against the Gents (9-12, 3-6), but it was not easy.
UMKC took a 74-73 advantage on a 3-point shot by Tim Blackwell with 2:08 left in the game. Both teams traded possessions without points until Centerary had the ball with 19.4 seconds left in the game.
Centenary's Justin Glenn tipped in a missed shot, but was called for a foul that nullified the basket. The Kangaroos' Reggie Hamilton then connected on both free throws with 9 seconds left in the game.
Lance Hill paced the Gents with 22 points. Nick Stallings had 18 and Tyrone Hamilton 12.
Matchup: Oakland University 9-10, 4-4 Summit League; Western Illinois 9-10, 4-4.
Tip-off: 8, Western Hall, Macomb, Ill.
Radio: WDTW-AM (1310).
Overview: Junior guard Erik Kangas hit six three-pointers among his 20 points Thursday night, but that wasn't enough for the Golden Grizzlies to avoid a third straight loss, 82-69, to IUPUI. Senior guard David Jackson leads Western Illinois in scoring, averaging 13.5 points. He also averages 4.5 rebounds.
u Series/Last meeting: OU leads 15-4; Oakland won 74-57 on March 3, 2007.
u Radio: WJEQ-FM (102.7)
u Outlook: This is second of four straight home games for the Leathernecks. In its last four games in Macomb, WIU is 4-0 and winning by an average of almost 21 points. The winner could take sole possession of third-place in the Summit League. OU is 7-2 at Western Hall, including winning six consecutive games there, last losing in 2001.
CENTENARY: The Ladies (3-14, 0-7 Summit League) will try to snap a five-game losing streak today against Missouri-Kansas City (8-10. 1-6), another struggling team, in Kansas City, Mo. Tip off is 4 p.m.
Centenary has dropped 16 straight games away from the Gold Dome and it has never won a Summit League (0-32) game on the road. UMKC is on a two-game losing streak.
NOTICE: Since I'm a Valpo Fan and Valpo is moving on to the Horizon League next season, I'm looking for some fan of one of the remaining (or new) Summit schools to take over this blog. If you are interested, email me.
I'm a retired Software Engineer with Boeing, a supply preacher with the Central States Synod of the ELCA, a White Sox fan (first), a Cardinals fan (second), and a Valparaiso University Basketball fan.
