The Oakland Golden Grizzlies believe they have the team that can unseat the Valparaiso Crusaders as the class of the Horizon League. Valpo has won the regular season conference championship in each of the past two years and has beaten Oakland three consecutive times. But the Grizzlies are poised for a run this year with perhaps the strongest team assembled in some time. They own the league’s best record, but need to knock off the defending champs to prove they have arrived.
At 9 p.m. ET, tune into ESPN2 for live television coverage of this NCAA basketball game on Friday, January 6, 2017, at the Valpo Athletics and Recreation Center.
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Oakland has played only three true road games this season and they will enter the lion’s den on Friday with a visit to Valparaiso. The non-conference slate wasn’t the most difficult and the Grizzlies were able to post a 10-3 record with losses to Michigan State and a good Nevada team. Oakland has one of the better defensive teams in the league and the Grizzlies limit opponents to slightly better than 39 percent shooting. That has translated into the Griz going 8-2-1 on the under for the year and playing below the score total in the first two league games.
With two of their three losses coming on the road to Oregon and Kentucky, the Crusaders have set themselves up pretty well for another run to the league title. Only this season, they’d like to avoid an upset in the conference tournament which cost them an NCAA Tournament berth. That’s still a few months away, but it serves as motivation for the players who were stunned by the proceedings a season ago. Valpo has won seven of eight home games this season and the Crusaders are 35-3 on their home court since the 2014-15 season.
Player to Watch
Valpo’s Alec Peters was named the Horizon League preseason player of the year and he did nearly everything during the non-conference slate to warrant that honor. The versatile 6-foot-9 post player is the second leading scorer in the country with 25 points per game and he averages a double-double with his 10.4 rebounds per contest. Peters is surrounded by a talented group of starters – at least by Horizon League standards – but he’s the engine that makes the Crusaders go.
He entered his senior season with a new head coach and a new attitude. He was going to be the guy to put his team on his back and take them to glory. And he did with the blessing of first-year coach Matt Lottich. Lottich doesn’t have a deep bench and he relies on Peters for a bulk of the team’s offense. He’s given Peters free reign on the court and his shots per game have increased by nearly six over last season.
Key Stat
Thanks to a deep bench and diverse offense, the Golden Grizzlies are feeling pretty good about their chances heading into Valpo. Oakland has the weapons to play several different styles, but the Grizzlies prefer the up-tempo game that has produced the highest scoring team in the Horizon League. Nine players average better than 10 minutes per game and seven of those are scoring at least 5.5 points per outing. It’s the type of roster Greg Kampe feels can do some damage in the conference.
The Grizzlies can go big with a pair of 6-8 bookend forwards in Isaiah Brock and Xavier Hill-Mais. They can push the pace behind Stevie Clark at the point. But the success of the team depends on the play of Martez Walker, Jalen Hayes and Sherron Dorsey-Walker. The three combine to score better than half the team’s points and give the Grizzlies a potent inside-outside attack.
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Valpo remains the team to beat in the Horizon League, but the Golden Grizzlies are on the cusp of something big. Oakland had a nice returning group of players but lacked an experienced point guard to run the show. They added JUCO transfer Clark and he’s fit in nicely running the show. It will be a chore for the Grizzlies to win at Valpo, but they have the depth and can conform to anything the Crusaders throw at them.
Peters is the best player in the conference and Shane Hammink plays a respectable second fiddle. But production falls after those two and the rotation is thin. The one area where Valpo holds an edge is in free throw shooting. The Crusaders shoot nearly 80 percent from the stripe as a team and that will come in handy in what is sure to be a close game.
College Basketball Odds: Valparaiso 74, Oakland 69
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