The Oakland University Golden Grizzlies face the Kentucky Wildcats in the first round of the 2024 NCAA Tournament.
(CBS DETROIT) - The Oakland University Golden Grizzlies men's basketball team embarks on its fourth NCAA Tournament appearance on Thursday when it faces the Kentucky Wildcats in a first-round matchup in the South region.
The Horizon League regular season and tournament champion Golden Grizzlies (23-11) earned the No. 14 seed and will face the No. 3 seed Wildcats (23-9) in Pittsburgh.
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Kentucky is the all-time winningest NCAA Division I men's basketball program and is making its record 61st NCAA Tournament appearance.
Oakland coach Greg Kampe is in his 40th year as a head coach—all with the Golden Grizzlies—and is Division I's longest active-tenure head coach. Kampe is two wins shy of reaching win No. 700, with an overall record of 698-536.
"I didn't expect Kentucky. But, you know, I'm fine. I think this team is built for this," said Kampe. "The way this team has brought our fanbase back the way it used to be, and if you were here those last couple of games, you saw that it was like the old days. Hopefully, they'll (the fans) all come to Pittsburgh, and we'll have a chance to show Kentucky nation that we're pretty good, too."
The winner of Thursday's game will face either No. 6 seed Texas Tech (23-10) or No. 11 seed North Carolina State (22-14) in the second round on Saturday, March 23.
Tip-off for Thursday's first-round game from Pittsburgh is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. ET.
You can watch Thursday's game at 7:10 p.m. ET on CBS and streaming on Paramount+.
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FanDuel Sportsbook projects Kentucky as a 13.5-point favorite. The over/under is set at 163.5.
This is the first meeting between Oakland and Kentucky. The Wildcats are 12-0 all-time against Horizon League teams.
Oakland is making its fourth NCAA Tournament appearance and first since back-to-back appearances in 2010 and 2011. It marks Oakland's first NCAA Tournament appearance as a member of the Horizon League. Oakland's prior appearances came as members of the Summit League.
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Oakland's first NCAA Tournament bid was in 2005. The Golden Grizzlies earned a No. 16 seed as the Summit League (then Mid-Continent Conference) tournament champions that year. They picked up an opening-round win over Alabama A&M before falling to eventual national champion North Carolina in the first round.
The Golden Grizzlies hold a 1-3 overall record in the NCAA Tournament, with first-round losses to Pittsburgh and Texas in 2010 and 2011, respectively.
Kentucky's Antonio Reeves leads all players, averaging 20 points per game. He is one of five Wildcats to average double figures in scoring.
Fresh off a career-high 38 points against Milwaukee in the conference tournament final, Horizon League Player of the Year Trey Townsend paces the Grizzlies with 16.6 points per game. He's one of four Oakland players averaging double figures.
