2010–11 Oakland Golden Grizzlies men's basketball team
# 2010–11 Oakland Golden Grizzlies men's basketball team

The 2010–11 Oakland Golden Grizzlies men's basketball team were a National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I college basketball team representing Oakland University. OU won the conference regular season and conference tournament title for the second consecutive year. Oakland received The Summit League's automatic berth into the 2011 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament as a #13 seed against #4 seeded Texas. The Golden Grizzlies lost the game 85–81.

## Preseason

Oakland was picked to win The Summit League championship. They received 29 of 34 first place votes. Center Keith Benson was picked as the Preseason Conference Player of the Year and named to the All-League First Team. Guard Larry Wright was named to the Second Team.

Joining the team for the 2010–11 season were guards Reggie Hamilton and Travis Bader. Hamilton was eligible to play after sitting out the 2009–10 season. Hamilton had transferred from fellow conference team UMKC. Freshman Bader began playing after his redshirt season. Also seeing significant minutes was freshman guard Ryan Bass.

## Regular season

Oakland was the first Division I school to clinch the conference championship. Oakland finished the season with a 34–2 record in their last 36 conference games spanning two seasons, which was the best in NCAA Division I.

### Records

Oakland set The Summit League's record for most consecutive regular season conference wins with 17. The 2009–10 Oakland team tied the same record last year, which was originally set by Cleveland State during 1991–92 and 1992–93 seasons. Oakland won three more games before losing to IUPUI to set the record at 20 consecutive regular season conference wins.

Benson set The Summit League record for career blocked shots with 371. He passed the mark of 317 set by Keith Closs of Central Connecticut State University from 1994–98.

### Player of the Week

Benson won the conference's player of the week away three times this season (November 29, December 20 and January 24). Point guard Reggie Hamilton won the award twice (January 18 and February 14).

### All-league awards

Benson was named the conference's Player of the Year and coach Greg Kampe was named Coach of the Year. Both won the awards for the second consecutive season.

Benson and junior guard Reggie Hamilton were named to the All-League First Team. Senior forward Will Hudson was selected for the Second Team, freshman guard Bader was named to the All-Newcomer Team and senior guard Larry Wright was named the Sixth Man of the Year. Benson was also named The Summit League's Defensive Player of the Year.

### Roster

| No. | Name | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown (Previous school) |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 52 | Joey Asbury | F | 6'7" | 200 | Fr. | Warren, MI (Mott) |
| 3 | Travis Bader | G | 6'4" | 180 | R-Fr. | Okemos, MI (Okemos) |
| 33 | Ryan Bass | G | 5'10" | 160 | Fr. | Dayton, OH (Dunbar) |
| 34 | Keith Benson | C | 6'11" | 230 | R-Sr. | Farmington Hills, MI (Country Day) |
| 22 | Blake Cushingberry * | G | 6'3" | 249 | Jr. | Romeo, MI (Romeo) |
| 12 | Ledrick Eackles | G | 6'2" | 196 | So. | Zachary, LA (Hargrave Military Academy (VA)) |
| 23 | Reggie Hamilton | G | 5'11" | 175 | R-Jr. | Chicago, IL (UMKC) |
| 11 | Jordan Howenstine | G | 6'1" | 155 | So. | Lansing, MI (Sexton) |
| 4 | Will Hudson | F | 6'9" | 235 | Sr. | Madison, WI (Middleton) |
| 13 | Laval Lucas-Perry ** | G | 6'2" | 200 | R-Jr. | Flint, MI (Michigan) |
| 50 | Ilija Milutinovic | C | 7'0" | 252 | Jr. | Niš, Serbia (Milestone Christian Academy (MO)) |
| 42 | Corey Petros * | C/F | 6'9" | 243 | Fr. | Sterling Heights, MI (Eisenhower) |
| 40 | Kyle Sikora * | C | 7'0" | 231 | Fr. | Key Largo, FL (Florida Christian) |
| 15 | Drew Valentine | F | 6'5" | 225 | So. | Lansing, MI (Sexton) |
| 2 | Larry Wright | G | 6'2" | 165 | R-Sr. | Saginaw, MI (St. John's) |

* Redshirting 2010–11 season ** Sitting out 2010–11 season due to transfer rules

### Schedule

| Date time, TV | $Rank^#$ | $Opponent^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| November 12, 2010* 9:00pm, ESPN Full Court | | at West Virginia | L 71–95 | 0–1 | WVU Coliseum (12,707) Morgantown, WV |
| November 15, 2010* 7:00pm | | at Ohio | W 78–66 | 1–1 | Convocation Center (5,084) Athens, OH |
| November 21, 2010* 7:00pm, Big Ten Network | | at No. 14 Purdue Chicago Invitational Challenge | L 67-82 | 1–2 | Mackey Arena (14,123) West Lafayette, IN |
| November 23, 2010* 7:00pm | | at Wright State Chicago Invitational Challenge | L 79-82 | 1–3 | Nutter Center (3,327) Dayton, OH |
| November 26, 2010* 3:30pm | | vs. Southern Chicago Invitational Challenge | W 105–53 | 2–3 | Sears Centre Hoffman Estates, IL |
| November 27, 2010* 2:30pm | | vs. Austin Peay Chicago Invitational Challenge | W 78–70 $^{OT}$ | 3–3 | Sears Centre (N/A) Hoffman Estates, IL |
| December 2, 2010 7:00pm | | Southern Utah | W 81–65 | 4–3 (1–0) | Athletics Center O'rena (2.015) Rochester, MI |
| December 4, 2010 6:00pm | | UMKC | W 99–62 | 5–3 (2–0) | Athletics Center O'rena (2,505) Rochester, MI |
| December 8, 2010* 8:00pm | | at No. 16 Illinois | L 63-74 | 5–4 | Assembly Hall (15,256) Champaign, IL |
| December 11, 2010* 12:30pm, Fox Sports Detroit | | vs. No. 7 Michigan State | L 76-77 | 5–5 | The Palace of Auburn Hills (17,115) Auburn Hills, MI |
| December 14, 2010* 7:00pm, ESPNU | | at No. 7 Tennessee | W 89–82 | 6–5 | Thompson–Boling Arena (16,784) Knoxville, TN |
| December 18, 2010* 12:00pm, ESPN Full Court | | at Michigan | L 51–69 | 6–6 | Crisler Arena (9,738) Ann Arbor, MI |
| December 20, 2010* 7:30pm | | Rochester Lou Henson Award Tournament | W 103–79 | 7–6 | Athletics Center O'rena (2,435) Rochester, MI |
| December 21, 2010* 7:30pm | | Valparaiso Lou Henson Award Tournament | L 102-103 | 7–7 | Athletics Center O'rena (2,175) Rochester, MI |
| December 23, 2010* 8:00pm, Big Ten Network | | at No. 2 Ohio State | L 63-92 | 7–8 | Value City Arena (13,459) Columbus, OH |
| December 28, 2010 8:00pm | | at Centenary | W 98–71 | 8–8 (3–0) | Gold Dome (661) Shreveport, LA |
| December 30, 2010 8:00pm, Fox College Sports | | at Oral Roberts | W 85–77 | 9–8 (4–0) | Mabee Center (3,035) Tulsa, OK |
| January 6, 2011 7:30pm, Fox Sports Detroit | | IUPUI | W 85–71 | 10–8 (5–0) | Athletics Center O'rena (2,615) Rochester, MI |
| January 8, 2011 6:00pm | | Western Illinois | W 79–50 | 11–8 (6–0) | Athletics Center O'rena (3,805) Rochester, MI |
| January 15, 2011 7:00pm | | at IPFW | W 86–68 | 12–8 (7–0) | Memorial Coliseum (2,969) Fort Wayne, IN |
| January 20, 2011 8:00pm | | at South Dakota State | W 97–88 | 13–8 (8–0) | Frost Arena (3,241) Brookings, SD |
| January 22, 2011 8:30pm | | at North Dakota State | W 83–76 | 14–8 (9–0) | Bison Sports Arena (3,761) Fargo, ND |
| January 27, 2011 7:00pm | | Oral Roberts | W 88–85 | 15–8 (10–0) | Athletics Center O'rena (2,615) Rochester, MI |
| January 29, 2011 6:00pm | | Centenary | W 100–70 | 16–8 (11–0) | Athletics Center O'rena (3,675) Rochester, MI |
| February 3, 2011 8:00pm | | at Western Illinois | W 88–65 | 17–8 (12–0) | Western Hall (497) Macomb, IL |
| February 5, 2011 7:00pm | | vs. IUPUI | L 88-100 | 17–9 (12–1) | Conseco Fieldhouse (2,244) Indianapolis, IN |
| February 12, 2011 12:00pm, Fox Sports Detroit | | IPFW | W 86–78 | 18–9 (13–1) | Athletics Center O'rena (2,805) Rochester, MI |
| February 17, 2011 7:00pm | | North Dakota State | W 71–69 | 19–9 (14–1) | Athletics Center O'rena (2,865) Rochester, MI |
| February 19, 2011 6:00pm | | South Dakota State | W 105–96 | 20–9 (15–1) | Athletics Center O'rena (3,934) Rochester, MI |
| February 24, 2011 8:05pm | | at UMKC | W 103–90 | 21–9 (16–1) | Swinney Recreation Center (1,159) Kansas City, MO |
| February 26, 2011 9:30pm | | at Southern Utah | W 82–68 | 22–9 (17–1) | Centrum Arena (2,413) Cedar City, UT |
| 2011 Summit League men's basketball tournament ||||||
| March 5, 2011 7:00pm, Midco Sports Net | (1) | vs. (8) Southern Utah Summit Quarterfinals | W 82–66 | 23–9 | Sioux Falls Arena Sioux Falls, SD |
| March 7, 2011 7:00pm, Fox Sports Detroit | (1) | vs. (5) South Dakota State Summit Semifinals | W 110–90 | 24–9 | Sioux Falls Arena Sioux Falls, SD |
| March 8, 2011 9:00pm, ESPN2 | (1) | vs. (2) Oral Roberts Summit Championship Game | W 90–76 | 25–9 | Sioux Falls Arena (2,105) Sioux Falls, SD |
| 2011 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament ||||||
| March 18, 2011* 12:15pm, CBS | (13 W) | vs. (4 W) Texas NCAA Second Round | L 81–85 | 25–10 | BOK Center (12,631) Tulsa, OK |
| *Non-conference game. $^#Rankings$ from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. W=NCAA West Regional. All times are in Eastern Time. ||||||
