Seattle U vs Oakland Game Preview

Seattle U (6-5) vs Oakland University Golden
Grizzlies (5-5, 1-0 Summit)

Key Arena (Seattle, WA)

Thursday December 16, 2009 7:10 pm

RADIO: 710 ESPN Seattle

Series- First Meeting

Last Meeting- N/A

Scouting Oakland:

Oakland University (Rochester, MI) is the overwhelming
favorite to take The Summit League crown and go dancing in
March. The 5-5 record does not tell the story of the
talented Golden Grizzlies. A thorny road schedule
featuring visits to traditional powers Wisconsin, Kansas,
Memphis and Michigan State has managed to mask one of the
best mid-major teams in the country. The game against
Seattle marks the start of another difficult journey for
Oakland as they travel to Eugene to take on the Oregon
Ducks on Saturday and then fly across country to take on
national ranked Syracuse next Tuesday. It is difficult to
break down the Golden Grizzlies according to numbers
because of their lopsided losses to national powers. They
are 5-1 against programs who have not made an appearance
in the Final 4 this decade including an 84-76 conference
win at IPFW. Oakland loves to get to the free-throw line
as they have taken almost 100 more than their opponents.
They shoot a lofty 70% from the stripe while averaging
17.1 made attempts per game. They have struggled shooting
the 3-ball this year- 29% (49-167)

The Ones to Watch:

Keith Benson- 6’11 221 JR C- 18 ppg 11.5 rbd
NBADraft.net has Benson going #25 in the upcoming NBA
draft. The late blooming big man in long, athletic and can
run the floor. He is a force on the defensive end as his
166 career blocks are 5th all-time in the Summit. He is an
accomplished rebounder at 11.5 a game this season and his
offensive game is improving. He loves to throw down the
alley-oop and possesses a decent jump-hook. He was awesome
in his last contest versus UW-Green Bay- 23 points 18
rebounds 6 blocks. He put up 21 on Michigan State and 20
against Kansas dispelling NBA scout concerns about his
level of competition.

Johnathon Jones- 5’11 160 SR G- 13 ppg 5.5 assts
The NCAA assist leader from a year ago is back tossing
dimes out once again. His 649 career helpers broke the
Summit League mark set by Bryce Drew of Valpo. The shifty
sensation has started since he set-foot on campus (110
games 110 starts). He averaged 8 assists a game last
season, but is down to 5.5 this campaign. He has formed a
tremendous alliance with Benson.

Derick Nelson- 6’5 236 RS-SR F- 13 ppg 6.5 rbds
Took a medical redshirt last season when he broke his foot
two days before the opener. He averaged 17 pts and 7 rbds
two years ago and his working his way back into form this
year. He has been in double-figures in 7 of his last 10
games. The two time All-Summit performer loves to slash to
the basket and is even more difficult to handle with the
emergence of Benson.

Keys to the Game:

1- Rebounding- Seattle is 6-2 when out-rebounding their
opponents (+9 margin in wins and -5 in losses). Meanwhile
Oakland is -2 on the season.

2- SU needs to keep Oakland off the free-throw line. The
Golden Grizzlies average 17.1 makes at the line compared
to 9.8 for their opponents.

3- Garcia vs. Benson- The two will probably not go head to
head much on the floor, but whoever is more productive
will give his team a huge advantage.

Seattle puts the 14 game home winning streak on the line
against the grizzly visitors. The task is tall for SU
tonight. Tune in 15 minutes before tip on 710 ESPN Seattle
and the live blog will be cooking at seattleufan.com.