Last Wednesday, Feb. 12, the OU men’s basketball team traveled to Indianapolis to take on the IU Indy Jaguars. Formerly IUPUI (Indiana University Purdue University of Indianapolis), the Jaguars have struggled through the season, sitting in second-to-last place in conference play at 4-12. The matchup offered a great opportunity for Oakland to snap their two-game losing streak.
And snap it, they did.
The Golden Grizzlies defeated the Jaguars 82-67, topping 80 points just the second time this season. It was a perfect, dominant win for a group that badly needed to right the ship for the home stretch.
Regarding the beginnings of games, this one had some fireworks. The first five field goals of the contest were three-pointers, promising an exciting night of shooting ahead. IU Indy struck first blood with a three from Jarvis Walker, followed by two free throws from Walker. Both teams traded three-pointers on the ensuing four possessions.
Finally, at the 16:50 mark, Isaiah Jones hit the game’s first two-point field goal, a layup that brought Oakland down 8-11. Just before the under-16-timeout, Jayson Woodrich hit his second three of the day, quickly followed by yet another Jaguar three. After just four minutes, the score stood at 14-11 IU Indy.
Keeping with the theme, both teams would exchange baskets again, this time IU Indy’s Alec Millender’s three-pointer being matched by freshman Nassim Mashhour’s three. Oakland still wanted to get the ball inside to their dominant big men, so they fed Allen Mukeba at the basket, resulting in two free throws. Walker got to the rim for a layup, keeping the Jaguars up three. Jones was again able to match with a layup of his own, bringing OU within a point at the under-12-minute timeout.
It was time for Oakland to open up the game a bit. Coming out of the timeout, Malcolm Christie immediately hit a three, taking the lead for the first time in the game. His shot kicked off a 12-4 run in about four minutes, punctuated by back-to-back threes from senior DQ Cole and Mashhour. A one-point game quickly turned into a seven-point Golden Grizzlies advantage.
OU saw an opportunity to blow the game open. They kept getting the ball to the hot hand of Mashhour, who hit two more threes, giving him four in the first half. The Jaguars had a sharpshooter of their own; however, Paul Zilinskas couldn’t miss in the first half, either, as he hit a trio of three-pointers in the final seven minutes. It was largely due to him that IU Indy could keep the game within 10 points at halftime, down just 42-34.
In the second half, the Golden Grizzlies would have to take away the Jaguars’ outside shooting. They canned eight threes in the first half. Oakland one-upped them, hitting nine themselves, but the defense would have to do a better job getting out on the perimeter.
The second half finally saw some made twos, with Mashhour getting to the rim and Mukeba getting a bucket of his own. IU Indy’s Sean Craig stopped OU’s mini-run with an and-one layup, triggering an 8-0 run that trimmed the lead to four.
Mashhour provided the lift again for the Grizzlies. After hitting a free throw from a technical foul on IU Indy’s coach, he would hit yet another three. Buru Naivalurua would slip free for an easy dunk, followed by another Jones layup, giving Oakland a comfortable 10-point lead at the under-12-timeout.
These Jaguars wouldn’t call it quits, though. Every time the Golden Grizzlies built a decent lead, the Jags reminded OU that it was still a game. Both teams traded buckets for a few minutes, weathering a storm of back-to-back threes from Jones and Christie. The lead lingered around 10 or so points until a Mukeba and-one layup put a damper on IU Indy. Naivalurua would follow up his frontcourt mate with two free throws, taking a 69-53 lead with eight minutes left to play.
And yet again, these Jags just wouldn’t give in. Walker led a 9-2 run all by himself, clawing IU back into the game down 71-62. He proved unguardable all night, dropping a season-high 26 points on the Golden Grizzlies.
To close out the game, Oakland leaned on their bigs. Mukeba and Naivalurua combined for three dunks in 1:20 of game time, granting the team a 14-point lead that sealed things up. One more Walker three rattled home before Cole ended the game with two baskets of his own, capping off an 82-67 win for the Golden Grizzlies.
It was a convincing win for Oakland. Mashhour played his best game in an Oakland uniform, dropping 18 points with five threes. Five Golden Grizzlies scored 10 or more points and shot 12-27 from three as a team.
Next is a rematch against Purdue Fort Wayne on the road on Friday, Feb. 21.