The Oakland Golden Grizzlies (9-6) and the Horizon’s top-ranked offense welcome the Valparaiso Crusaders (11-3) and the top-ranked defense in the conference. Action begins at 7:00 pm ET on Friday, Jan. 8 and can be seen on ES2 and ES3.
The Golden Grizzlies are hoping to rebound after their 100-98 loss to Youngstown State on Monday. Despite the loss, Kahlil Felder earned his eighth double-double this season with 23 points and 14 assists. The Crusaders, meanwhile, are coming off a 75-47 win against UIC on Saturday. Keith Carter led the game in scoring by accounting for 15 points on 5-for-8 shooting.
It will be a showdown of conflicting tempos, as the up-and-down Golden Grizzlies (ranked 12th in the nation in possessions per game) will look to push the slow-paced Crusaders (266th in possessions per game).
Valparaiso is a slim one-point favorite over Oakland. The Over/Under (O/U) is sitting at 152 points for this matchup. The Golden Grizzlies have gone 9-6 Straight Up (SU) and 8-2 Against The Spread (ATS). Over their last 10 games, they have had success covering the spread (6-1). The Golden Grizzlies are one of the best in Division I in terms of free throw percentage, shooting an impressive .756 from the free throw line. Teams usually don’t get many offensive rebounds against the Golden Grizzlies, who are one of the top defensive rebounding teams in the country with an average of 29.7 per game.
In the other locker room, the Crusaders have 11-3 SU and 6-5 ATS records. The Crusaders have one of the best opponent field-goal percentages in the nation at .371. The Crusaders are a terror in the passing lanes, averaging an impressive 8.4 steals per game.
This game marks the season’s first head-to-head clash between these conference foes. Their previous game was a Crusaders victory, but the win was not enough to overtake Oakland in their recent head-to-head series. Their record is now 3-7 SU over the most recent meetings. Furthermore, Oakland holds the advantage ATS with a record of 6-1. Neither team held the edge in field goals, rebounds, or three-pointers in a single game during this span.
Predictions: SU Winner – Valpo, ATS Winner – Valpo, O/U – Under
Notes
Oakland is 6-3 SU in its last 9 games.
Oakland is 7-3 SU in its last 10 games when playing Valparaiso.
Oakland is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games when playing at home against Valparaiso.
Oakland averages 86.9 points per game (ranked sixth). Ranked third, Valparaiso has allowed an average of just 57.7 points per game.
In its last game, Valparaiso won by a margin of 28 points. Oakland is 4-0 in games decided by a margin of 18 points or more. Valparaiso has a 6-0 record in blowouts.
On average, Oakland has 75.8 possessions per game and scores 1.147 points on each possession. Valparaiso has both fewer possessions (68.0) and scores fewer points during those possessions (1.064).
Oakland has an average effective field goal percentage of 52.5%. Valparaiso is a losing 1-2 when opponents have a similar or higher effective field goal percentage.
The Oakland Golden Grizzlies average 23.0 three point attempts per game and are 5-6 when attempting at least 20 in a game. The Valparaiso Crusaders average 21.0 attempts and have a winning record (7-3) when attempting 20 or more.
Oakland ranks 87th in the nation with an assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.23. Valparaiso is ranked lower at 185th with an A/TO of 1.02.
Valparaiso is one of the top defensive rebounding teams, ranking 20th. Oakland ranks 80th in offensive rebounding.
Valparaiso makes 8.4 steals per game. In games where it allows 8 or more steals, Oakland is undefeated at 4-0.
