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ROCHESTER, Mich. – The Oakland men’s basketball team is back facing the number one team in the nation again, this time down south to face the 2025 national runner-up, No. 1 Houston, in Fertitta Center Wednesday night at 8 p.m. ET. The Golden Grizzlies become the first program in the nation to face consecutive AP No. 1 teams in a season since 1990.
The Golden Grizzlies (0-2, 0-0 HL) dropped 77-87 in a tough battle with the former No. 1 team, Purdue in West Lafayette.
With a 35-35 tie at halftime, senior Ziare Wells led the way with 21 points and collected 12 rebounds for his first Golden Grizzly double-double. Sophomore Nassim Mashhour contributed 15 points, including three made shots beyond the arc, as fifth-year Tuburu Naivalurua showed off his big man defense with seven rebounds and two blocks, while adding in 11 points. Senior Brody Robinson added 11 points, including a fast break layup and made two steals on the other side of the ball.
Naivalurua was named the Horizon League’s Preseason Player of the Year and Preseason All-League First Team after a strong junior campaign. The fifth-year forward returns as the Horizon League’s leading scorer at 13.9 points per game. Known for his work on the other side of the ball, the Australia native averaged 7.1 boards per game, totaling 234 rebounds through all 33 games he started. He shot .555 from the field, including 83 made free-throws.
Tip-off in Houston slated for 8 p.m. ET on ESPN+ with Matt Pedersen (play-by-play) and Reid Gettys (analyst) on the call. The Voice of the Golden Grizzlies, Neal Ruhl, will be on the radio call on 97.1HD-3/1270am or the Audacy App online.
SCOUTING THE COUGARS
Houston was named No. 2 in the AP preseason poll to start the 2025-26 season, before moving up to No. 1 on Monday, making it the fifth straight season the Cougars have been ranked No. 1 for at least one week. The Cougars (2-0, 0-0 Big 12) enter Wednesday’s game following a 65-48 win over Towson last weekend. Houston added five to their roster, four freshmen and a Sam Houston State transfer as redshirt-senior Emanuel Sharp leads the team on the Jerry West Award Preseason Watch List and the Naismith Player of the Year Watch List.
The Golden Grizzlies and the Cougars have only met once in program history, a 76-74 victory for Oakland on Nov. 22, 2011 under Houston head coach James Dickey.
How to Follow Oakland Men’s Basketball: For complete information on Oakland Men’s Basketball follow the team on X at @OaklandMBB and head coach Greg Kampe at @KampeOU. The team is also on Instagram and Facebook.