1. Eight of ten Summit League teams have at least four losses in conference. South Dakota State entered Thursday’s game with one loss, and one game in the loss column behind the League leader Oral Roberts (19-4, 11-0). SD State has played at Oral Roberts and lost but after losing to Oakland they’ll need to not only beat Oral Roberts at home, but hope for help from others in the league. Otherwise, SD State should be concerned about holding onto the 2-seed for the Summit League Tourney.
2. Nate Wolters is a stud. For the 3rd time this season he played all 40 minutes for the Jackrabbits. He’s converting 50% of his 2s, has the highest assist rate in the Summit, the 3rd lowest turnover rate, and the 3rd best FD/40 minutes. Against Oakland he had 21 points, 12 assists and 8 boards.
3. Oakland sophomore Travis Bader has scored at least 20 points in a game 5 times. Before Thursday he’d never scored 30. Against SD State he scored 30 just on 3s. Bader made 2-4 2s, 10-14 3s and 4-4 FTs. He entered the game a 34.9% 3-pt shooter and exited a 37.7% 3-pt shooter.
4. Oakland isn’t a team that generates a lot of assists. Their tempo hides the fact that on the season they’re 287th in assists per field goal at 48.5%. But last night they recorded 22 assists on 27 made baskets (81.5%).
5. This was a 72 possession game. Oakland scored 1.28 per possession and allowed 1.21. Suggesting that they have defensive issues is an understatement. Entering this game they were 313th nationally in defensive efficiency. They were 339th in defensive 3-pt%, 330th in defensive 2-pt% and 257th at forcing turnovers. Luckily, they can score. A lot.
