Oakland men’s basketball played four of the top nine teams in the NCAA Tournament this season, as seeded by the selection committee. That includes No. 3 seed Michigan State, which beat Oakland, 79-70, at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit in the annual ugly-Christmas-sweater game Dec. 20.
Michigan State opens the NCAA Tournament on Thursday afternoon in Buffalo, New York, against North Dakota State.
The News caught up with Oakland head coach Greg Kampe to assess the road ahead for Michigan State:
“I think Michigan State is made for this tournament, in that they’ve got big, strong guys that can rebound and they really defend, and I think in the NCAA Tournament, teams that can defend and have great guard play usually do well,” Kampe told The News after the bracket was revealed Sunday night. “Michigan State has one of the best point guards in the country (Jeremy Fears Jr.) who is built for the tournament play. But I also see that they got put in the hardest (region). And why does the NCAA Tournament put Michigan State and Duke in the same (region) every year? I don’t get that. If I was Tom (Izzo), I would call up and ask why, because that’s just unbelievable how many times that happens.
“I’ve got Michigan State playing Duke in the Elite Eight game, but Duke has proven … they beat Michigan, they beat Michigan State, they played an unbelievable nonleague schedule, and I just think (Cameron) Boozer’s the best player in the country and it’s gonna be a tough one for them.”
Kampe also touched on the rest of the bracket, including the road to the Final Four for Michigan, the inclusion of mid-major bubble team Miami (Ohio) and his Final Four and championship predictions.
Check out the full interview here:
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tpaul@detroitnews.com
@tonypaul1984
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Oakland played MSU basketball; Greg Kampe assesses its March Madness hopes
Reporting by Tony Paul, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
