In what could, and perhaps should, have been the Oakland coach's opportunity to talk about his team's headlining role in the Horizon League tournament's debut year in Detroit, Kampe was forced to address a funk, not a fad.
Oakland, the tournament's No. 2 seed – the same squad that took then-No. 1 Michigan State to overtime in December before falling short – had just lost 59-55 on Monday night to third-seeded Wright State, the same team it swept in the regular season. The Golden Grizzlies, in their third season in the Horizon, fell to 1-3 in league tournament games and missed a chance to play for an NCAA tournament automatic bid on Tuesday night not far from home.
"Obviously at this time of the year," Kampe said, "when you lose it's as disappointing as it can be."
Although the teams were separated by only a single seed, Oakland was the clear favorite Monday night. The Golden Grizzlies had junior point guard Kay Felder, one of 15 finalists for the John R. Wooden Award, and a hometown crowd of 6,557 behind them. But, Felder had an off night and finished with 18 points on 5-for-19 shooting.
"It's frustrating when your shot's not falling," Felder said, "and you know you can hit those shots."
Oakland also had a potential emotional lift from senior guard Max Hooper, whose father, Chip, died on Saturday at age 53 following a bout with cancer. Hooper, who flew back to Michigan on Monday after spending time with his family in California, scored nine points on three triples off the bench and gave the team a lift, but it wasn't enough. That was due, in part, to Oakland, which led the nation in scoring at 87.3 points per game, shooting just 35 percent in the first half and trailing by 10 points in the second half before rallying.
"We did everything a team needs to do that's in our situation to win an ugly game," Kampe said, "and we got down to the last minute and didn't execute."
Felder, who on Monday was named one of five finalists for the 2016 Bob Cousy Point Guard of the Year Award, split a pair of free throws with 51 seconds to play to tie the game. Wright State's JT Yoho hit a jumper at the top of the key for the lead with 24 seconds to play and Felder was unable to convert on a drive down the lane as the Raiders went on to the win.
"It wasn't a designed play, it was just 'go get a bucket,'" Felder said. "We needed a bucket at that time, we was down two and if I would have made it, it would have been a different game."
Kampe didn't call a timeout to set up the play – a decision Wright State coach Billy Donlon agreed with.
"If I had the best point guard in the country," he said, "we would have done the same thing."
So, Wright State, which had to beat UIC on Saturday and Detroit on Sunday, advances to Tuesday's tournament championship against Green Bay, which upset No. 1 seed Valparaiso 99-92 in overtime in Monday's first semifinal after beating Cleveland State on Saturday and Milwaukee on Sunday.
"So much for the double-bye, huh?" Kampe said. "If the double-bye is so great, I don't think Valpo and Oakland think it's great right now. We didn't play for 10 days. We've played one game in 16 days before this."
Oakland is clearly out of the running for an at-large bid for the NCAA tournament and Kampe doesn't believe it's likely his team will get a spot in the NIT, but will still find a postseason tournament.
"We're going to keep playing," Kampe said. "Max wants to keep playing, we're going to keep playing. ... We had a great year and we're going to celebrate that year and we're going to play."
Link : http://www.mlive.com/sports/detroit/2016/03/oakland_squanders_shot_at_ncaa.html
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