Robert Morris remains without a Metro Detroit sweep.
Two days after erupting for 58 points in the second half of a come-from-behind victory at Detroit Mercy, the defending Horizon League champs were no match for Oakland on Sunday in Rochester Hills, Mich.
Isaac Garrett scored a career-high 30 points, Tuburu Naivalurua added 21 and the Golden Grizzlies routed Robert Morris, 96-73, at OU Credit Union O’rena, handing the Colonials their second-worst loss of the season.
It was the most lopsided defeat for RMU (11-6, 3-3) since a season-opening 101-69 loss at No. 25 Iowa.
Oakland (8-8, 4-1), which led by as many as 31 points in the second half, dominated the Colonials from the opening tip.
The Golden Grizzlies shot 53.6% (30 for 56) and made 33 of 37 free throws, with Garrett a perfect 16 for 16.
“They just attacked us, and we were on our heels from the jump. That’s never a good way to start a game,” Robert Morris coach Andy Toole said on RMU’s postgame broadcast.
The Colonials, who overcame a seven-point deficit in the second half to beat Detroit Mercy, 85-77, on Friday, have never won back-to-back games on their annual Michigan trip since joining the Horizon League in 2020.
They were no match in their latest attempt.
“That was a different level of intensity and energy that Oakland brought,” Toole said. “They were much more prepared for the game and performed much better than we did, and that’s on me.”
Michael Hogue and Brody Robinson each contributed 11 points for Oakland, whose nonconference schedule includes losses to four ranked teams, among them Purdue and Houston, both No. 1 at the time.
The Golden Grizzlies played now-No. 5 Purdue to a 10-point game and also lost to No. 9 Michigan State by nine points.
“We played the hardest schedule in the history of Oakland and maybe in the history of mid-major (basketball),” Oakland coach Greg Kampe said in a postgame interview on ESPN+. “We survived it all.”
The Golden Grizzlies, who lost to Robert Morris in the Horizon semifinals a year ago, remained tied with Wright State atop the league standings.
DeSean Goode paced Robert Morris with 18 points on 8-of-10 shooting. He also led the the Colonials with eight rebounds.
RMU shot 45.9% (28 for 61), but was just 22.7 (5 for 22) from 3-point range.
Oakland won the rebounding battle 35-29.
“Against a really good team, it might have been our best defensive performance of the year,” Kampe said.
For Robert Morris, following a week off before facing Purdue Fort Wayne on Sunday at UPMC Events Center, Toole said he was hoping the Colonials could get closer to full strength after playing a stretch without injured regulars Darius Livingston (foot) and Ta’Zir Smith (hip).
Livingston, a 6-foot-2 freshman averaging 8.5 points and 3.6 assists, has missed a total of six games, and the 6-3 Smith, a sophomore averaging 5.3 points, has been sidelined for the past two.
“Having Darius and ‘Taz’ back would help,” Toole said, “but they wouldn’t have helped very much today.”
