Getty Oakland and West Virginia will clash in the season opener.
The Oakland Golden Grizzlies will head to West Virginia University Coliseum in Morgantown to take on the West Virginia Mountaineers in what will be the season opener for both squads.
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The game (7 p.m. ET start time) isn’t on TV, but anyone in the US can watch Oakland vs West Virginia live on ESPN+:
ESPN+ will have exclusive coverage of 2,000+ college basketball games during the 2021-22 season. It also includes dozens of other live sports, every 30-for-30 documentary and additional original content (both video and written) all for $6.99 for a month or $69.99 for a year.
Or, if you also want Disney+ and Hulu, you can get all three for $13.99 per month. Separately, the three streaming services would cost a total $20.97 per month, so you’re saving about 33 percent:
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Once signed up for ESPN+, you can watch Oakland vs West Virginia live on the ESPN app on your Roku, Roku TV, Amazon Fire TV or Firestick, Apple TV, Chromecast, PlayStation 4 or 5, Xbox One or Series X/S, any device with Android TV (such as a Sony TV or Nvidia Shield), Samsung Smart TV, Oculus Go, iPhone, Android phone, iPad or Android tablet.
You can also watch on your computer via ESPN.com.
Oakland vs West Virginia Preview
West Virginia finished with a 19-10 mark last season, and it’s looking to make a second straight trip to the NCAA Tournament again this year. It won’t be easy, as there are a lot of new faces on the team who have yet to play with one another.
Forward Jalen Bridges will return and lead the way, and senior guards Taz Sherman and Sean McNeil will be back, as will their fellow seniors Gabe Osabuohien and Kedrian Johnson. They’ll be joined by transfers new to the team, including Malik Curry (Old Dominion), Dimon Carrigan (Florida International) and Pauly Paulicap (DePaul).
“I think we can make shots,” WVU head coach Bob Huggins said during the Big 12 Media Day. “I don’t know if I can protect someone and prevent them from shooting, but I can shoot. Three out of four can surround the line and shoot very well.”
That said, Huggins has some concerns about the team’s defense. “Trying to find the right word. We’re not very good,” Huggins said. “We’re not very good defensively. … There’s a difference between guarding and guarding the way we guard. And we haven’t figured out the way we guard yet,” he added, noting it was something that he expects to come with time.
On the other side, the Golden Grizzlies went 12-18 last season, scoring 74.7 points a game and shooting 41.7% from the floor.
Returning starters Jalen Moore, Trey Townsend, and Micah Parrish will all return, which head coach Greg Kampe thinks is huge for his team.
“I really like us, I think we have a chance to be a special team. We had a great offseason. We added Jamal Cain who I think is an NBA prospect. And we’ve got Jalen Moore back, Trey Townsend back, Micah Parish back. So I think, in my opinion, we’ve got four of the best players in the league. So, I think we should be pretty good,” Kampe said.
Moore led the team in scoring last season, averaging 17.9 points a game, while also dishing out 8.4 assists. He’ll make an intriguing pairing with transfer Cain, who averaged 9.6 points and 6.3 boards with Marquette last season.
“We have a history of being able to take high-major players into the attack, and that’s what we’re trying to do in Jamal,” Kampe added, via Illinois News Today. “I would be very surprised if he gave a great number because he is so talented that he averages 20 points per game, probably not 10 rebounds per game.”