Raiders set for three games at Gulf Coast Showcase

The Wright State men's basketball team heads to Florida for three games in the Gulf Coast Showcase, beginning on Monday afternoon with a 5 p.m. tipoff against Weber State inside Hertz Arena in Estero, Florida. The Raiders are one of eight teams competing and will have additional games coming up on Tuesday and Wednesday following Monday's matchup.

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Last time out, Grant Basile turned in a pair of career-bests, tallying 19 points and pulling down six rebounds to lead the Wright State men's basketball team to an 81-55 victory over Urbana last Wednesday night inside the Nutter Center in a campus site game of the Gulf Coast Showcase.

Basile recorded eight points and five rebounds in the first 20 minutes, following that up with an 11-point second half while adding a pair of blocks on the defensive end of the floor. His 19 points led a Raider trio of double-digit scorers, as Cole Gentry finished with 13 points and Loudon Love added 12 points to go along with a game-high seven rebounds. In total, 11 different Wright State players contributed in the scoring column.

BILL FOR 1,000?
Senior Bill Wampler is on the verge of the 1,000-career point plateau, entering Monday's game against Weber State just 2 points shy of the mark. Wampler amassed 408 points in two seasons at Drake (2015-17) and has tallied 590 points to date as a Raider over the 2018-19 campaign and the first five games of this season.

Wampler is averaging 13.4 points per game through five games, scoring seven points in the season opener against Central State before double-digit games against Miami (17), Tennessee Tech (20) and Kent State (18) and five points against Urbana.

GULF COAST SHOWCASE
Wright State opened the Gulf Coast Showcase with an 81-55 win over Urbana last Wednesday in a campus-site game before heading to Estero, Florida for three games at the Gulf Coast Showcase Monday-Wednesday inside Hertz Arena.

The Raiders' opening round game on Monday will be the program's first-ever against Weber State, who is returns to the Gulf Coast Showcase after winning the event in 2015. Wright State will play either Murray State or La Salle on Tuesday – the Raiders are 4-2 all-time against Murray State and 0-2 against LaSalle.

Wright State and Murray State have met in each of the last four seasons, splitting the matchups 2-2. The teams also met during the 1990-91 and 2008-09 seasons, both Raider victories. Both of Wright State's meetings with La Salle came during the 1994-95 season (Jan. 12 & Feb. 11).

Taking a look at the rest of the field, Wright State is:

2-2 against Northeastern (first meeting: 12/4/04 | last meeting: 11/28/09)
2-2 against South Alabama (first meeting: 12/2/89 | last meeting: 11/23/13)
0-1 against Drake (only meeting: 12/9/88)
14-21 against Miami (OH) (first meeting: 12/15/71 | last meeting: 11/9/19)

SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
Weber State
•The Wildcats are 1-2 on the season. Weber State opened the year with a loss at Utah State and a home loss to San Diego, before beating West Coast Baptist 130-50. That Wildcats set several school records in the win.
•Weber State head coach Randy Rahe is in his 14th season as head coach of the Wildcats. Rahe is the Weber State's and the Big Sky Conference's all-time leader in coaching victories with 267 career wins.
•The Wildcats were picked to finish second in the Big Sky preseason media poll and third in the coaches poll.

Murray State
•The Racers are 3-1 on the season with wins over Southern, Brescia and Southern Illinois while losing at Tennessee.
•Murray State played in this event in 2015 and went 2-1. The Racers made it to the championship game where they fell to Weber State, after the defeating Milwaukee and Pepperdine in the first two games.

La Salle
•The Explorers are 1-2 on the season. WSU opened the year with a loss at Utah State and a home loss to San Diego, before beating West Coast Baptist 130-50. That Wildcats set several school records in the win.
•In La Salle's first games of the year, head coach Ashley Howard has gone to his bench with no hesitation.
•Ten players -- all 10 scholarship players available to play -- are averaging at least 15 minutes a game and no player is averaging more than 29.4.
•The Explorers hold a 82-35 (+15.7/game) edge in bench scoring, with senior Isiah Deas averaging 7.3 points per game and freshman Ayinde Hikim at 6.3 ppg.

Northeastern
•The Huskies are 3-2 with wins over Boston, Harvard and Holy Cross on the season, while they have lost to UMass and Old Dominion.
•Senior Jordan Roland leads the country by scoring just over 30 points per game and is shooting an impressive 63 percent from the floor.
•The Huskies are shooting 46% from behind the arc, No. 2 in the NCAA. Northeastern is No. 12 in the country in field goal percentage (.525) and free throw percentage (.800).
•The Huskies have made 51 3-pointers this season, 23rd-best in the country.

South Alabama
•The Jaguars are 3-2 on the year with wins over Pikeville, Southern Miss and Spring Hill, while falling to Auburn and Chattanooga.
•South Alabama scored 49 points in the second half vs. Spring Hill, marking the third time this season the team recorded 49 points after halftime. South Alabama is averaging 34.6 points on 43.8% shooting (23.1% from 3) in the first half, and 44.6 points on 51.1% shooting (40.7% from 3) in the second.
•South Alabama received 138 points and eight first-place votes to earn the top spot in the Sun Belt preseason poll, while Trhae Mitchell, Don Coleman and Josh Ajayi were voted to the Sun Belt preseason team and Mitchell named the Preseason Player of the Year.

Drake
•The Bulldogs are 4-1 on the season with wins over Kennesaw State, Kansas City, Simpson and Lehigh. Their lone loss was at Cincinnati.
•Drake last played in the event in 2015, going 2-1 with a win over Western Kentucky, a loss to Weber State and a win over Pacific in the third-place game.
•Drake is averaging nearly 80 points per game this season after leading the Missouri Valley Conference in scoring last year at 75.4 points per game. In its four wins this season, Drake has held opponents to less than 60 points. The Bulldogs are now 8-1 over the last two seasons when holding opponents below 60 points.

Miami (OH)
•Miami is 3-1 on the season, losing to Wright State in its season-opener (11/9) before wins over Purdue Fort Wayne, Alabama A&M and Central State.
•With 14 points in the win over Central State on Wednesday, junior guard Nike Sibande passed Miami Hall-of-Famer Charlie Coles for 31st on the school's career scoring list. Sibande now has scored 1,098 points during his career.

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Players Mentioned

Grant Basile

Cole Gentry

Loudon Love

Bill Wampler

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