The Wright State men's basketball team opens Horizon League play this weekend with back-to-back games at Detroit Mercy on Saturday and Sunday afternoons, with both games slated for 2 p.m. tipoffs. This year, the Horizon League schedule will see teams playing one League opponent twice each week with games taking place on consecutive days at the same location. Schools will have five home weekends and five road weekends and are playing 10 of 11 League opponents.
Raider fans can follow the action on ESPN3 both days or tune into Chris Collins and Jim Brown calling the play-by-play on WRZX 106.5 FM.
Wright State is 2-1 on the young season after closing non-conference play with an 18-point win at Bowling Green last weekend, while Detroit Mercy is 1-3 so far, including a pair of single-digit losses at Michigan State and at Notre Dame, and playing its second and third home games of the year.
Raider fans are still able to show their support during the upcoming season through the Nutter Center Virtual Sellout campaign. The campaign enables fans to have a (virtual) seat in the arena, while cheering on the team from home.
To learn more information about the Virtual Sellout Campaign and purchase your cutouts, click here.
SATURDAY: WATCH ON ESPN3 | FOLLOW LIVE STATS | LISTEN ON WRZX 106.5 FM | GAME NOTES
SUNDAY: WATCH ON ESPN3 | FOLLOW LIVE STATS | LISTEN ON WRZX 106.5 FM | GAME NOTES
Last time out,
Loudon Love became the all-time leading rebounder in Wright State men's basketball history as the Raiders shot 67 percent in the first half on the way to an 85-67 win on a historical afternoon against Bowling Green. Love finished the afternoon with a double-double, tallying 16 points and 16 rebounds, while
Tanner Holden led all scorers with 19 points, filling his stat line with five rebounds, four assists and two steals.
Jaylon Hall tied a career-best with 17 points, including 13 in the first half, adding five assists and three rebounds.
Grant Basile finished just shy of a double-double of his own, tallying 10 points and nine rebounds, while
Tim Finke finished with 10 points and six rebounds.
TITAN TUSSLE
After seeing their opening weekend of games in the state of Kentucky canceled, the Titans have played three of four games on the road this season, including their lone win last Saturday – a 67-57 victory at Western Michigan. Detroit Mercy had a pair of single-digit losses to open the year (an eight-point loss at Michigan State and a seven-point defeat at Notre Dame) before a 14-point home loss Dec. 8 against Kent State. Detroit Mercy finished 2019-20 with an 8-23 record and a 6-12 mark in conference play, with the Raiders winning both meetings last season. Wright State earned a road win in early January before completing the season sweep with a 12-point home victory in February. The Raiders lead the all-time series 34-27 overall, and have won 11 of the last 13 overall over the last six seasons.
MADE IN DETROIT
Detroit Mercy led the Horizon League and was ninth in the NCAA in free-throw percentage at 78.2 percent last season. This year through four games, Detroit Mercy is now 52-of-60 overall from the stripe – an 88.3 percent clip. After finishing third in the nation in scoring as a freshman (26.1), Antoine Davis was right back on top of the nation's leaders as a sophomore finishing fourth in the country at 24.3 points per game, trailing only Marquette's Markus Howard (27.8), UTSA's Jhivvan Jackson (26.8) and Hampton's Jermaine Marrow (24.8). He entered this season as the second leading returning scorer behind Jackson after Howard and Marrow both graduated. Graduate senior Marquell Fraser accomplished something no Titan has done in 24 years and that was post a double-double in his Titan debut – tallying 11 points and a career-high 12 rebounds at nationally-ranked Michigan State, the first Titan to record a double-double in their first game since Derrick Hayes notched 14 points and 10 boards against Wayne State on Nov. 23, 1996.
LOVE YOUR NEW REBOUND KING
Loudon Love became Wright State's all-time leading rebounder when he grabbed an offensive rebound with 11:55 remaining in the first half on Dec. 13, 2020 at Bowling Green. Love entered the contest four rebounds shy of eclipsing Bill Edwards' (1989-93) 907 rebounds, and shattered the mark with 16 total boards in the win over Bowling Green.
ALL IN THE NAME OF LOVE…
Entering the Detroit Mercy games,
Loudon Love has 1,431 career points, No. 13 all-time in program history, just 20 points shy of former Raider standout
Grant Benzinger and 39 points away from cracking the Top 10 scoring list. Through three games, Love is averaging 12.7 points per contest, along with 13.0 rebounds per, and has a pair of double-doubles.
MID-MAJOR POLL
Wright State returned to the rankings in the latest CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 poll, released Dec. 14. The Raiders are ranked No. 18 in the lastest poll after a conviencing win over Bowling Green, who was ranked 15th last week and dropped to No. 22 this week. HL foes Northern Kentucky & Youngstown State both continue to earn votes. The Raiders opened the 2020-21 season at No. 20 in the listing's preseason poll on November 23 and were No. 25 in the Nov. 30 before playing a game. Wright State climbed as high as 10th overall in the poll on three occasions last year and was in every weekly ranking during the 2019-20 campaign.
PRESEASON PROJECTIONS
For the third consecutive season, Wright State was picked atop the Horizon League preseason poll, with the Raiders receiving 37 of the 44 total first place votes ahead of the 2020-21 season. Detroit Mercy finished with 185 points and was slotted ninth in the preseason poll.
