Having already secured a path directly into the semifinals of the Horizon League Basketball Championship in Indianapolis, the Horizon League-leading Wright State men's basketball team looks to finish out the regular season strong with its final three games on the road, beginning with a visit to Youngstown State on Thursday night, slated for 7 p.m. tipoff.

The Raiders (23-5 overall, 13-2 HL) have won eight of their last nine games overall and have taken the last six meetings against the Penguins, including earlier this season inside the Nutter Center. Youngstown State enters the matchup with a 6-21 overall record and a 2-12 mark in the Horizon.


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Last time out, Wright State closed out the home schedule in style on Sunday afternoon, as six players scored in double figures as the Raiders rolled past IUPUI 106-66 on an emotional Senior Day inside the Nutter Center. All five Wright State starters scored in double figures Sunday, but the sixth player in double digits was the game's leading scorer- James Manns with 21 points on a 7-of-10 shooting afternoon, including a 5-of-7 mark from three-point range.
 
Loudon Love, wearing No. 33 to honor Ryan Custer, finished with 18 points, 14 of which came in the first half, and a game-high eight rebounds, while Bill Wampler was right behind him with 17 points as five of his six baskets came from long range. Tanner Holden was 6-of-8 from the floor on the way to 14 points, Cole Gentry tallied 13 points and five assists and Jaylon Hall added 10 points of his own.

PLAYIN' PENGUINS
Thursday will be the 61st meeting all-time between Wright State and Youngstown State, with the Raiders holding a 48-12 advantage in the series. Wright State has won the last six meetings, dating back to the 2016-17 season. The first-ever meeting came Jan. 29, 1977 at Youngstown State, a 73-71 Raider loss. Wright State's first win in the series came on Jan. 28, 1978 – a 60-59 home victory.

Earlier this season, Loudon Love finished with a game-high 21 points along with nine rebounds, Bill Wampler scored 16 and Cole Gentry tallied 11 points in a 79-72 Raider win.

YOUNGSTOWN TIDBITS
Youngstown State is coming off of a road loss at Oakland last Saturday, snapping what had been a three-game winning streak. Youngstown State is currently 11-2 in games played at Beeghly Center this season. The Penguins are averaging 78.5 points and 15.2 assists per game at their home arena this year. Since Feb. 7, 2019, Youngstown State is 15-3 in games played at Beeghly Center. Naz Bohannon has 10 double figure rebounding games this season and six double-doubles. The Penguins are 4-6 when Bohannon grabs at least 10 rebounds and 3-3 when he posts a double-double. He has 13 career double-doubles and the Penguins own a mark of 5-8 in those games. Three Youngstown State have the potential to reach the coveted 1,000-point plateau. Darius Quisenberry has 862 career points and needs just 138 more for 1,000. Garrett Covington has 789 and needs 211 more points while Naz Bohannon has 744 points and needs 256 to reach 1,000.

THE BIG 5-0(0)
Wright State head coach Scott Nagy is approaching the latest milestone of his coaching career, sitting on 499 career wins heading into the matchup with Youngstown State. Nagy won 410 games in 21 seasons at South Dakota State before tallying seasons of 20, 25, 21 and 23 (and counting) wins with the Raiders. His career-high for victories in a season is 27, which he did twice at South Dakota State (2003-04: 27-7 and 2011-12: 27-8). His Wright State high of 25 wins came in 2017-18 when the Raiders won the Horizon League Championship and advanced to the NCAA Tournament. 

LEADING THE HORIZON
The Raiders are 13-2 in Horizon League play and have been dominant so far this season. In HL play, they rank tops in scoring, rebounding, field-goal percentage and 3-point field goal percentage. With 23 wins this season, the Raiders are tied for the sixth-most wins in the country.  Wright State can clinch the regular season title and the No. 1 seed with a sweep this weekend in Northeast Ohio. Northern Kentucky can secure the other bye into the semifinals of the Horizon League Basketball Championships with a 2-0 week.

AP TOP 25 VOTE
For the second consecutive week, Wright State received votes in the The Associated Press college basketball poll, announced on Monday afternoon. The votes mark the first time in program history that Wright State has received votes in the weekly AP rankings.