The Wright State men's basketball team concludes the regular season on Friday night with a nationally televised contest at Northern Kentucky. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. on ESPNU. Entering the weekend, the Raiders are 24-6 overall and 14-3 in Horizon League play, one game better than Northern Kentucky's 13-4 HL record (21-8 overall). Wright State won the first meeting between the two teams back in January at the Nutter Center.
Friday night's winner will earn the Horizon League regular season title and the top-seed in the Horizon League Basketball Championship, which begins with first round and quarterfinal round games next week. Both Wright State and Northern Kentucky have each already secured double byes into the semifinals on Monday, March 9 in Indianapolis. At the start of this final week of HL play, every seed for the Horizon League Basketball Championships is on the line.
Tickets for Friday night's game
are still available through Northern Kentucky/Ticketmaster. Wright State fans are encouraged to sit as close to section 201 and the Raider contingent as possible.
WATCH ON ESPNU | FOLLOW LIVE STATS | LISTEN ON WRZX 106.5 FM | GAME NOTES
Last time out, it took five extra minutes, but it was a record-breaking afternoon all around as Wright State earned an 81-74 overtime victory on Saturday afternoon over Cleveland State and Raider head coach
Scott Nagy earned his 500th collegiate victory. Four Raiders finished the afternoon in double-digits scoring, led by
Bill Wampler's 23 points.
Loudon Love was right behind him with 22 points while adding a team-high nine rebounds,
Cole Gentry finished with 16 and
Tanner Holden added 12 points of his own. In the overtime session, the quartet was responsible for all 16 of Wright State's points.
NORSE NOTES
Friday will be the 38th meeting all-time between Wright State and Northern Kentucky, with the Raiders holding a 25-12 advantage in the series. The Raiders won the first meeting of the season, 95-63, back on Jan. 24 as they led for all but the opening 17 seconds. Six Wright State players scored in double figures, combining to score 93 of the Raiders' 95 points, led by double-doubles from
Tanner Holden and
Loudon Love. Holden tallied game-highs with his 20 points and 13 rebounds, while Love recorded 16 points and 11 rebounds of his own as the only two players with double-digit rebounding efforts.
Bill Wampler finished with 19 points, while
Jaylon Hall tallied 15 points.
Trey Calvin recorded 12 points and
Cole Gentry finished with 11 of his own. The first-ever meeting came Dec. 6, 1972, a 91-87 Raider win at Northern Kentucky.
THE NORSE SIDE
Northern Kentucky won both of its games last weekend, winning on the road against Cleveland State and Youngstown State. NKU has won 12 of its last 14 games. NKU has been stingy on the defensive end, holding teams to 65.3 points per game (68th in the country), and only two opponents have scored more than 73 points against the Norse this season (Wright State – 95, Texas Southern – 98). Dantez Walton is averaging a team-best 16.4 ppg and 6.9 rpg, but has missed 11 games to injury this season. He currently ranks 32nd all-time in scoring at NKU with 964 points. Walton posted back-to-back 20-point efforts in Northeast Ohio and now has seven such games on the season, which also includes three 30-point scoring efforts and two 30-point double-doubles. Over the last five games, Jalen Tate has averaged 19.4 points, 5.2 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 2.6 steals. On the season, Tate averages of 12.8 points, 5.2 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.9 steals per game.
THE BIG 5-0(0)
It took five extra minutes, but Wright State head coach
Scott Nagy reached the latest milestone of his coaching career on Feb. 22 with an 81-74 overtime victory over Cleveland State for his 500th collegiate victory. His 500th career win comes in his 25th season. He won 410 games in 21 seasons at South Dakota State before tallying seasons of 20, 25, 21 and 24 (and counting) wins with the Raiders. With the victory, Nagy became the 61st active NCAA head coach (28th at the Division I level) to reach the 500-win mark. 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.
OBJECTS CLOSER THAN THEY APPEAR
Wright State's Feb. 22 victory over Cleveland State as the team's 24th of the year, setting the new program standard for most wins in a regular season in the Division I Era, surpassing the previous high of 23 (accomplished twice, 2006-07 and 2012-13). Wright State's program record for the most wins in a regular season is 26, set during the 1985-86 season during the team's Division II Era. Including postseason play, the Raiders have won 28 games in a season twice (1982-83 & 1985-86).
The Cleveland State win was also the Raiders' 14th Horizon League victory of the year, the new standard, surpassing the 13 league games won in the 2006-07 season. That victory was also Wright State's fifth Horizon League road victory, tying the program record accomplished four times previously, most recently last season. Five league road victories in a season was done four times previously (2003-04, 2006-07, 2007-08 & 2018-19).
ON A NATIONAL SCALE
Entering this weekend's action, Wright State is second nationally among NCAA Division I programs in total rebounds with 1,200 total boards. The Raiders are averaging 40.00 rebounds per game, a mark that is No. 18 nationally. Their 12.07 offensive rebounds per game average is No. 35 nationally and the 27.93 defensive rebounds is 29th in the country. Individually,
Loudon Love's 3.68 offensive rebounds per game average is No. 15 in the country. The Raiders are No. 4 nationally in scoring offense (82.0). Wright State's 684 free throw attempts are the seventh-most in the NCAA this season, while the 468 free throws made are the 14th-most nationally. Overall, Wright State is inside the top 50 in 12 different statistical categories as a team (three inside the Top 10) and is in the Top 100 nationally in 22 statistical categories.
IN CASE YOU'VE FORGOTTEN ABOUT US…
The Raiders have the top offense in Horizon League play at 82.9 points per game. Wright State has four players averaging double-figures scoring – all of which have increased their scoring averages in league play. In HL play, the Raiders rank first in scoring, rebounding, field-goal percentage and three-point field goal percentage.
Loudon Love leads the charge for the Raiders, averaging a double-double during Horizon League play with 17.7 points and 10.0 rebounds per game.
Bill Wampler is right behind Love in terms of points, averaging 17.2 per game, while also leading the HL with a 47.4 three-point shooting percentage.
WHAT A DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES
Wright State has the fourth-best scoring average in the country at 82.0 ppg after averaging just over 73 ppg last season. But the uptick doesn't end there. The Raiders' shooting percentage has soared from 43.6 last season to 46.4 percent to date this year, while their three-point shooting – despite the line moving back – has improved from 34.4 percent to 36.9 percent this season.
