Raiders welcome Oakland for Saturday showdown

Saturday, February 8

Dayton, OH

7:00 PM

Wright State University

Oakland

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2/7/2020 2:35:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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The Horizon League-leading Wright State men's basketball team welcomes Detroit Mercy to town on Saturday night as the Raiders continue their final homestand of the regular season. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m. inside the Nutter Center. Wright State (20-5 overall, 10-2 HL) is coming off a home victory over Detroit Mercy Thursday night, while Oakland (8-16, 3-8 HL) fell on the road to Northern Kentucky on Thursday. The Raiders have won eight straight contests at home and are undefeated in Horizon League play inside the Nutter Center.

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Last time out, Wright State raced out to ta double-digit lead on Thursday night, scoring 19 of the game's first 22 points, and withstood a second half Detroit Mercy run before settling on a 98-86 final score inside the Nutter Center to become the first team in the Horizon League to reach the 20-win mark this season as five Raiders scored in double figures. Bill Wampler finished with a team-high 25 points for Wright State, adding five rebounds and three assists, while hitting 5-of-6 from three-point range. Cole Gentry added 19 points of his own to go with four assists, while both Jaylon Hall and Loudon Love each scored 15 points. Love and Tanner Holden, the final Raider in double-figures with 10 points, each pulled down six rebounds to lead Wright State.

OAKLAND ORIGINALS
Saturday will be the 22nd meeting all-time between Wright State and Oakland, with the Raiders leading the series 14-7 overall and having won the last six meetings. The Raiders defeated the Golden Grizzlies 96-69 in Oakland back on Jan. 3. The first meeting came back on Nov. 29, 1977 – a 103-77 Raider victory – and the teams also met in Jan. 1979 and Dec. 1979 but then didn't face each other again until Dec. 27, 2000. Wright State also handed Oakland a loss (76-64) in the Golden Grizzlies' first-ever Horizon League contest, played Jan. 2, 2014 inside the Nutter Center. Wright State coach Scott Nagy is 6-1 against Oakland.

GOLDEN GRIZZLIES
Oakland dropped its ninth one-possession game of the season on Thursday, stumbling late to Northern Kentucky, 73-70. Oakland had the ball with 10 seconds to play, trailing 71-70, but a turnover under the basket would be the deciding factor. Rashad Williams was named the Horizon League Player of the Week after dropping a career-high 37 points in the Golden Grizzlies' 77-64 victory over Detroit Mercy on January 31. Williams knocked down 7-of-16 from beyond the arc, matching his career high for three-point field goals. Williams became the first Golden Grizzly to score 30 or more points since senior center Brad Brechting put up 32 against Youngstown State on February 1, 2019. Oakland has had at least three scorers in double figures in 12-straight outings. The Golden Grizzlies have had five double-digit scorers three times this year. The last time the Golden Grizzlies had just one double-digit scorer was against No. 16/15 Michigan State on Dec. 14.

FIRST TO 20
Wright State's victory over Detroit Mercy on Feb. 6 was the Raiders' 20th of the season – giving head coach Scott Nagy his fourth straight season with 20-plus wins in his four years at Wright State. Nagy has now guided his teams to 20 or more victories in 16 of his 25 seasons as a collegiate head coach. The Raiders are the first team in the Horizon to reach 20 wins this season, while Wright State reached the mark in 25 total games – that's the fewest games the Raiders have needed to reach 20 victories since becoming a Division-I program in 1987-88. They previously needed 26 games to reach the mark in both 1989-90 and 2007-08.

ON A NATIONAL SCALE
Entering Saturday, Wright State is first nationally among NCAA Division I programs in total rebounds with 1,018 total boards. The Raiders are averaging 40.72 rebounds per game, a mark that is No. 10 nationally. Their 12.84 offensive rebounds per game average is No. 21 nationally and the 27.88 defensive rebounds is 37th in the country. Individually, Loudon Love's 4.05 offensive rebounds per game average is No. 5 in the country. The Raiders are No. 7 nationally in scoring offense (81.1). Wright State's 566 free throw attempts are the seventh-most in the NCAA this season, while the 379 free throws made are the 20th-most nationally. Overall, Wright State is inside the top 50 in 12 different statistical categories as a team (four inside the Top 10) and is in the Top 100 nationally in 23 statistical categories.