Raiders head to Indy to take on UIC in HL Semis

Monday, March 9

Indianapolis, IN / Indiana Farmers Coliseum

7:00 PM

Wright State University

UIC (Horizon League Semifinals)

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3/8/2020 10:05:00 AM | Men's Basketball

Coach Nagy Pregame Follow Live Stats LISTEN ON WRZX 106.5 FM Game Notes Tickets

The Horizon League regular season champion and top-seeded Wright State men's basketball team will play its first game in 10 days, and second in 16 days overall, on Monday night as the No. 1 Raiders take on No. 4 UIC in the 2020 Horizon League Championship semifinals at the Indiana Farmers Coliseum. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m. from Indianapolis will be broadcast nationally on ESPNU.

Tickets for Monday's semifinal game are on sale at Ticketmaster.com or by calling the Indiana Farmers Coliseum box office at 317-927-7601. To sit with other Raider fans, we suggest you purchase Reserved seats in section 108 (across from the home bench), or buy General Admission seats and sit directly behind section 101. Sections 101 and 100, located behind the home bench, are sold out for Monday.

WATCH ON ESPNU | FOLLOW LIVE STATS | LISTEN ON WRZX 106.5 FM | GAME NOTES (PDF) | TICKETS

Last time out, Wright State clinched its first outright Horizon League regular season championship in program history on Feb. 28 in the regular season finale with a 64-62 road victory at Northern Kentucky in front of over 6,700 and a national audience on ESPNU.

Three Raiders finished in double figures scoring, led by Loudon Love's 20-point, 14-rebound double-double. Love got the Wright State scoring started early and often, tallying 13 of the Raiders' first 16 points. Bill Wampler also ended the night with a double-double, finishing with 11 points and 11 rebounds – including 10 defensive boards. Cole Gentry was the final Raider in double figures scoring, tallying 12 points – all in the second half – while his two free throws with 12 seconds remaining clinched the title.

FLAMING HOT
Monday will be the 61st meeting all-time between Wright State and UIC, with the Raiders holding a slim 31-29 advantage after the teams split the regular season series this year with each winning on their home court. Prior to the Raiders' win on Feb. 14, UIC had won three straight in the series. Before that run, Wright State had won five straight matchups and had a stretch from 2007- 2012 where it won 11 of the 12 meetings. The first matchup came on Jan. 4, 1992, a 92-69 UIC victory in Chicago. The first Raider win came a month later (Feb. 1, 1992) – a 93-82 home victory in the Nutter Center. The teams have met five times in postseason play, with the Raiders holding a 3-2 advantage.

RAIDERS-UIC IN THE POSTSEASON
The Raiders and Flames have met five times in postseason play, most recently in the 2016 Horizon League tournament, with Wright State holding a 3-2 advantage. The last meeting prior to Monday night came on March 5, 2016, as the Raiders dispatched the Flames 74-43 in HL First Round action. Wright State also won two postseason meetings in the 90's against UIC, first in 1993 as the teams met in Mid-Continent Conference tournament action and then again in 1998 in a Midwestern Collegiate Conference (now Horizon League) tournament matchup.

The 1993 matchup was a historic day in Wright State athletics history, as the Raiders' win in the conference championship game send the men's basketball team to the NCAA Division I Tournament for the first time. It was just thee sixth season in Division I and second year in a conference. Bill Edwards, Wright State's all-time leader in points (2,303) and rebounds (907) was named the conference's Player of the Year. That 1993 Raider squad made its NCAA Division I Tournament debut 10 days later against Indiana, which featured current ESPN analyst Dan Dakich on the bench as an IU assistant coach. Dakich is on the call of the Horizon League Championships this week in Indianapolis.

UIC-YOU
UIC is making its first semifinal appearance in the Horizon League Basketball Championship since 2017 following tournament wins over IUPUI and Youngstown State. The Flames were 2-0 in neutral site games during the regular season and 5-9 in true road games. UIC matched its program record for largest margin of victory in a Horizon League tournament game last Tuesday with a 93-57 rout of IUPUI. The Flames secured their 10th conference victory of the year with an 84-67 win against Detroit Mercy Feb. 27, the third consecutive year UIC has 10 or more conference wins. It marks the first time in program history the Flames have three consecutive 10+ win seasons in league action.

BANNER YEAR
Wright State's Feb. 28 victory over Northern Kentucky as the team's 25th 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 Northern Kentucky win was also the Raiders' 15th 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 sixth Horizon League road victory, also a new program record. The Raiders had previously won five league games in a season four times.

Wright State's seven Horizon League honors, headlined by Player of the Year selection Loudon Love and Co-Coach of the Year honors for Scott Nagy, were also the most in Wright State program history, surpassing the six from last season.

IN CASE YOU'VE FORGOTTEN ABOUT US…
Wright State claimed its first outright Horizon League regular season title in program history with a 15-3 mark in League play and will be the No. 1 seed for the second-straight season. The Raiders' 25 wins this season are tied for the ninth-most in the country. The Raiders rank tops in scoring, rebounding, field-goal percentage and 3-point field goal percentage. Nationally, Wright State is sixth in the country in scoring offense with 82.0 points per game and 15th in rebounds per game at 40.2.

Wright State was the only team to have a member on the All-Horizon League first, second and third team, led by Player of the Year Loudon Love. Love is averaging a double-double during Horizon League play with 17.7 points and 10.0 rebounds per game. Second Team selection Bill Wampler is right behind Love in terms of points averaging 17.2 per game while also leading the HL with a 47.4 3-point shooting percentage. Cole Gentry made the All-League third team after averaging 11.0 points per game and in League play finished tops in assist-to-turnover ratio and top-10 with 2 3-pointers per game.