INDIANAPOLIS - The Wright State men's basketball team takes on Northern Kentucky on Tuesday night in the 2022 Keeps Horizon League Championship game with a trip to the NCAA Tournament in the balance. The No. 4 seeded Raiders defeated top seed Cleveland State 82-67 on Monday, while the No. 3 seeded Norse defeated No. 2 Purdue Fort Wayne 52-43


Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. for Tuesday's title tilt and fans can follow the action several ways - via live stats, by watching on ESPN or by tuning in on WONE 980 AM. Chris Collins and Jim Brown will have the WONE radio call. Tickets are available via this link. Wright State will be the visiting team, and as such, Raider fans are encouraged to purchase tickets in or near sections 110 and 117. Reserved seating is limited so act fast if you want to secure the best seats at Indiana Farmers Coliseum.


TUESDAY: WATCH ON ESPN | FOLLOW LIVE STATS | LISTEN ON WONE 980 AM | GAME NOTES | HL TOURNAMENT CENTRAL | TICKETS


LAST TIME OUT
Wright State jumped out to a 22-10 lead early Monday night and always had an answer for each run from Cleveland State throughout the night. Cleveland State made a run midway through the second half, getting as close as seven with 9:06 remaining, before a Keaton Norris three-pointer pushed the lead back to 10 points and the Raider lead pushed back double digits for good. Grant Basile finished with a game-high 27 points on the way to his 11th double-double of the season with his 11 boards, while Tanner Holden also tallied a double-double with his 12 points and 10 rebounds, including eight points in the second half.  Tim Finke tallied 12 points of his own, adding seven rebounds, while Norris notched a career-high 10 points behind a trio of three-pointers.

NORSE NOTES
No. 3 seeded Northern Kentucky is 20-9 overall and is coming off of an 57-43 semifinal win over No. 2 Purdue Fort Wayne on Monday night. The Norse had a quarterfinal home win over Detroit Mercy to begin their postseason slate. NKU was 7-7 in true road games this season, while Monday's semifinal victory was its first neutral site game and win of the year. Northern Kentucky won both regular season meetings - a 10-point game in late January in Highland Heights and a four-point game at the Nutter Center in mid-February. Wright State and Northern Kentucky have previously met 42 times, with the Raiders holding a 27-15 advantage in the series as winners of five of the last seven meetings overall. The first-ever meeting came Dec. 6, 1972, a 91-87 Raider win at Northern Kentucky.

FAMILIAR SPOT
Wright State finds itself in the Horizon League Championship game for the sixth time in the last 10 seasons. 

THIRD TIME'S THE CHARM
Wright State and Northern Kentucky will meet in the Horizon League tournament for the third time since NKU joined the League, with NKU winners in the previous two meetings. The Raiders and NKU previously met in the 2017 HL second round and also in the 2019 HL Championship game. 

STRANGE. . . BUT TRUE
The last four Horizon League Championship games involving Wright State have seen the lower seeded team win - with the Raiders being the higher seed in the previous three instances. 
(2019 - NKU 2nd seed, Wright State 1st seed) / 2016 - Green Bay 4th seed, Wright State 3rd seed) / 2014 - Milwaukee 5th seed, Wright State 3rd seed).

INTERESTING DETAIL
Wright State's margin of defeat in the two regular season meetings against NKU were 10 and 4 points - the same margins as the Raiders' two Cleveland State regular season meetings. The Raiders dropped both regular season meetings to Cleveland State but won in the postseason and are looking for the same outcome against Northern Kentucky in Tuesday's championship.

THREE-TON NORRIS
Wright State freshman Keaton Norris set a new career-high scoring total with 10 points in Monday's Horizon League semifinal win thanks to a trio of three-pointers. For the year, Norris has taken 82 total shots - 70 of them from long distance (87 percent) - while his connection rate has a similar yield. Of his 33 made baskets, 27 of them have come from beyond the arc (82 percent).

NATIONAL ATTENTION
Tanner Holden (78% FT) has made 192 free throws (No. 1 in the country) on 246 total attempts (No. 1 nationally), through Monday's games. Holden's 643 total points scored is No. 7 in the country, while his 20.1 points per game average is No. 19 nationally. Grant Basile's rebound work is also among the best in the nation: ranking 22nd nationally with 276 total rebounds, No. 37 nationally in total rebounds/game average with his 8.6 boards per contest and No. 61 in the country with his 5.94 defensive rebounds/game average.