Raiders welcome Milwaukee for Thursday night showdown

DAYTON - The Wright State men's basketball team welcomes Milwaukee to town as the second half of Horizon League play gets underway on Thursday night with a 7 p.m. tipoff inside the Nutter Center. Wright State beat the Panthers on the road two weeks ago, while Milwaukee has won a pair of games since and is 4-4 away from home this season.

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 all the play-by-play on the radio and ESPN feeds.

THURSDAY: WATCH ON ESPN+ | FOLLOW LIVE STATS | LISTEN ON WONE 980 AM | GAME NOTES | TICKETS

LAST TIME OUT
Wright State battled back to within four points on four occasions late in the second half on Saturday night, but the Raiders could not overcome a slow start as they fell 85-77 to Cleveland State in Horizon League action. Trey Calvin's 24 points were a game-high as he went 9-of-11 from the free throw line on the way to his 16th double figure scoring game of the season, while Noel added 16 points and a team-leading six rebounds. Tim Finke was the final Raider in double figures, finishing with 11 points thanks in part to a pair of second half three-pointers as part of the 16-point second half scoring run to pull back into the contest.

MILWAUKEE MATCHUP
Milwaukee enters Saturday at 14-6 overall and tied atop the Horizon League standings. The Panthers are on a two-game winning streak since falling to the Raiders in overtime back on Jan. 14. Trey Calvin and Brandon Noel each had 23 points in the overtime win, as Calvin scored eight of the Raiders' nine overtime points and Noel added nine rebounds, while Tim Finke was the third Raider in double figures with his 11 points. The teams have met 69 times overall, with the Raiders holding a 37-32 lead over Milwaukee in the overall series, including wins in eight of the last 10 meetings. The first meeting came back on Jan. 17, 1977 in Milwaukee, a 75-66 Panther win. The first Wright State home game was the following year - a 71-69 Raider win on Feb. 13, 1978.

PANTHER POINTS
-Milwaukee is 14-6 overall with an 8-2 mark in Horizon League action. The Panthers are 10-2 at home but just 4-4 away from Milwaukee, with all four road wins coming in HL contests (4-1 overall on the road in HL play).
-Starting Thursday, Milwaukee closes the season with five road games and five home games, with Thursday's game against the Raiders the first of three straight on the road.
-BJ Freeman was named the Horizon League Player of the Week on Monday after scoring 26 points against Robert Morris last Thursday before career-highs of 30 points and 11 assists at Youngstown State on Saturday.

LONG ROAD TO OVERTIME
Wright State's overtime win at Milwaukee back on Jan. 14 was the second overtime game of the season for the Raiders, joining the season-opening double-overtime loss to Davidson on Nov. 9, but the first Wright State overtime game on the road since an 81-74 win at Cleveland State on Feb. 22, 2020 in head coach Scott Nagy's 500th career coaching victory. Under Nagy, the Raiders have played in nine total overtime games (4-5 record) since the 2016-17 season.

NATIONALLY SPEAKING
Wright State's 50.2 overall season shooting percentage to date is ranked tied-4th in the country behind Gonzaga (1, 51.8 percent), Colgate (2, 50.9), Indiana (3, 50.8 percent) and Marquette (50.3).Brandon Noel's 63.2 percent field goal percentage is tops in the Horizon League and is No. 15 nationally in shooting percentage.

DOUBLING DOWN
Brandon Noel's seven double-doubles to date are one off the Horizon League lead, while Noel has tallied a HL-best five double-doubles in League play. Noel has recorded double figures scoring 15 times with five games of 20-plus points. On the glass, he has the seven double-digit rebound games and has five-plus rebounds in 17 contests.

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Players Mentioned

Trey Calvin

Tim Finke

Brandon Noel

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