Raiders tip off 2024-25 Monday night in front of national audience

Monday, November 4

Lexington, KY / Rupp Arena

7 PM

Wright State University

Kentucky

Photo by: Joseph Craven

Raiders tip off 2024-25 Monday night in front of national audience

11/3/2024 12:45:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Watch on ESPNU Follow Live Stats Listen on 101.5 HANK FM

DAYTON - The Wright State men's basketball team officially lifts the lid on its 2024-25 season and the start of the Clint Sargent Era on Monday night when the Raiders travel to take on Kentucky in a nationally televised contest. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. on ESPNU from Lexington. Fans can follow the action several ways - via live stats, by watching on ESPNU or by tuning in to the home for Raider Basketball 101.5 HANK FM and WING 1410 AM. Chris Collins and Jim Brown will have all the play-by-play radio feed.

Fans can tune into 101.5 HANK FM live over the air in the Dayton metro area, as well stream the station live nationwide through a variety of free streaming apps. The iHeartRadio app, the TuneIn Radio app and the Audacy app are all FREE and each carry 101.5 HANK FM. Just search "101.5 HANK FM" on any of the three apps for Raider Basketball.

MONDAY: WATCH ON ESPNU | FOLLOW LIVE STATS | LISTEN ON 101.5 HANK FM | GAME NOTES

RAIDER RETURNERS
Wright State returns eight letterwinners off its 2023-24 roster, led by mainstays Alex Huibregtse and Brandon Noel. Both players started 31 of 32 contests last season, each averaging 33.1 and 34.4 minutes per game, respectively. Noel, the 2023 Horizon League Freshman of the Year, averaged 14.5 points and 8.0 rebounds last season as a redshirt sophomore while shooting 53.5 percent overall, while Huibregtse averaged 12.3 points and 3.8 rebounds last season as he shot 52.5 percent overall and 41.7 percent from three-point range.

PRESEASON PICKS
Wright State received 315 total votes and four first-place votes as the Raiders were selected fifth in the Horizon League preseason poll ahead of the 2024-25 season. Brandon Noel was selected as the Horizon League's preseason Player of the Year with a spot on the first team while Alex Huibregtse earned second team preseason honors.

EXHIBITION REWIND
Wright State rolled past visiting Wilmington 108-59 in exhibition action on Oct. 26 as all 14 Raiders saw action on the floor, none over 24 minutes, as Wright State shot 56.5 percent overall as a group and got scoring contributions from 12 different players. Logan Woods and Ayden Davis each finished with a game-best 13 points while Jack Doumbia and Alex Bruskotter each knocked in 12 points. Keaton Norris was the final Raider in double digits with 11 points, while five other players had between seven and nine points in the tune-up contest. Michael Imariagbe pulled down 10 rebounds to pace all players as Wright State saw 13 players grab at least one board and eight Raiders collected three or more rebounds.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS
In Wright State's Oct. 26 exhibition, seven players saw their first unofficial action for the Raiders, with the group combining for exactly half of the 108 total points (54) as they combined to grab 33 of Wright State's 57 total rebounds in the win.

KNOW THE FOE
- Kentucky was 23-10 a season ago, falling to Horizon League foe Oakland in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament. Former Kentucky player Mark Pope takes over as head coach after John Calipari departed following the season.
- The Raiders have faced Kentucky four times previously, with the having meet inside Rupp Arena in three of the four previous contests, while they faced off in Cincinnati in November 1998.
-Wright State and Kentucky last met early in the 2015-16 season.
-This will be the second time Wright State and Kentucky have opened the season against each other, joining the 1992-93 opener that was played on December 2.

NOT ENTIRELY NEW TO THIS
New Wright State head coach Clint Sargent will officially be at the helm of the Raiders for the first time on Monday night at Kentucky, but Sargent has some familiarity leading the Raiders on the sideline. During the 2021-22 campaign, Sargent was forced to step in as acting head coach in place of Scott Nagy, who was sidelined due to COVID-19 protocols, with Sargent leading Wright State on Dec. 30, 2021 against Milwaukee and on Jan. 1, 2022 versus Green Bay. Sargent guided the Raiders to wins in both games, albeit victories that went on Nagy's coaching record.