Imariagbe’s putback winner caps wild comeback win

Saturday, February 28

Highland Heights, KY / Truist Arena

7 PM

Wright State University

20-11,15-5Horizon

Northern Kentucky

18-13,10-10Horizon

Wright St.

Northern Ky.

Photo by: Joseph Craven

2/28/2026 9:45:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, KY - Michael Imariagbe's putback tip-in with less than a second remaining capped a ferocious second half comeback that saw the Wright State men's basketball team claw back from 20 points down to grab its 20th win of the season with a 92-91 victory over Northern Kentucky on Saturday night.

Wright State (20-11,15-5 Horizon) reached the 20-win mark for the 15th time in Division I and its first time reaching the mark since the 2021-22 season when the Raiders won 22 games.

The Raiders, who had already secured the outright Horizon League regular season title, will open the 2026 Horizon League Championship and will host a first round home game Wednesday, March 4 inside the Nutter Center at 7 p.m. against the winner of Monday's play-in game between No. 10 Cleveland State and No. 11 IU Indy. Tickets are now on sale for the first round home game. Raider season ticket holders can log into their online account to pay for their tickets. Tickets for the general public are on sale via this link.

On Saturday, Wright State trailed 53-35 at the half to Northern Kentucky (18-13,10-10 Horizon) before scoring 12 of the first 19 points in the second half to chip away. But the hosts continually had an answer, and the margin was back in double figures at 13 points with just under six minutes to play. Nine straight Raider points – and a 12-2 run overall – cut the deficit to three with 2:46 remaining to set up the ending. Wright State notched seven straight points to take a 90-88 lead with 16 seconds remaining, but Imariagbe only made one of two free throws to leave room for Northern Kentucky, who grabbed the lead right back on Donovan Oday's three-point play.

Wright State didn't blink after the free throw, quickly inbounding the ball and getting it up the floor, with TJ Burch's driving layup bounced off the rim with but Imariagbe was right there for the tip in with 0.2 seconds remaining to seal the comeback.

Kellen Pickett finished with 19 points to lead five Raiders in double figures, with Imariagbe notching a 15-point, 16-rebound double-double effort, along with 15 points from Michael Cooper. Burch added 14 points of his own to go with five assists and four steals to help spur the comeback, while Solomon Callaghan's 14 points helped the Raiders stay in the game in the first half.

Oday and Dan Gherezgher each finished with 21 points to lead Northern Kentucky, who also got 17 points from Kael Robinson and 13 points from LJ Wells in the loss.