Cleveland State at Wright State: What to know about Saturday’s game

Wright State's AJ Braun, 12, drives toward the basket during a non-conference game against Miami in Oxford on Thursday, Dec. 22. DAVID A. MOODIE/CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER

Credit: David A. Moodie

Credit: David A. Moodie

Wright State's AJ Braun, 12, drives toward the basket during a non-conference game against Miami in Oxford on Thursday, Dec. 22. DAVID A. MOODIE/CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER

Who: Cleveland State (11-9, 6-3) at Wright State (11-9, 4-5)

When: 7 p.m. Saturday

TV/Radio: ESPN+/980

Series: The Raiders have faced Cleveland State more than any other opponent and have a 43-37 series record.

Coaches: Scott Nagy is 552-312 overall and 142-72 in seven years at Wright State.

Daniyal Robinson is in his first year as Cleveland State’s coach. The former Iowa State assistant replaced Dennis Gates, who left to take over at Missouri.

Probable Wright State starters

Name Ht. Class Pos. Avg.

A.J. Braun 6-9 So. C 9.3

Brandon Noel 6-8 Fr. F 13.8

Amari Davis 6-2 Sr. G 11.1

Tim Finke 6-6 Sr. G 8.6

Trey Calvin 6-0 Sr. G 18.8

Probable Cleveland St. starters

Tristan Enaruna 6-8 Jr. F 13.6

Jayson Woodrich 6-7 Jr. 5.8

Deante Johnson 6-9 Sr. 7.7

Tae Williams 6-7 Jr. 10.2

Deshon Parker 6-4 Sr. 10.3

About Wright State: The Raiders lost both regular-season games to CSU last year but prevailed in the Horizon League semifinals, 82-67. … Noel is tied with IUPUI’s Vincent Brady II for the most HL freshman of the week awards with three each. The Chillicothe product had 32 points at Green Bay last week for the 13th 30-point game for the Raiders under Nagy. Calvin scored 37 against Davidson and 31 against Northern Kentucky this season, Tanner Holden dropped 38 on UIC and 37 on Bryant in the NCAA tourney in 2021-22, Grant Basile had 37 vs. Marshall and 35 against Milwaukee in 2020-21, Loudon Love scored 34 against Robert Morris that same season, Cole Gentry had 30 against Toledo in 2018-19, Grant Benzinger had 31 against Northern Kentucky in 2017-18, and Mark Alstork reached the 30′s three times in 2016-17: 39 vs. Toledo, 33 vs. Youngstown State and 30 vs. Southern Illinois.

About Cleveland State: CSU lost a heart-breaker at Northern Kentucky on Thursday. After Enaruna made one of two free throws with seven seconds left for a two-point lead, Marques Warrick made a 3 at the buzzer for the 57-56 win. … The Vikings had won their previous three games, including a 72-60 road victory over Purdue Fort Wayne. Enaruna had 24 against PFW and 15 against NKU. … CSU was picked seventh in the HL preseason poll. … Parker, a Wayne grad, is in his second season as the starting point guard. He was second in the league last season in assist-turnover ratio at 2.5-1.0. He’s third this season at 2.3:1.0. … As usual, the two-time defending HL champs are gritty on defense. They’re second in the league in points allowed (64.6) and defensive field-goal percentage (41.2).

Next game: The Raiders finish their four-game home stand by facing Green Bay at 7 p.m Thursday and Milwaukee at 7 p.m. Saturday. They have eight more regular-season games after that, six of them on the road.

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