Wright State rallies to beat NKU, punches ticket to NCAA Tournament

Wright State used a 14-0 run midway through the second half to get back into the game then made more plays down the stretch to pull out a 72-71 win over Northern Kentucky and punch a ticket to the NCAA Tournament.

“The first 30 minutes it looked like we weren’t even on the floor,” said Wright State coach Scott Nagy, whose team trailed 57-41 at the under-12 media timeout in the second half.

The Norse shot 60.9 percent in the first half and were scoring at will to start the second when WSU assistant coach Clint Sargent suggested the Raiders try a 1-3-1 zone.

“We hadn’t worked on 1-3-1 not one time in practice, so we just threw a 1-3-1 up there and they just chucked up a shot,” Nagy said. “I think they were as surprised as we were being in it. Maybe that threw ‘em off a little bit.”

Tim Finke, who finished with 10 points, tied the game at 61 with a jumper at the 6:21 mark to set up a frenetic finish.

NKU’s Marques Warrick led all scores with 28 points, and he hit a 3-pointer to put NKU on top by one with 20 seconds to go.

That set the stage for Trey Calvin to be the hero. The Wright State point guard swished a jumper in the lane with 10.5 seconds left and that ended up being the game-winner when Northern Kentucky’s Bryson Langdon’s last-second jumper was off the mark.

That sent the Raiders into celebration mode and punched their ticket for their fourth NCAA Tournament trip in Division I.

Fourth-seeded Wright State had the top scoring unit in league play, but the Raiders started slow Tuesday night — except for Calvin.

Wright State trailed 39-32 at halftime as six different Norse scored and Calvin carried the load for Wright State.

His baseline floater at the buzzer gave him 15 points on 6-for-13 shooting in the first half.

The rest of the Raiders were 6 for 21 in the first half while NKU shot 60.9 percent from the floor.

Wright State matched that shooting percentage in the second half as Holden and Basile started to get going.

“You can’t make runs unless you get stops,” Nagy said. “We finally got steals. You get some steals and you can get in transition.

“I’d stay for 30 minutes Tanner was in a bit of a funk — frustrated and standing around a little. Then the last 10 minutes he played. He was cutting and getting downhill, and Grant was popping up. I think that opened up the middle.”

Holden had seven points and an assist in the 14-0 run, and he finished with 19 points, four rebounds and three steals.

“It makes it so much more sweeter to win a game like that when you really have to fight,” Holden said. “I’m definitely grateful to go to the tournament with a team like this. We just have a great group from top to bottom. Everyone loves each other. This couldn’t be a better group to go to the tournament.”

Basile, who had 27 points in the Raiders’ semifinal win over top seed Cleveland State, finished with 18 points and seven rebounds Tuesday night en route to being named the tournament’s most valuable player.

The 68-team NCAA Tournament field will be announced at 6 p.m. Sunday on CBS.