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Series: Wright State leads 18-8
Coaches: Scott Nagy is 127-62 in his sixth year at Wright State and 537-302 in his 27th year overall. Greg Kampe is 664-502 in his 38th year at Oakland.
Probable Wright State starters
Name Ht. Class Pos. Avg.
A.J. Braun 6-9 Fr. 6.1
Grant Basile 6-9 Jr. F 18.3
Tanner Holden 6-6 Jr. G 19.9
Tim Finke 6-6 Jr. G 8.6
Trey Calvin 6-0 Jr. G 13.9
Probable Oakland starters
Jamal Cain 6-7 Sr. F 20.0
Micah Parrish 6-6 Fr. F 11.8
Jalen Moore 6-6 Sr. F 15.5
Trey Townsend 6-6 Fr. F 13.4
Blake Lampman 6-3 So. G 7.4
About Wright State: The Raiders swept the Grizzlies in a pair of high-intensity games this season. They survived 15 three-pointers to win, 78-74, on the road. They forced Oakland into 0-for-10 shooting with seven turnovers in the final 9:25 of a 75-64 home victory. … They’ve made only 25 of 39 free throws in their last two games, and their percentage has dropped to 76.0. They once were on pace to break the 2016-17 program record of 76.4. … They’re hitting only 32.3% from 3. They shot 37% last season and have never been lower than 33.7 in Nagy’s previous five seasons. Basile is 32 of 118 (27.1%) after going 20 of 42 (47.6%) last season. Finke also has fallen off from 41.3 to 32.0. Holden has improved from 30.2 to 35.1, and Calvin has upped his percentage from 32.0 to 36.6. … Their average of 6.3 three-pointers per game is their lowest since 2014-15.
All-league notes: The Raiders have had at least two All-Horizon League first- or second-team picks in each of the last five seasons: Holden and Basile this year, Holden and Loudon Love last season, Love and Bill Wampler two straight years before that, and Grant Benzinger and Love in 2017-18. They had one in Nagy’s first year in 2016-17, Mark Alstork.
A.J. Braun is the fifth Raider in five years to make the all-freshman team. He joins Love (2017-18), Malachi Smith (2018-19) and Holden and Basile (2019-20). Smith, a 6-3 guard, plays for Southern Conference champion Chattanooga and averages 20.3 points, 6.6 rebounds and 3.1 assists.
Holden, who averages 19.9 points, 7.1 rebounds and 2.7 assists, had a strong case for league player of the year — not that Cain and Detroit’s Antoine Davis weren’t deserving of sharing the honor. But since Wright State joined the league in 1994-95, the winner has never gone to a player whose team finished below fourth place. Oakland was fifth and Detroit sixth. In 18 of 27 years, the player of the year came from the first-place team.
About Oakland: The Raiders handed Kampe his 500th career loss on Feb. 18, but his 664 wins are the same as former UCLA great John Wooden’s career total. Of course, Wooden only had 182 losses and won the NCAA tournament 10 times. Still, that’s impressive company. … The Grizzlies opened with a 69-58 first-round win over IUPUI on Tuesday. Cain had 17 points, and Moore had 16 points and nine assists. … Cain is one of only two players in the country averaging at least 20 points and 10 rebounds (he’s pulling down 10.1 boards). Illinois’ Kofi Cockburn (21.5, 10.7) is the other. … After leading the nation in assists last season, Moore, a two-time all-league pick, is second this year at 7.9 per game, just behind Saint Louis’ Yuri Collins at 8.0. ... Parrish made the league’s all-defensive team after earning all-freshman honors last season.
Next game: The HL semifinals and finals are March 7-8 at Indiana Farmers Coliseum in Indianapolis.
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