Until the last two games, that is.
The 6-foot-8, 255-pound center dominated UIC on the road Friday night, racking up game highs of 23 points and 12 rebounds, to lead Wright State to a 72-47 victory. He was coming off a 34-point, 11-board effort against Robert Morris in his previous outing.
The two-time defending Horizon League champs (14-4, 12-3) notched their sixth straight win while pounding their conference nemesis. The Flames (8-8, 5-6) had won four of last five meetings, including a stunning 73-56 victory in the tourney semifinals last season.
Five of the six wins in the Raiders’ streak have been by 25 points or more.
Trey Calvin chipped in 12 points and five assists, and Grant Basile had nine points and 10 rebounds.
Cleveland State (13-5, 13-2) stayed one game ahead of Wright State in the league race after an 80-72 road win against Oakland.
The Raiders held their hosts to 22-of-60 shooting (36.7%), including a dismal 2-of-18 effort on 3′s.
One of the top rebounding teams in the nation, they also had a 45-31 edge on the boards.
The Raiders, who shot 46%, led by 10 at halftime and then scored the first 11 points of the second half. A Love dunk with 11:22 to go capped a 17-4 run and gave them a 50-27 lead.
They started 7 of 12 from the field in the second half and forced UIC into missing 11 of its first 13 shots.
The Raiders can tie their best league winning streak in the last 13 years by beating UIC on Saturday. They won seven in a row in 2017-18, which is the most since the 2007-08 team managed 10 consecutive conference victories.
UIC, which has lost four straight games, had a solid start and were tied, 17-17, when Teyvion Kirk made a jumper with 10:29 to go.
Love hit one of two free throws at 10:16 to break the tie, and then the teams went almost three minutes without scoring.
But the Raiders heated up again. Tim Finke, Basile and Calvin all hit buckets. And then Finke, who had nine points on 4-of-6 shooting and seven rebounds, hit a 3 at 5:37 to cap a 10-0 surge.
The teams hit another drought soon after that. Love made a layup with 3:26 to go for a 33-23 lead, and that was the last of the scoring until the second half.
Love had nine points and nine rebounds in the opening half, while UIC went 10 of 30 from the field and committed eight of its 14 turnovers.
SATURDAY’S GAME
Wright State at UIC, 8 p.m., ESPN+, 106.5
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