“We’ve been one of the worst teams in the country defensively. They knew that was the focus,” Nagy said. “We had two options coming into the game — we either get better or we get worse.”
The Raiders seemed to take a step forward in a 109-54 victory over Division-II Ohio Dominican before 3,105 fans Monday. They raced to a 49-28 halftime lead and held the Panthers (2-2) scoreless for the first five minutes of the second half.
“Even at halftime, we were only shooting 41 percent, and we were up 21, and the reason was because we were guarding,” Nagy said. “We’re just trying to show them you can still be bad offensively and win games if you play great defense.”
The Raiders (3-1) went on a 30-2 run to start the second half and scored their most points since a 136-91 over Chicago State on Jan. 6 1993.
Junior forward Grant Benzinger recorded the first double-double of his career with 17 points and 10 rebounds in 22 minutes, but he was more proud of the defensive effort in holding ODU to 36-percent shooting.
“That’s all we talked about — we didn’t talk about offense before the game — and it paid dividends,” he said. “We held them to a really low percentage, and that’s what we want to do.”
Five things we learned:
Point producer: Mark Alstork went into the game leading the nation in scoring with a 32.7 average, but Nagy wants him to shoot less and distribute more.
The 6-5 junior guard finished with 23 points and four assists in 22 minutes, going 7-for-11 from the field and 7-for-7 from the foul line.
“I don’t need Mark to think, ‘I have to lead the nation in scoring,’” Nagy said. “He scored 39 the other night (against Toledo) and we got beat. It’ll wear him out. He’s going to have to trust his teammates, and I thought he did a better job of that. He only took 11 shots, which is way fewer than what he’s used to, and I didn’t have to say anything to him.”
New face: Sophomore guard Alan Vest made his first appearance this season with 13:04 left in the first half, taking the floor with Alstork, Mike La Tulip, Justin Mitchell and Steven Davis.
That lineup had some juice, pushing a 14-9 lead to 26-11 in about five minutes. He finished with two points and five rebounds.
Dropped a spot: Alstork was thought to be third on the Raiders' single-game scoring list with his 39-point outing, but he's actually fourth. The sports information staff uncovered a gem that had been overlooked: Tim Walker's 42-point effort in a 109-107 double-overtime win at Marian on Jan. 8, 1972.
Walker had the single-game record for 12 years until it was broken by Mark Vest, who had 43 in a 110-85 win over Marycrest on Jan. 27, 1984. Bill Edwards tops the all-time list with 45 against Morehead State on Dec. 8, 1992.
Halftime winner: Isiah Green, a Wright State freshman from Byesville, Ohio, won a year's supply of pizza from Rapid Fire by making a layup, free throw, 3-pointer and half-court shot in 30 seconds, bringing the crowd to its feet.
Coming up: The Raiders host the Men Against Breast Cancer Classic Presented by Premier Health this weekend, facing CSU Bakersfield (2-1) at 7 p.m. Friday, North Dakota (3-0) at 7 p.m. Saturday and North Florida (1-3) at 4:30 p.m. Sunday.
NEXT GAME
Who: CSU Bakersfield at Wright State
What: Men Against Breast Cancer Classic
When: 7 p.m. Friday
Where: Nutter Center
TV/Radio: ESPN3, 106.5-FM
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