The 6-foot-4 sophomore guard has been dedicated to defense since his high school days in Butler County, and he figured the quickest way to crack the Raiders’ lineup was to excel at that facet of the game.
He was right.
He played extensively as a redshirt freshman last year and has been a starter most of this season.
“Defensively, I’m just trying to bring energy and be active. That’s pretty much what I’ve been doing,” he said.
As for the keys to keeping players in front of him, he said: “The film and the scout help me with that. And knowing the game and having a good IQ for what people usually like to do … well, I don’t know. I can’t really explain that one.”
But a pesky reporter couldn’t let it go. Does he look at the players’ belt buckle, the ball, his eyes?
“Most of the time, I’m looking at his waist. But other times, I just guess.”
Good guessing wouldn’t help much if the athletic, long-armed Woods didn’t have the physical traits to do it.
And his defense alone wouldn’t have gotten him 25 starts in 28 games if he wasn’t at least a contributor on offense.
He made a big jump in the offseason as a shooter. He’s gone 36 of 75 on 3′s for a team-high 48%. Keaton Norris is next at 44.6%, and no one else has reached the 40′s.
Woods — who played two years at Division IV Cincinnati Christian and then transferred as a junior to Division I Fairfield to face fiercer competition — also is among the team leaders in overall field-goal shooting (49%) and free throws (77.8%) while averaging 7.0 points.
A top sub last year, he hit only 36.4% from the field and 28.6% from 3, and he knew something had to change.
“Over the summer, I really worked at it. It was just getting used to the (3-point) range and then trying to get my release quicker. That really helped me,” he said.
“Last year, I held on to the ball too long. And they’d be able to contest it really well or block it. This year, I wanted to get it out of my hands quicker.”
He’s earned what every players wants: the perpetual green light from the coaches.
“They want me to shoot it anytime I’m open,” he said.
Woods’ role has changed of late because of the emergence of fellow wing Solomon Callaghan. He started when Woods was sidelined with an illness at Purdue Fort Wayne on Feb. 5 and will be hard to keep out of the lineup.
The redshirt freshman has averaged 16.3 points in the last four games while shooting 61.5% from the field, going 15 of 24 on 3′s.
“Logan is team-first. He has low ego, high humility. He has a really healthy about-the-team perspective,” coach Clint Sargent said.
“I think he’s handled that well,” Sargent added of the change in roles. “Being sick over that Fort Wayne trip didn’t help. Getting him back in rhythm (has been hard). But I get the sense he just wants to win.”
Sargent knows Woods well.
“I love Solomon as a teammate,” the player said. “He’s been having very good games the past couple weeks. I hope he continues to do that.
“It really doesn’t matter if I’m a starter or not. I just want to us to win, which we’ve been struggling to do. I’m sure that’ll change soon.”
THURSDAY’S GAME
Cleveland State at Wright State, 9 p.m., ESPN2, 101.5, 1410
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