Radio: 980-AM
Series: Akron leads, 13-9
Coaches: Scott Nagy is 136-68 in his seventh year at Wright State and 546-308 in his 28th year overall.
John Groce has a 99-63 record in his sixth year at Akron. He was 95-75 in five years at Illinois and 85-56 in four years at Ohio U. with an NCAA Sweet 16 appearance.
Probable Wright State starters
Name Ht. Class Pos. Avg.
A.J. Braun 6-9 So. C 10.1
Amari Davis 6-2 Sr. G 12.9
Tim Finke 6-6 Sr. G 9.1
Trey Calvin 6-1 Sr. G 17.0
Keaton Norris 6-0 So. G 3.8
Probable Akron starters
Enrique Freeman 6-7 Jr. F 12.7
Tavari Johnson 5-11 Fr. G 7.4
Greg Tribble 6-1 Jr. G 5.9
Xavier Castaneda 6-1 Sr. G 18.4
Trendon Hankerson 6-2 Sr. G 8.8
About Wright State: The Raiders are third in the Horizon League in scoring (77.4) and sixth in points allowed (72.9). They’re shooting 50.4% from the field, which is first in the league and tied for 11th in the nation. … Calvin is fourth in the HL in scoring, just ahead of Youngstown State’s Dwayne Cohill at 16.7. Detroit’s Antoine Davis, pursuing his fifth straight league scoring title, is first again at 24.3 with Northern Kentucky’s Marques Warrick second at 20.4 and Oakland’s Trey Townsend third at 17.3. … The Raiders have out-rebounded their opponents every year under Nagy and have a plus-2.1 advantage per game this season. … Braun has been more assertive of late, notching the first double-double of his career Saturday against Western Kentucky and tallying a combined 30 points and 18 rebounds the last two games.
About Akron: The Zips won the MAC tourney last season, finished 24-10 and played UCLA tight in a first-round NCAA game, falling 57-53. … They’re coming off an 85-72 home win Sunday over 1-8 Jackson State. They had a 54-26 halftime lead. … They went 1-2 in the Cayman Islands Classic, losing to LSU and Nevada but beating Western Kentucky by 19. … They were picked third in the MAC preseason poll behind favorite Kent State and Toledo. Freeman was a preseason first-team pick, and Castaneda made the second team. … Freeman is second in the MAC with a 9.7 rebound average and is second on the team in assists (2.7). … Akron is a physical team (plus-3.1 rebound average and just 63.7 points allowed), but they’re last in the 12-team league in scoring (67.8), 11th in field-goal shooting (41.4%) and last in foul shooting (63.5).
Next game: The Raiders host Northwestern Ohio of the NAIA at 3 p.m. Saturday.
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