TV/Radio: ESPN+/980-AM
Series: Wright State leads 27-13
Coaches: Scott Nagy is 120-57 in his sixth year at Wright State and 530-297 in his 27th year overall. Darrin Horn is 45-29 in his third season with Northern Kentucky and 216-140 in 12 years overall, including five seasons at South Carolina and four at Western Kentucky.
Probable Wright State starters
Name Ht. Class Pos. Avg.
A.J. Braun 6-7 Jr. F 7.6
Grant Basile 6-9 Jr. F 17.9
Tanner Holden 6-6 Jr. G 20.6
Tim Finke 6-6 Jr. G 9.3
Trey Calvin 6-0 Jr. G 14.0
Probable Northern Kentucky starters
Chris Brandon 6-8 Jr. F 4.1
Trevon Faulkner 6-4 Sr. G 12.5
Sam Vinson 6-5 Fr. G 11.3
Marques Warrick 6-2 So. G 13.9
Bryson Langdon 5-9 Sr. G 4.8
About Wright State: The Raiders are staying on the heels of the leaders in the Horizon League with their 8-2 record. Cleveland State is 9-1 and Oakland 8-1. Teams are playing an unprecedented 22 conference games this season. … The Raiders are first in the league in scoring at 76.4 per game and easily first in conference play at 80.7. But their defense is lagging behind. They’re 11th out of 12 teams in points allowed at 73.8 and eighth in league games at 72.1. … Holden’s 38-point outburst at UIC was the eighth 30-point game in Nagy’s six seasons. Basile had 37 points at Marshall this season and 35 against Milwaukee in the HL tourney loss last year. Loudon Love scored 34 against Robert Morris last season. Cole Gentry tallied 30 against Toledo in 2018-19. Grant Benzinger had 31 against Northern Kentucky in 2017-18. And Mark Alstork had 39, 33 and 30 in 2016-17 … The school record is 45 by Bill Edwards on Dec. 8, 1992 against Morehead State. … Nagy has a winning record against every league team in his six seasons except one: He’s 6-6 against NKU.
About Northern Kentucky: Since the Norse are travel partners with the Raiders, they both play the same two teams on road trips. NKU won at UIC, 74-70 in OT, and cruised past IUPUI, 60-41, while Wright State handled both foes by a combined 44 points. Faulkner had 18 points against the Jaguars on Saturday, going 5 of 9 on 3′s. … Adrian Nelson became just the fourth player in program history to average double-figure rebounds when he pulled down 10 per game last season. The 6-8 senior started all 25 games in 2020-21 and the first 11 this season, but he’s been utilized as a super sub of late and is averaging 7.3 points and a team-best 8.3 rebounds. … The Norse won the 2020 HL tourney in Horn’s first season, beating UIC (which ousted Wright State) in the finals, 71-62. But they couldn’t play in the NCAA tourney because the COVID-19 outbreak cancelled the event. They have three HL tourney titles in the last five years, while Wright State and Cleveland State each have one.… They were 14-11 overall and 11-7 in the conference last season. They were picked to finish third in the league this year.
Next game: The Raiders return home to face preseason favorite Cleveland State at 9 p.m. Friday on ESPNU. The school is staging a Black Out, and the first 4,000 fans will be given free T-shirts.
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