But he suited up, started and came out firing. He hit a pair of 3′s in the opening 45 seconds and kept it going, finishing with 31 points while going 7 of 14 beyond the arc and playing 47 of 50 minutes.
Asking what happened in the days leading up to the game, though, wouldn’t be the right question.
It isn’t a what but a who.
Huibregtse credited head trainer LaShaunta’ Jones, who is in her third year, for getting him back on the court. And he never looked fitter.
“LaShaunta’ Jones — she’s great. We just did a lot of rehab and a lot of recovery,” Huibregtse said.
“She did an amazing job getting me back out there to play. I’m very grateful for her.”
It was a big night for Huibregtse, who became the 39th Raider to top 1,000 points for his career.
The fifth-year senior has 1,021 and could become one of the school’s all-time leading scorers since he still has one more year of eligibility because of the NCAA’s COVID rule.
Recruiting is still mostly guesswork — at least for mid-majors sifting through prospects passed over by top conferences — and the coaches couldn’t have known for sure what they were getting in the Grafton, Wis., product.
But in the program’s 38 years in Division I, it has produced just 28 1,000-point scorers, making Huibregtse a bona fide recruiting win.
“I’m just so grateful for all my teammates that I’ve had, past and present, and the coaching I’ve had,” said Huibregtse, who joined teammate Brandon Noel (1,236 points) in the four-digit club.
“All the credit goes to them really, and, man, I’m just very grateful and very thankful for each and every single one of them.”
The only thing that would have made the milestone sweeter would have been a win.
In one of the wildest games in Nutter Center history, the Raiders were handed a 120-113 double-overtime defeat Wednesday.
Though there were defensive lapses galore, the PFW guards were masters at making highly contested 3′s, sometimes contorting their bodies in mid-air to get around defenders.
The 120 points are the most allowed by the Raiders in their D-I era.
The most in a regulation game is 113 by U.S. International in 1989-90.
The highest total all-time is 149 by Charleston in 1984-85.
The Raiders’ 113 points are their most since piling up 265 in back-to-back games in 1992-93, beating Chicago State, 136-91, and Morehead State, 129-63.
Even with that offensive onslaught, the Raiders are giving up a respectable 74.3 points per game after surrendering 81.2 last season. They finished 346th out of 351 teams nationally in scoring defense last season and are 259th this year.
“The defense has gotten better. Our offense can be streaky,” coach Clint Sargent said. “The fact of the matter is we we’ve just been losing games that could go either way. Not winning those games, it keeps you from feeling like we’re turning the corner.”
The Raiders (9-10 overall and 3-5 in the Horizon League) are just 1-5 in games decided by five points or fewer this season and 1-6 counting overtime games (the PFW loss was the first of the season).
“It’s not how I envisioned this year going in a lot of ways, but I still like what I see with our team. The goal is to be playing your best basketball in February and March, and when this team turns that corner, we’ll be as battle tested and real and fearless as I could ever dream this team would be because of (tight losses),” Sargent said.
The Raiders, who went into the weekend eighth in the league, play at Northern Kentucky (9-10, 4-4) at 2 p.m. Saturday and have 11 more league games after that.
Despite the double-OT gut-punch, Huibregtse is confident the team understands the season is far from over.
“These kind of games can either bring you closer or can make you splinter, and I know this group. We’re going to become closer from it,” he said.
SATURDAY’S GAME
Wright State at Northern Kentucky, 2 p.m., ESPN+, 101.5, 1410
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