“We did what we were supposed to do,” he said.
Actually, they did a little more than just meet expectations.
In racing to a 111-59 win, they more than doubled their previous output in a 66-54 loss to Akron and scored the most points by a Raider team since tallying a school-record 136 against Chicago State on Jan. 6, 1993.
That squad had an astonishing 265 points in back-to-back games, amassing 129 against Morehead State four days early.
The Raiders averaged 89.1 points in 1992-93, which ranked fourth in the nation.
Nagy’s teams have topped 100 five times with a previous high of 109 against Ohio Dominican in 2016-17.
“We shot it better,” Nagy said. “We were 10 for 20 from 3, which was nice.
“We don’t take a lot of 3′s, but we probably have to do that a little more to open up the inside game.”
The Raiders have taken only 15.8 per game, which was 343rd among 352 teams in the country going into the week.
They’re making 5.4 per game, which was 327th.
Asked if he put an emphasis on the 3 against UNOH, Nagy said: “That wasn’t a focus. That’s generally never been a focus for us. But I know we have to be willing to shoot it more.
“Players know I want to be at the rim (taking shots). I want to be at the free-throw line. We’re such an unusual statistical team that the majority of our shots are 2-point shots, but we’re not getting to the free-throw line. That’s not a good combination.”
The Raiders are missing their two most prolific foul shooters from last season in Tanner Holden and Grant Basile. Holden ranked among the national leaders in attempts with 280 in 36 games.
That’s 7.8 per game. No one this season is averaging even three.
The Raiders’ attempts have dropped from 18.8 to 13.0. And Nagy knows what the problem is.
“It’s not the referees, it’s US,” he said. “We shoot a lot of mid-range shots.”
But Nagy did see plenty of positive developments going into their final non-league game at Miami on Thursday.
Alex Huibregtse, a redshirt sophomore wing, scored a career-high 15 points on 6-of-9 shooting against UNOH after going 3 of 17 from the field in his previous four games.
Andrew Welage, a junior wing, had 13 points after scoring just eight during the four-game losing streak.
“Those two off the bench played well,” Nagy said. “We need those guys to score and do a little more for us.”
They also need a fully functioning Trey Calvin if they want to reach their goals.
The preseason second-team All-Horizon League pick hasn’t started the last four games. And Nagy isn’t ready to say when the senior point guard would get his job back.
“I haven’t spent a lot of time thinking about it,” he said. “There’s a lot I want to see from him — everybody else, too, but he’s got to lead that.”
Calvin is still fifth in the league in scoring at 16.9 per game, fourth in assists at 4.7 and sixth in field-goal shooting at 46.2%.
“It’s not (a bad) attitude. It’s not punishment or any of that,” Nagy said. “We’re trying to get him in the right frame of mind all the time, which we need in order for us to win.”
THURSDAY’S GAME
Wright State at Miami, 7 p.m., ESPN+, 980, 1450
About the Author