Wright State basketball: Nagy pleased with 3-point marksmanship so far

Wright State's Andrew Welage, shown in last week's season opener at Colorado State, is one of several three-point threats for the Raiders. Wright State Athletics photo

Wright State's Andrew Welage, shown in last week's season opener at Colorado State, is one of several three-point threats for the Raiders. Wright State Athletics photo

FAIRBORN — Wright State coach Scott Nagy knows the schedule sets up favorably for his team with eight of its final 13 Horizon League games at the Nutter Center.

But he would have preferred a better balance of home and road games, convinced it would lead to greater crowd support.

“I don’t like playing too many games in row at home … because you get what we call fan fatigue — like, they’re at home AGAIN?” he said.

“It’s good to go away and have fans look forward to you coming back.”

But ticket sales should be brisk for Thursday’s game against league co-leader Green Bay since Nagy’s squad has been on the road for two weeks.

And besides, teams generally shoot better in their home games, though the Raiders have been wearing out nets almost everywhere they’ve been.

They’re first in the country in field-goal shooting at 53.26%, just ahead of Colorado State’s 52.03.

They’re also first in the league and 22nd nationally in 3-point shooting at 38.4%. That’s on pace to be the best clip at Wright State since the 2007-08 team shot 38.8.

“We’re shooting the ball great,” Nagy said. “It’s not anything I’m doing (as far as emphasizing 3′s). I think it’s just the players understanding we can have a good ‘impact play’ based on our percentage.”

The Raiders seldom rely too heavily on the 3 — they make only 6.5 per game, which is eighth-best in the league — but they have a slew of threats from the arc.

Andrew Welage is shooting 47.1, Tanner Holden 43.8 and Trey Calvin 43.6. Even forward Brandon Noel is hitting a respectable 38.6.

The Raiders put stress on defenses because they have capable scorers on the blocks, which leads to open looks from 3.

“I think teams are having to try to deal with us inside. It tightens the defense up,” Nagy said. “Not only our ‘bigs,’ but also our guards are good in the post.

“We give our players a lot of freedom. This is probably one of the better teams I’ve had in terms of guys who can really shoot the ball.”

The Raiders went 12 of 20 from 3 for 60% in a 101-76 win at Robert Morris on Jan. 10.

That was the second-highest clip in Nagy’s eight years, topped only by an 11-of-18 showing (61.1%) against North Florida in an 89-72 win on Nov. 17, 2018.

They’ve shot 50% or better four times this season, already equaling their number from the last two seasons combined.

“I’ve always said it’s not how many you shoot, but your percentage. I’d like to shoot 40%. That’s hard to do as a team, but we’re pretty close to that,” Nagy said.

SOLID SEASON: Tanner Holden is averaging 17.4 points, which is down from his career-best mark of 20.1 as a sophomore. But his assist numbers are rising.

The 6-foot-6 senior is at 3.4 per game after averaging 2.7, 2.6 and 1.7 his first three years with the Raiders.

Calvin averages 3.8 and Alex Huibregtse 2.7.

“All his career, he’s been a very efficient offensive player. But probably one thing that’s overlooked about Tanner is how good a passer he is,” Nagy said.

“Sometimes, he throws a pass, and I go, ‘I can’t even BELIEVE he just made that pass.’”

Holden has 1,795 career points. The Raiders are guaranteed 14 more games, and he’ll need to average 14.5 in that span to become only the second four-year player under Nagy to reach 2,000.

Nate Wolters scored 2,363 at South Dakota State from 2009-13. Nagy also recruited Mike Daum and coached him as a freshman.

Daum is eighth on the NCAA’s all-time point list with 3,067 from 2015-19.

THURSDAY’S GAME

Green Bay at Wright State, 7 p.m., ESPN+, 101.5, 1410

About the Author