“I was concerned even watching us in practice. You’re just like, ‘Oh my goodness, we’ve lost our mojo offensively,’” Nagy said.
“Even in practice, we just looked like a mess.”
But something happened between Friday’s final preparations and Saturday’s game against Robert Morris. The Raiders became an offensive machine again.
They won, 101-71, topping 60% shooting for the seventh time this season at 64.2 and reaching triple digits for the sixth time.
“I did have some concerns because we played so poorly and shot it so poorly against Oakland, that maybe we lost some of our mojo,” said Nagy, referring to shooting only 33.8% from the floor and 17.9% on 3′s, both two-year lows.
“But then we shot 72% in the first half. Guys did such a good job of throwing it in when people were open.”
Wright State is 15-12 overall and alone in fourth in the Horizon League at 10-6.
Oakland is in first at 13-4, a half-game in front of 12-4 Green Bay. Youngstown State is third at 11-6.
The Raiders play Detroit Mercy (1-16) on the road Thursday and Oakland on Saturday afternoon.
They’re just one 100-point game from tying the school record of seven, which was set in 1992-93.
That Ralph Underhill-coached team played at a frenetic pace, once scoring a combined 265 points in back-to-back games.
These Raiders rely on precision and efficiency in half-court settings.
They’re first in the country in field-goal shooting at 53.3% (Gonzaga is second at 51.5) and sixth in scoring at 85.6 per game. And it’s clear why they’re operating at such a high level.
“One, we throw it in (to the post). And two, we have good shooters. We just do,” Nagy said.
“Trey doesn’t hardly miss anything mid-range.”
Star guard Trey Calvin had 21 points on 8-of-12 shooting and has scored in double figures every game this season.
The frontcourt tandem of A.J. Braun (career-high 24 points) and Brandon Noel (21) were a combined 15 of 17 from the field.
And where the Raiders really excel is in sharing the ball. They seldom over-dribble. And the more it moves, the more stress it puts on opponents in trying to get their defense set.
They average 16.4 assists per game — their best mark since averaging 18.3 in 1992-93 — and have had 10 games with 20 or more assists.
Asked to explain their prodigious offense, Tanner Holden said: “I think our selflessness is the biggest thing. Not a lot of teams have five to six guys who can score 10-plus points and put up 20 points. That’s a big key to it.
“We want to see each other be successful because we know that brings team success. I really think just having good players surrounding you makes it hard for opposing teams to pick who they want to play aggressively.”
The previous high for 20-assist games in a season under Nagy was seven in 2019-20.
They had a combined six in his first three seasons.
“We do pass the ball pretty well — particularly when we take care of it. We only had seven turnovers (against Robert Morris),” Nagy said.
“At the percentage we shoot, normally, if we only have seven turnovers, there’s a good chance we’re going to score a lot of points.”
THURSDAY’S GAME
Wright State at Detroit Mercy, 7 p.m., ESPN+, 101.5, 1410
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