But first-year coach Clint Sargent also needed some reinforcement about the trajectory of the team, and he knew he’d get an answer one way or another in his first game against a comparable opponent.
“I do think I had a lot of internal confidence that you hope is there, and I was confident in this group. But until you do it in a game — in a back-and-forth game — you don’t quite know,” Sargent said.
“As good as I’ve felt about this team, to be able to do it on the road, it absolutely was a confidence-booster for everybody.”
The Raiders, who won 81-68, have another venture into Mid-American Conference country, playing at Toledo at 7 p.m. Wednesday. And a victory would be one more mother-may-I, giant step forward.
The Rockets (1-1) have won four straight conference regular-season crowns and were picked fourth in the preseason poll (Miami was sixth).
The Rockets have gone 20-12, 27-8, 26-8 and 21-8 the last four seasons under 15th-year coach Ted Kowalczyk, earning three NIT bids.
“In terms of mid-major Ohio teams, they’re probably one of the top two or three teams that, I would say, are the standard,” Sargent said.
“Coach Kowalczyk has modeled that consistency. They’re always very talented. They’re always very confident and tough. And they have the results to back it up.”
The Raiders are 9-7 all-time in the series, losing at home last year but winning the three before that.
Their 2019-20 road win was the coming-out party for freshman future WSU Hall of Famer Tanner Holden, who had 27 points and 17 rebounds while going 9 of 10 from the field and 9 of 12 from the foul line.
Fifth-year player Isaiah Adams was named preseason All-MAC and is averaging 13 points and seven rebounds.
He’s a 6-foot-7 transfer from Buffalo and had double-figure averages the last two years.
Javan Simmons, a 6-7 forward who was the MAC freshman of the year last season, is the leading scorer at 17.5 per game.
Toledo lost at Troy, 84-74, and won at Marshall, 90-80.
“Just in Ohio alone, there’s a number of very good DivisionI programs. You don’t have to go too far to find somebody who’s winning and winning at a high level,” Sargent said.
“To have a measuring stick like Toledo early — a proven staff and proven team — I couldn’t be more excited to go up there and face them.”
WEDNESDAY’S GAME
Wright State at Toledo, 7 p.m., 101.5, 1410
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