The first-year Wright State coach said while it may sound good in theory, it’s not practical to try to cut up a season into 31 separate parts.
“I think all these games flow together,” he said, meaning good seasons are built on learning from wins and losses and stacking one lesson on top of another.
He also doesn’t want to embrace what many see as a fairly reliable formula for capturing a conference title — winning your home games and splitting on the road.
In the Horizon League, that’s going 5-5 away from home. And Sargent’s expectations are way higher than that.
“It would be very hard for me to have a mindset other than we should be winning ALL of our games,” he said. “I know there’s some data points on it — if you look back at teams who won the league — and maybe that holds true. I know it’s conventional wisdom. But I would have a hard time basically admitting it’s OK to lose a game.
“I think that’s what you do if you concede to splitting. I don’t love it and never really bought into that coaching adage, either.”
That’s why he wasn’t satisfied with a two-game split during the Michigan swing last week. The Raiders lost at Oakland, 66-64, but rallied to win at Detroit Mercy, 80-72.
They beat the resurgent Titans with another impressive shooting display, going 28 of 49 from the floor for 57.1%. They lead the HL in field-goal shooting at 49.5%.
Two days after setting a school record for 3′s by going 16 in 31 at Oakland, they connected on 8 of 19 against Detroit, hiking their percentage to a league-best 38.4%.
They shot 29.4% from 3 in the first five games but have hit 62 of 136 for 45.6% since then.
They’re 6-5 overall and 1-1 in the league, while the Titans, who went 1-31 last season, are 5-6 and 1-1.
“I’m very happy with the bounce-back,” Sargent said. “At Oakland, I was very heartbroken over that one, as were our players.
“We’ve had a number of tough one-possession losses for a variety of reasons. But just to see the response of our players and staff was great — owning what we needed to own, starting with myself and staff, and the players owning their share, and then just getting back to work.”
Brandon Noel was a major factor after he scored just six points and hit just 2 of 11 shots in 35 minutes at Oakland. The 6-foot-8 forward made his first six shots and finished with 26 points on 11-of-13 shooting with seven rebounds.
Jack Doumbia, a senior transfer from Norfolk State, had 21 points, 13 rebounds and three blocks, all career highs.
Alex Huibregtse had 17 points and six assists. And Logan Woods, who gave the team momentum going into halftime with a 3 just ahead of the buzzer, had nine points on 3-of-3 shooting from 3.
Asked about Noel’s turnaround, Sargent said: “It was a number of things with Oakland. Their zone can really be disruptive for your rhythm. I thought they did a good job getting Brandon off spots.
“It also was the first league game. Being a preseason player of the year, there’s a lot pressure he stepped into with that game. But watching the guy in between Oakland and Detroit — for him to just kind of own it with his teammates and be authentic in that, it was huge for our team.”
WEDNESDAY’S GAME
Marshall at Wright State, 7 p.m., ESPN+, 101.5, 1410
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