In their last two games, the Raiders fell to Youngstown State at home, 80-70, and to Eastern Michigan on the road, 86-82, after coughing up an 11-point halftime lead.
They begin a string of 17 consecutive league games with a trip to perennial contender Cleveland State at 3 p.m. Sunday. The Vikings have a 71-63 home win over Eastern Michigan on their resumé.
Sargent saw the Raiders’ high ceiling during an early seven-game stretch — going 4-3 with the three losses coming by a combined six points. But after making major strides defensively, they’ve fallen to 280th out of 364 teams nationally in defensive efficiency, giving up 1.090 points per possession.
They were 341st in 2023-24 at 1.154, but that team was an offensive machine.
“I think the scout is out of how you come after Wright State, how you come after our personnel. You challenge us,” Sargent said.
“It’s a physical league. It’s a very good offensive-rebounding league, and if you want to win, it’s not going to happen by accident. You have to go earn it and expect you deserve it, and then you confidently go make it happen.”
The league appears wide-open without a single team exceeding preseason expectations.
Milwaukee, at 9-4 overall and 2-0 in the HL, has the league’s best NET rating at 112th, followed by Purdue Fort Wayne (9-5, 2-1) at 132nd, Wright State (7-7, 1-2) at 160th and Youngstown State (8-5, 3-0) at 192nd.
Cleveland State (8-6, 2-1) has the eighth-best NET at 262nd.
Sargent has been open to being more versatile defensively — the Raiders were effective while playing about 10 straight possessions of zone in a one-point loss to South Florida — but he’s quick to point out how nothing will work long-term without the right mentality.
“It’s a killer instinct,” he said. “It’s, when you get a stop, can you get the ball. We’re having these (untimely) errors that come up in the biggest moments. It’s hard for me to pinpoint all of them, but it just seems like when we need the ball — whether that’s just getting a catch or getting a rebound — we’re stubbing our toe.
“That keeps us from winning and BELIEVING we should win. It just inserts this doubt, and it’s like a wildfire.”
The Vikings are led by third-year coach Daniyal Robinson and went 25-10 overall and 11-9 in the league last season, reaching the HL semifinals.
They advanced to the College Basketball Invitational, beating Northern Colorado and losing to High Point.
They went 21-14 and 14-6 in Robinson’s first year in 2022-23 and were league co-champs in both years before that under Dennis Gates, who is coaching at Missouri.
CSU, which was picked seventh in the league preseason poll (two spots behind Wright State), pulled off a rare double in claiming sweeping player of the week and freshman of the week honors.
Senior Tevin Smith was named the top player on Monday after scoring 24 points in a 92-75 win over Oakland.
He’s 10th in the league and first on the team in scoring with a 14.1 average.
Je’Shawn Stevenson was named top freshman for the third straight time after scoring 23 points in last Sunday’s win over Midway (Ky.), an NAIA team. He’s averaging 9.9 points.
But the Raiders have plenty of firepower. Brandon Noel is second in the league in scoring with a 19.9 average and field-goal percentage at 55.5%, and he’s fourth in rebounding at 8.0 and eighth in foul shooting at 82.8%.
Alex Huibregtse is sixth in scoring at 15.6 and leads the league in 3-point shooting at 45.2%.
“I know this team can (win the league). I’m going to help and do my best to hold them accountable — and hold myself accountable because I need to keep learning and do a better job for them,” Sargent said.
SUNDAY’S GAME
Wright State at Cleveland State, 3 p.m., ESPN+, 101.5, 1410
About the Author