“To make big plays like that, I could not be more proud of our group.”
The Raiders were 7-5 and had seemingly made immense progress under Sargent. Among their quality showings was an 80-62 conquest of three-time Ivy League champ Princeton, which is 9-4 and coming off a win at Rutgers on Saturday.
But something sinister has worked its way into the program — or has been slowly building for weeks — that has caused division among the players.
Outwardly, it may look as if defense has become a problem again — after giving up 80 or more points an astonishing 18 times last season, the Raiders have been gashed for 80 in their last two games — but the issue appears to be deeper than that.
“It doesn’t matter what scheme you run — zone, double the post, double the ball screen, switch the ball screen. If you can’t trust the next guy or believe in yourself, it’s just hard to win. And we’re still battling some demons. Clearly,” Sargent said.
“I don’t quite know what it is. All I know is I need each person, starting with myself, to own it and learn through the incredible embarrassment and disappointment for how we’re playing and losing games we shouldn’t.”
The Raiders weren’t completely engaged in either the home loss to Youngstown State or defeat at Eastern Michigan last week, giving up a combined 104 points in the two second halves.
“I thought those days were somewhat behind us. I don’t think you fully get past the point of having to learn through failure, but, boy, there’s been a lot of it, and we need to continue to be mature through it. And that, I will lead. I told our guys that,” Sargent said.
The players may still be getting accustomed to the prominent role given to senior transfer Jack Doumbia, who appears more comfortable with the ball in his hands than moving without it.
The beauty of the motion offense under both previous coach Scott Nagy and Sargent is how the Raiders play hot potato with the ball, keeping it moving.
That’s why they led the country in field-goal shooting last year at 53% and how they’re in the top 20 again at 50.1%.
Doumbia, though, is more inclined to go one-on-one, reducing his teammates to spectators.
In the last four games, he’s scored a team-high 79 points while also taking the most shots, going 29 of 49 from the field.
Preseason Horizon League player of the year Brandon Noel has 74 points in that span while going 30 of 48, and preseason second-team all-league pick Alex Huibregtse has 58 points on 19-of-43 shooting.
Asked about the shot distribution, Sargent said: “I think that’s part of the problem — our offensive fluidity, chemistry or whatever that is. Our offensive numbers have been pretty good, but it’s absolutely impacting our defensive ‘compete’ that we have as a team, where we can trust the next guy.
“Because our offense has looked a little different, I think there’s certainly some truth to that (being the issue).”
Doumbia had 21 points and four steals in the loss to EMU, going 7 of 9 both from the field and foul line. But he also had six turnovers.
Yet, in Sargent’s mind, even if the offense gets clunky while adjusting to new players (and them to you), the Raiders should still be able to count on their defense.
“I thought we had learned from last year’s team enough where whatever the offense is looking like — and it’s never going to be perfect — that our will to win will be greater. And I don’t think we’ve learned that, unfortunately.
“It just breaks us. It absolutely breaks us in games.”
SUNDAY’S GAME
Wright State at Cleveland State, 3 p.m., 101.5, 1410
About the Author