Looking for their first Horizon League win, they were clicking in all phases offensively in notching an 82-68 road win over IUPUI on Monday.
Shooting a modest 35.3% from 3, they started 8 of 15 while building a comfortable lead and finished 8 of 21 (38.1%).
Hitting a pedestrian 69.6% on free throws, they went 10 of 11 in the first half and finished 10 of 12 to climb over 70% at 70.1. They shot 76.8 last season, setting a program record.
Despite IUPUI being 361st (out of 363 teams) in the NET ratings, coach Scott Nagy said on his post-game radio show: “I told the players the last few days, ‘This won’t be an easy game.’
“We’ve really done a good job over the past few years — as they’ve struggled and not had a lot of wins — to have good focus. There’s no reason for us not to have good focus, considering where we’re coming from.”
The Raiders (8-7, 1-3), went into the game shooting exactly 50% from the field, which is tied for 11th nationally. They went 32 of 64 to stay at 50%.
Trey Calvin tallied 21 points, going 3 of 6 on 3′s and 9 of 15 overall. He’s led the team in scoring in eight of 15 games this season.
Amari Davis and Brandon Noel scored 14 each, Alex Huibregtse 13 and Andrew Welage 12. Noel, a 6-8 redshirt freshman, had a career-high 15 rebounds for his third double-double.
The Raiders built a 43-30 halftime lead and stretched it to 20 while beating the Jaguars for the ninth straight time.
Chris Osten had 15 points, and Vincent Brady II, who was named HL freshman of the week for the third time Monday, had 11 points and a team-high five rebounds for IUPUI (3-12, 0-4).
“I was fine with our defense until the last five minutes, and then I really struggled. We just let ‘em score and let ‘em score,” Nagy said. “That, we’ve got to fix. We’ve got to become a better defensive team.
“But we got the lead with our defense and stayed pretty loose.”
Wright State hosts Detroit Mercy on Friday night. The game will be broadcast on ESPN2.
FRIDAY’S GAME
Detroit Mercy at Wright State, 7 p.m., ESPN2, 980
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