Their two tallest players — 6-9 A.J. Braun and 6-9 Drey Carter — led the way in a dominant first half and were among six players in double figures in a 101-54 victory before 3,184 fans Friday afternoon at the Nutter Center.
Braun scored nine of his 15 points and Carter eight of his 12 in the opening 20 minutes.
Braun also ended up with a career-high 16 rebounds.
“We just wanted to come into the game with the right mindset,” said Carter, who was scoreless in his previous two games but matched his season high.
“There’s a lot of factors that play into this game with Christmas coming up. We just wanted to approach it the right way and do all the things the way we know we can.”
The Raiders (6-6) took a 47-24 halftime lead, shooting 19 of 31 from the field. They finished 41 of 69 (59.4%).
The Muskies, who counted the game as an exhibition and rotated 17 players, started 3 of 16 and never really warmed up, finishing 22 of 66 and 7 of 32 from 3.
They’re 11-51 the last three years and were picked last in the 10-team Ohio Conference preseason poll.
“I thought our players handled this maturely,” coach Scott Nagy said. “Everybody knows the concern I had going into it right before Christmas. Guys probably had their bags packed, ready to go.
“We had to do some things we don’t normally do because of their size. We switched a lot on defense. I thought A.J. did a good job. It was good to see him make his free throws, which is going to be pretty important to us.”
Braun was 7 of 8 on foul shots after coming into the game 11 of 24. But he was far from the only one with a hot hand.
Tanner Holden had 19 points on 9-of-12 shooting and has been on quite a tear. He’s 22 of 26 in his last two games, and he also made his last three shots in the game before that, making him 25 of 29 in that span.
Andrew Welage, who, at 6-6, was as tall as any Muskie, went 5 of 7 on 3′s and scored 17 points. He’s 18 of 36 from the arc this season for a team-leading 50%.
Kaden Brown had 14 points, and Trey Calvin 13.
After making going 15 of 51 from 3 in their previous four games, the Raiders went 9 of 23.
“Some of our guys — good shooters — for whatever reason have just been hesitant. We don’t take that many 3′s. We told them at halftime, ‘If you’re open, jump up and shoot the ball. Let it go and rip it,’” Nagy said.
“We took 14 threes in the second half and made half of those. We’re just going to need that — or teams will start packing it in on us because they know we like to throw it in.”
TWO SAT OUT: Forward Brandon Noel, the team’s third-leading scorer and top rebounder, missed the game with a sore knee.
“It’s been bothering me a little bit, but I’ll be ready to go (Friday at Green Bay),” he said.
Guard Logan Woods also was sidelined with an undisclosed injury.
TV TIME: The Raiders’ home game against Cleveland State at 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 4, will be broadcast on ESPN2.
They’ve had at least one regular-season game on ESPN in 16 of the last 17 seasons, but it’s increased under Nagy. The CSU game will be their 33rd in his eight years.
FRIDAY’S GAME
Wright State at Green Bay, 1 p.m., ESPN+, 101.5, 1410
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