TV/Radio: ESPN3/106.5
Series: Wright State leads 34-27.
Coaches: Scott Nagy is 93-44 in his fifth year at Wright State and 503-284 in his 26th year overall. Mike Davis is 20-46 in his third year at Detroit and 372-287 in 21 years overall.
Davis had six-year stints at his three previoius stops, Indiana, UAB and Texas Southern, and reached either the NCAA or NIT 14 of the 18 years. He was thrust into the IU job when Bobby Knight was fired in 2000 and led the Hoosiers to an NCAA runner-up finish in 2002.
Probable Wright State starters
Name Ht. Class Pos. Avg.
Loudon Love 6-8 Sr. C 12.7
Tanner Holden 6-6 So. G 12.0
Jaylon Hall 6-5 Jr. G 4.5
Tim Finke 6-6 So G 11.5
Trey Calvin 6-0 So. G 12.3
Probable Detroit starters
Willy Isiani 6-8 Jr. F 8.0
Bul Kuol 6-7 Sr. F 11.5
Antoine Davis 6-11 Jr. G 18.3
Matt Johnson 6-4 Sr. G 12.8
Marquell Fraser 6-5 Sr. G 10.0
About Wright State: The Raiders have won 11 of the last 13 in the series, including both games last season. ... Love is averaging 13.0 rebounds, but Finke (7.3), Holden (7.0) and sub Grant Basile (6.3) have been chipping in as well, giving the team four of the top 14 rebounders in the league. Wright State has a plus-6.7 rebound margin. … Love is first in career rebounds at the school and 13th in scoring with 1,431 points, 39 away from cracking the top 10.
Dogged defense: As of Friday afternoon, 35 of 357 Division-I teams had yet to play a game because of Covid-19. Of those who have played, the Raiders are 32nd nationally in defensive efficiency (points allowed per possession). They’re well under a 1.0 average, which is their goal, and are sitting at .853. The previous three seasons, they gave up .942, .997 and .929 points per possession.
About Detroit Mercy: The Titans, whose lone win was at home Saturday over Western Michigan, have played a meaty schedule. They gave Michigan State and Notre Dame all they could handle on the road. Against MSU, it was a one-possession game with just under two minutes to go before the Big Ten power pulled away for an 83-76 win. Davis had a game-high 24 points and Johnson 20. The Titans had a one-point lead at Notre Dame with just under six minutes to go before falling, 78-70. Kuol had a career-high 18 points. … Davis is 12th on the school’s all-time scoring list with 1,586 points. He’s averaging 39.5 minutes per game and has played 40 or more minutes 15 times in his career. … The Titans have made 53 of 60 free throws (88.3%), but they tend to hoist some low-percentage shots and are hitting 37.9 from the field and 28.9 on 3′s. Their rebound average is an anemic minus-7.8 per game.
Next game: After finishing back-to-back games with Detroit, the Raiders are home against Green Bay at 4 p.m. Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday.
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