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WSU seeking more from its bench

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By Kyle Nagel, Staff Writer Updated 12:26 AM Saturday, December 4, 2010

FAIRBORN — There were shots Matt Vest was taking in the Nutter Center that he hasn’t yet taken on the road.

“I showed him that during film on (Thursday),” said Wright State basketball coach Billy Donlon of the freshman from Chaminade Julienne High School.

“There was a play where he took his man on the dribble, and last week he pulled up and took the shot. Against Cincinnati, he didn’t.”

The matchup with Cincinnati was the Raiders’ third straight away from the Nutter Center, and all three were losses. WSU will try to reverse that trend in its Horizon League opener at noon today at Detroit.

To do it, WSU hopes to get more offensive production from its reserves, like Vest. In the past three losses against Richmond and Southern Illinois in the Chicago Invitational Challenge and against UC on the road, bench players have scored 0, 9 and 8 points, or just 9.4 percent of the team’s offensive production.

The team’s three senior guards — Vaughn Duggins (16.3 points per game), N’Gai Evans (13.5) and Troy Tabler (13) — have handled much of the scoring. At home, Donlon said, the younger and newer players are more comfortable taking shots they have not yet attempted on the road.

That group includes Vest, who had an eye-opening start to the season with 48 points in the team’s first four games. In the past three, he has scored eight.

Vest, who started the first three games as Evans recuperated from a knee injury, is now part of that group coming off the bench WSU hopes can contribute more scoring. It’s understandable they would defer to the more experienced players, especially on the road, Donlon said. But it’s also time for them to score.

“They’re playing hard, and I like their effort,” Donlon said. “We just need them to be a little more aggressive.”

Contact this reporter at  (937) 225-7389 or knagel @DaytonDailyNews.com.

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