The game plan is kind of a mysterious thing. You can get a sense for it during the game, even if you aren’t privy to the pregame planning. Sometimes it changes during the game. A coach isn’t going to reveal his plan until after the game, for obvious reasons.

It was apparent early in Monday’s game that whatever Wright State coach Billy Donlon planned to do against Detroit was working because the best defensive team in the Horizon League was dictating the pace against the best offensive team.

Wright State (14-5, 5-1 Horizon League) played its type of game, and that’s a big reason it beat the Titans 64-62 at Calihan Hall.

“We wanted to pound the ball inside,” Donlon said. “We threw the ball inside to score, and it’s one of the reasons we had only (four turnovers at halftime). We didn’t play on the perimeter. We got it inside, and we got some paint touches, and that opened up the game for us offensively.”

The Raiders got a little sloppy in the second half and committed 11 turnovers. They made up for that by outrebounding the Titans 32-29 in the game.

“In the second half, we just gritted it out,” Donlon said. “They scored six points in transition, and when they do that, you have a chance to keep the game under 70. I thought if we could keep the game under 70 and if we could play well offensively, we would have a chance. I don’t know if we can score more than 70 against them. We just executed really well.”

Coming into the game, Wright State ranked 14th in nation in defense (56.6 points per game), and Detroit ranked eighth in offense (79.4).

As well as the Raiders played, Detroit still had a chance to win the game in the final seconds. They in-bounded the ball with two seconds left, and Ray McCallum’s 3-pointer at the buzzer hit the side of the rim. It was a low-percentage shot because Jerran Young was draped all over him, and McCallum was nearly out of bounds as he shot it.

“I’m proud of the guys,” Donlon said. “If that shot goes in, it would have been hard to get their spirit back.”

More Detroit: The Raiders and Titans play again just nine days after this game, Jan. 30 at the Nutter Center.

“It’s a quick turnaround,” Donlon said. “It’ll be a different game. There’s no doubt about it.”

Guarding Ray: A Chicago Bulls scout was at the game to scout one player, McCallum, the son of the Detroit coach of the same name. The younger McCallum didn’t have his best game, scoring eight points on 2-0f-7 shooting despite playing all 40 minutes.

It was only the fourth game this season McCallum has scored fewer than 10 points. He’s the leading scorer in the Horizon League with 18.2 points per game.

“We put Joe (Bramanti) on him, Kendall (Griffin) on him and Jerran on him,” Donlon said. “We were able to put bigger guys on him, and I thought that was impactful.”

Griffin’s game: Wright State sophomore guard Kendall Griffin scored a career-high 15 points, hitting all four of his field-goal attempts and 5-of-6 free throws. Griffin led the Raiders in scoring, the fourth different player in the last four games to do so.

Griffin’s previous career high was 12 points against Cleveland State three games ago.

“I just came out attacking,” Griffin said. “I hit some shots early, and it got me going a little bit. Our motto is whoever’s getting shots, getting good looks, get them the ball. Cole’s getting it some nights. Jerran’s getting it some nights. J.T.’s (Yoho) getting it some nights. Reggie is on some nights. It just happened to be my night.”

First half: The Raiders have led at the half in 12 of their 17 games. They’re now 10-2 when they lead at halftime.

Wright State led Detroit 39-30 at halftime and shot 15-of-30 from the field. Eight different players scored, and Griffin had nine in the first half.

Pacher produces: A.J. Pacher, hampered by a foot injury in November and December, looks healthy now, and he’s contributing on the offensive end on this road trip.

The junior forward had five points at Valparaiso and had nine points on 4-of-6 shooting in just 10 minutes against Detroit. In other words, if he played all 40 minutes like McCallum did Monday and keeps up that pace, that’s a 36-point night for Pacher.

“He was terrific,” Donlon said.

Areas of improvement: Before the road trip, Donlon said Wright State needed to cut down on turnovers and get to the free-throw line more often.

The Raiders had only nine turnovers against Valparaiso, ending a streak of 11 games in which they had at least 11 turnovers. They also got to the line 25 times, their third-most attempts of the season.

In the first half against Detroit, the Raiders committed just four turnovers and shot 6-of-7 from the line. They had less success in the second half and finished with 15 turnovers to Detroit’s 11. Detroit made 14-of-16 free throws, and Wright State made 12-of-15.

Offensive patience: The Raiders’ early success on offense had a lot to do with their ball movement. Their passes were crisp and sharp, except for a couple of sloppy plays midway through the half.

Miles Dixon had one of the best plays of the half, passing up an open 3-pointer and driving to the basket for an easy layup. He had six points at the half on 2-of-2 shooting from the field and the line.

Substitution strategy: It was a revolving door for Wright State in the final minutes as Donlon subbed whenever he could. He took Arceneaux out of the game when the Raiders were on defense and put him back in at the earliest opportunity.

Joe Bramanti was one of the players who spelled Arceneaux. Bramanti played 17 minutes for the second straight game. He’s played double-digit minutes three games in a row after not playing more than eight minutes in the previous seven games.

“I thought Reggie was a little tired tonight and rightfully so with all the minutes he played,” Donlon said. “I tried to save him as best I could. Size does bother Detroit, and as well as Joe Bramanti played defensively, I thought it was a risk worth taking. We saved some timeouts at the end so if they did score, we could call one and get Reggie back in the game.”

Darling banged up: Darling left the Valparaiso game briefly after twisting his ankle, and he was helped off the court at Detroit after getting kneed in the back of the head.

“I’m all right,” Darling said. “A little bit of a headache.”

On the road: The Raiders’ road trip continues today as they head southwest to Youngstown State. They stayed in Detroit after Monday’s game and will stay south of Youngstown State tonight and play at 7 p.m. Wednesday.

The Penguins (10-8, 2-3) split two games in Wisconsin last week, losing 67-58 at Green Bay on Thursday and beating Milwaukee 75-72 Saturday. They also have losses to Illinois-Chicago (65-60) and Detroit (101-60) and a win at Loyola (68-66). They’re 4-2 at home this season.

Around the league: Eight of the league’s nine teams play Wednesday. In addition to Wright State’s game at Youngstown, Loyola visits Cleveland State, UIC hosts Milwaukee and Valparaiso hosts Green Bay.

Valparaiso’s’s Kevin Van Wijk was named Horizon League Player of the Week. He scored 31 points against Detroit and 18 against Wright State.