DaytonDailyNews.com

GREEN BAY, Wis. — With much of their scoring potential sitting out, Wright State turned up the defense Thursday, Dec. 4, at the Resch Center.

That was the good part. The bad part was they needed the offense, which was missing in a 57-46 loss to Wisconsin-Green Bay as the Raiders went to 0-5 and 0-1 in the Horizon League.

Trailing 33-19 at the half, the Raiders closed to within five points on a Cory Cooperwood dunk with three minutes to play.

"We battled hard in the second half," WSU coach Brad Brownell said. "We're still missing a basket or two down the stretch to get a big win."

Early lead evaporates

Wright State did take an early 8-3 lead on 3-point baskets by Todd Brown and Cooper Land, plus a steal and fast-break layup by Will Graham.

However, those were the only baskets for that trio in the first half as Green Bay fought through its own shooting slump by fattening up at the foul line. Eventually, the Phoenix made 27-of-32 free throws while shooting just 13-of-38 (34.2 percent) from the field.

Of its first eight shots from the field, Green Bay made one.

Shooting still a problem

In addition to playing without leading scorer Vaughn Duggins (injured finger) — the only WSU player averaging in double figures this season — 3-point marksman Troy Tabler was out with a shoulder separation, and rebounding specialist Kyle Pressley sat out with a sprained ankle.

Although Cooperwood connected on 6-of-9 shots for 14 points and Graham added 12, the Raiders shot only 33 percent from the field (17-of-51).

Quotable

"It's a team in transition," senior point guard Will Graham said. "We've just got to find ourselves. We're depleted right now with injuries, and everybody's role has changed because of those injuries. Plus we've got a lot of guys who are playing a lot more minutes than they played last year.

"We've got to elevate our game and stay aggressive."

Next game

Who: Wright State at Wisconsin-Milwaukee

When: 3 p.m. Saturday

Radio: WONE-AM (980), WIZE-AM (1340)