The loss drops Wright State to 14-8 and 5-4 in the Horizon League. The Raiders won both games against Valparaiso last season and had won four of their last six against the Crusaders.
“He’s just a tough matchup,” Nagy said. “He goes inside and outside. There’s very few kids that can do that. He makes it tough on people.”
While Peters was effective for the Crusaders (17-4, 7-1), Wright State’s offense was anything but effective. The Raiders missed their first 18 3-point attempts and hit a season-low three shots from beyond the arc. Wright State shot just 3-of-28 (10.7 percent) from the perimeter, missing a season-high 25 3-pointers.
“I don’t have any idea,” Nagy said while trying to explain the shooting woes. “You have good shooters shooting wild shots. I don’t have any answers for that. In my opinion it just means the kids are nervous. You can say that word however you want. That would be the politically correct way to do it. We shot too many. If we’re not making them, do something else.”
The Crusaders used an early 13-0 run to take control and then used a 13-2 run to blow the contest open as Valparaiso led by as many as 18 in the first half. The Raiders missed 15 of 17 field-goal attempts at one point and failed to take advantage of six offensive rebounds, turning them into just two second-chance points and going into the locker room trailing 38-23.
“The first half they physically beat us on both ends and we didn’t respond,” Nagy said. “We just can’t be soft. We had opportunities in the first half, all kinds of opportunities. You can’t win championships playing like this. I don’t know what else to say.”
Wright State showed resilience late in the second half as Mark Hughes and Mark Alstork hit back-to-back 3-pointers to cut the deficit to 58-50 with 3:57 remaining. Another Alstork 3-point play less than a minute later got the Raiders within seven points, but Tevonn Walker responded with seven straight points for the Crusaders to ice the victory.
Alstork led the Raiders with 14 points and four assists while Justin Mitchell added 11 points and a career-high 16 rebounds.
“I’m proud of the way our kids played in the second half,” Nagy said. “I can say that, but you don’t really give yourself a chance in the second half when you fall behind like that. I’d more prefer the kids actually show up when the game starts. Instead of me blaming them, I’ve got to do a better job.”
The Raiders will return to the court on Sunday afternoon at UIC. Both Wright State and the Flames have four losses in conference play. While it’s a quick turnaround, Nagy is anxious to get back on the court.
“I don’t burn a tape of any game,” Nagy said. “We’ll go back and watch the tape. We can learn from it without being abusive.”
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