Northern Kentucky at Wright State: What to know about Friday’s game

Who: Northern Kentucky (20-6, 10-3) at Wright State (15-11, 9-4)

When: 9 p.m. Friday

TV: ESPNU

Radio: 106.5-FM

Series: Wright State leads 23-11

Coaches: Scott Nagy is 60-33 in his third year at Wright State and 470-273 in 24 years overall. John Brannen is in his fourth year at NKU and has a 76-49 overall record, including a 1-1 mark as interim coach at Alabama after Anthony Grant was fired in 2014-15.

Probable Wright State starters

Mark Hughes, 6-4, Sr., G, 9.8

Cole Gentry, 5-10, Jr., G, 12.7

Alan Vest, 6-3, Sr., G, 4.8

Loudon Love, 6-9, So., F, 15.0

Parker Ernsthausen, 6-11, Sr., C, 4.5

Probable Northern Kentucky starters

Trevon Faulkner, 6-4, Fr., G, 4.7

Tyler Sharpe, 6-1, Jr., G, 14.3

Dantez Walton, 6-7, Jr., F, 11.2

Jalen Tate, 6-6, So., F, 13.3

Drew McDonald, 6-8, Sr., F, 19.0

About Wright State: The Raiders are 11-2 at home, including 5-1 in league games. … Gentry is first in the nation in free-throw shooting at 94.7 percent, and the team is 49th from the foul line at 74.3 percent. … Love's 10 double-doubles are the 28th-most in the nation. He's third in the league at 8.3 rebounds per game, and his 3.4 offensive-rebound average is 16th-best in the country. But Nagy wants him to cut down on his turnovers. He leads the team with 57. … The Raiders are commiting only 11.8 turnovers per game, but they lack consistency on offense partly because of subpar 3-point shooting. They're hitting only 33.9 percent, which is 199th nationally, while shooting a hefty 23.5 per game, the 72nd-most in the country. … Ernsthausen had a breakout game Saturday against Detroit with nine points, five rebounds and a career-high six assists while playing his usual solid defense. "Parker played as good a game as he has all year — on both ends. He's definitely our leader on the floor defensively. You can hear him talking," Nagy said.

About Northern Kentucky: The Norse are 5-6 on the road overall and 3-3 in the conference. Their last road win was at Youngstown State on Jan. 19. … They're holding teams to 29.6-percent shooting from 3, which is 12th nationally. But free throws can be an issue since they're hitting only 65.4 percent, which is 321st in the nation. … They qualified for the 2018 NIT as the regular-season league champs and lost in their opener at second-seeded Louisville, 66-58. They reached the 2017 NCAA tourney in their first season of D-I eligibility (the first team since 1970 to do that) by winning the conference tourney and lost in the first round to Kentucky, 79-70.

Coming up: The Raiders finish their five-game homestand by playing Cleveland State on Thursday and Youngstown State on Saturday, Feb. 23.

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