TV/Radio: ESPN+/980-AM
Series: Wright State leads 9-3
Coaches: Scott Nagy is 120-59 in his sixth year at Wright State and 530-299 in his 27th year overall. Jon Coffman is 128-109 in his eight season at Purdue Fort Wayne.
Probable Wright State starters
Name Ht. Class Pos. Avg.
A.J. Braun 6-7 Jr. F 7.2
Grant Basile 6-9 Jr. F 16.9
Tanner Holden 6-6 Jr. G 20.8
Tim Finke 6-6 Jr. G 9.2
Trey Calvin 6-0 Jr. G 14.1
Probable Purdue Fort Wayne starters
Bobby Planitus 6-8 Sr. F 9.3
Jalon Pipkins 6-9 Jr. F 12.9
Jarred Godfrey 6-5 Sr. G 15.9
Damian Chong Qui 5-8 Sr. G 9.4
Ra Kpedi 6-4 Sr. G 8.6
About Wright State: The Raiders lost the season series against Cleveland State for the first time since 2014-15. They had been 9-2 against the Vikings under Nagy until this year. … Their 26 turnovers in the 71-67 loss Friday may have been an outlier, but they’ve struggled with protecting the ball at times. They’re in the middle of the pack in the league in turnovers at 13.3 per game, and they’re forcing less than they’re committing with opponents averaging 12.9. … The Vikings started out in man-to-man, and the Raiders were carving them up. But coach Dennis Gates switched defenses, calling for a zone with 7-foot-2 Mabor Majak or another long-armed big man in the middle, and it was effective. It had the most impact on Basile, who failed to reach double figures for only the third time this season. He had seven at Purdue and nine at Northern Kentucky last Tuesday before finishing with five. That tied his lowest output since his freshman year. He only shot five times, all misses, in the first 36 minutes. Averaging 9.0 rebounds, second in the league, he finished with just three. He did have a game-high five steals and he tied for the most assists in the game with three. … The crowd of 5,328 was the most at the Nutter Center since 6,217 turned out against Northern Kentucky on Jan. 24, 2020. … The Raiders had outrebounded their previous six foes until getting beat on the boards by CSU, 36-34. Braun was active inside, getting four offensive rebounds and seven overall to go with his six points.
About Purdue Fort Wayne: The Mastodons dropped a 59-49 decision at Northern Kentucky on Friday. They were out-rebounded, 38-29, and gave up 11 offensive boards. NKU had a 10-0 edge in second-chance points. Planitus had a team-best 18 points. ... The Mastodons tied a season low in points against NKU (they lost to Minnesota, 78-49). They’re still one of the top offensive teams in the league, averaging 73.5. They’re shooting 45.3% after hitting 50.1% last season. … They finished 8-14 overall and 6-14 in their first season in the league in 2020-21. They were picked ninth in the HL preseason poll, and Godfrey was a second-team all-league pick. He was third-team all-league last season after averaging 16.2 points. … The Mastodons have hoisted the most 3-pointers in the league with 539 (27 per game) and have made the most with 193 (9.7). They’re shooting 35.8% beyond the arc, second in the league. … They dropped an 86-73 decision at home to the Raiders in the first meeting on Dec. 2. Godfrey had a game-high 24 points, including 18 in the first half. But he was overshadowed by Wright State’s A.J. Braun, who made his starting debut and scored 17 points on 8-of-9 shooting.
Next game: The Raiders host Detroit Mercy at 7 p.m. Thursday and Oakland at 7 p.m. Saturday before hitting the road again.
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