TV/Radio: ESPNU/980-AM
Series: Wright State leads 42-35
Coaches: Scott Nagy is 120-58 in his sixth year at Wright State and 530-298 in his 27th year overall. Dennis Gates is 43-33 in his third season at Cleveland State.
Probable Wright State starters
Name Ht. Class Pos. Avg.
A.J. Braun 6-7 Jr. F 7.3
Grant Basile 6-9 Jr. F 17.5
Tanner Holden 6-6 Jr. G 20.7
Tim Finke 6-6 Jr. G 9.5
Trey Calvin 6-0 Jr. G 13.7
Probable Cleveland State starters
Torrey Patton 6-5 Sr. F 13.2
Deante Johnson 6-9 Jr. F 8.1
Tre Gomillion 6-4 Sr. G 10.0
Deshon Parker 6-4 Sr. G 4.6
D’Moi Hodge 6-4 Sr. G 15.6
About Wright State: The Raiders have won seven of their last eight games in the series, including a victory in the 2018 Horizon League tourney finals. The teams split two games at the Nutter Center last year. Deante Johnson scored with 0.7 seconds left for Cleveland State in a 66-64 win, and the visitors were blown out the next night, 85-49. … The Raiders have shown signs of improvement defensively, although they gave up 73 points in 69 possessions in a loss at Northern Kentucky on Tuesday. In three of their previous four halves, they held opponents under one point per possession. … They have a rebounding edge over their opponents (barely) for the first time since the first week of the season. They’re at plus-0.1 per game. They’ve out-rebounded their last six foes: UIC 40-29, IUPUI 36-27, Robert Morris 30-26, IUPUI 36-32, UIC 34-25 and Northern Kentucky 39-33. They had a plus-9.3 rebound margin last season, the sixth-best mark in the nation. … Basile leads the league with 1.6 blocks per game and is second in rebounding with a 9.0 average. Holden is second in scoring, 11th in rebounding (6.9) and 14th in assists (3.0). … The Raiders lead the league in attendance at 3,130 per game. Oakland is a distant second at 2.249.
About Cleveland State: The Vikings are in the second year of a startling turnaround under the 42-year-old Gates, a former Florida State assistant. They went 19-8 last year, sharing the regular-season title with the Raiders and winning the conference tourney by beating Oakland, 80-69, in the finals. Their only other tourney crown was in 2009, and their last regular-season title came in 2010-11. They were 11-21 in Gates’ first season and 12-23 and 9-23 in the two years before he arrived. … Patton, a Trotwood-Madison grad, was named tourney MVP last year. He leads the team in rebounding (6.9) and assists (4.1) and was a first-team all-league pick last season. He started his career at Akron, played one year at a junior college and has started the last two seasons at CSU. He decided to take his “COVID year” to get a fifth season of eligibility. … Gomillion made the all-tourney and all-defensive teams last season. Johnson also was named one of the top five defenders in the league. … Parker is a Wayne High School product ... The Vikings’ only league loss was at home to Oakland, 70-65, and they’ve won their last three games. They have a deep bench with nine players averaging at least 4.5 per game.
Next game: The Raiders complete their season series with Purdue Fort Wayne at noon Sunday at the Nutter Center. Wright State won the first meeting, 86-73.
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