Wright State at Western Kentucky: What to know about Saturday’s game

Credit: Timothy D. Easley

Credit: Timothy D. Easley

Who: Wright State (5-4) at Western Kentucky (7-1)

When: 7 p.m. Saturday

TV/Radio: ESPN+/980-AM

Series: Tied 1-1.

Coaches: Scott Nagy is 136-67 in his seventh year at Wright State and 546-307 in his 28th year overall.

Rick Stansbury is 129-74 in his seventh year at Western Kentucky and 422-241 in his 21st year overall, including 14 years at Mississippi State that included six NCAA tourney trips.

Probable Wright State starters

Name Ht. Class Pos. Avg.

A.J. Braun 6-9 So. C 9.8

Amari Davis 6-2 Sr. G 13.1

Tim Finke 6-6 Sr. G 9.7

Trey Calvin 6-1 Sr. G 16.6

Keaton Norris 6-0 So. G 4.0

Probable Western Kentucky starters

Jamarion Sharp 7-5 Sr. C 6.3

Jairus Hamilton 6-8 Sr. F 10.0

Luke Frampton 6-5 Sr. G 14.6

Dayvion McKnight 6-1 Jr. G 12.1

Emmanuel Akot 6-8 Sr. G 13.3

About Wright State: The Raiders, who had the week off for final exams, have split two games with Western Kentucky, losing on the road, 78-60, on Dec. 2, 2017 and winning at home, 76-74, on Dec. 3, 2019. … Wright State is ranked 273rd in the NET ratings, WKU 123rd. … The Raiders have a middle-of-the-pack 3-point percentage at 34.3, but they have the third-fewest 3′s in the Horizon League with 49. Nagy said his 3-point goal for each player is to shoot 40%. So far, Andrew Welage leads the way at 6 of 10, followed by Norris at 4 of 8, Brandon Noel at 6 of 14 (42.9%) and Alex Huibregtse at 10 of 25 (40%). Calvin is 8 of 31 (25.8%) and Davis 0 of 5. … Finke is trying to be more assertive offensively since his breakout 18-point game against Robert Morris last week. In the next outing against Youngstown State, he started 1 of 10 from the field but made 3 of his last 5 attempts for nine points.

About Western Kentucky: The Hilltoppers went 2-1 in the Cayman Islands Classic, beating Tulane and Illinois State but falling to Akron. … They’ve been idle since Nov. 30 but are coming off a 75-74 win at Austin Peay. Akot made two foul shots with 18 seconds left for a three-point lead, and the Hilltoppers hung on from there. … They went 19-13 last season with wins over Ole Miss and Louisville and averaged 22 victories per season in the four seasons before that. … They have an experienced team with Akot and Frampton sixth-year seniors and Hamilton a fifth-year senior. … McKnight was first-team All-Conference USA last season. He was the only player in D-I to average at least 16.2 points, 5.5 rebounds, 5.2 assists and 1.9 steals per game. … Akot transferred from Boise State after averaging 10.6 points and making the Mountain West all-tournament team last season.

Next game: The Raiders play at Akron at 7 p.m. Wednesday.

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