While all players have earned his admiration, one in particular has been standing out.
Jaylon Hall, a 6-foot-5 fourth-year junior, was benched in a January game in what Nagy called a “coach’s decision,” which usually means disciplinary reasons.
No one likes internal issues, but this one ultimately had a positive outcome not only on Hall, but the Raiders.
Grant Basile, a 6-9, 235-pound sophomore, was inserted in the lineup beside the 6-8, 255-pound Loudon Love, and the team has soared since then, going 8-1.
Basile has locked up the starting job by averaging 16.4 points and 7.4 rebounds in that span, and Love, the reigning Horizon League player of the year, has emerged from a mini-slump to average 25 points and 11 rebounds in his last three games.
Though statistically they only play about 12 minutes per game together, that potent pair puts opponents in a bind.
No one in the Horizon League has the size to match up with both at the same time, and Nagy always keeps at least one of them on the floor to make sure the Raiders are never without a fresh post player.
“We basically have two centers,” he said. “We won’t rest both at the same time. We start them together, and we take Loudon out first.”
But while the change has made a drastic difference, it had the potential to upset the chemistry of the team if Hall, who was in his third year as a starter, didn’t accept his new role.
That hasn’t been a problem, though.
“He’s playing great. He’s responded well coming off the bench and handled it with a lot of maturity, which, for most guys, would not be easy to do,” the coach said.
Hall is averaging 8.8 points overall — he scored 9.1 and 7.8 per game his first two seasons — and has been in peak form while being utilized extensively off the bench.
He’s averaged 9.0 points the last five games, making 15 of 28 field-goal tries and going 10 of 19 on 3′s in just over 25 minutes per game.
“I think it’s helped him. He’s taking better care of the ball, which is probably the most important thing. And for us, if Jay will concentrate on playing good defense — just like anybody else — because of his experience, size and athleticism, he’s going to play 30 minutes a game for us.”
Loose with ball: Nagy joked that Love almost had a triple-double against UIC on Saturday, but it would have been one the player would rather forget.
The fifth-year senior had 23 points and 12 rebounds but also seven of the team’s 10 turnovers.
He has 53 this season, 12 more than the next-highest count and 23 more than point guard Trey Calvin, who has the ball in his hands the most.
But Nagy has no complaints about Love, who is tied for seventh nationally in double-doubles with nine.
“He’s been playing good for us. And we’re obviously putting good players around him,” the coach said.
There have been three triple-doubles in Raider history: 18 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists by Keion Brooks against Butler on Jan. 25, 1997; 21 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists by Vernard Hollins against Texas-Pan American on Jan. 14, 2004; and 14 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists by Justin Mitchell against Green Bay on Feb. 11, 2017.
Unlikely contender: First-place Cleveland State (14-5, 14-2) leads Wright State (15-4, 13-3) by one game with four to go. And the Vikings have made a shocking turnaround since going 11-21 last season.
They were picked seventh in the preseason poll, but Torrey Patton, a 6-5 senior forward from Trotwood-Madison, is playing at an all-league level. He’s leads the team with 12.6 points and 7.5 rebounds per game and is second in assists (2.4).
And 6-4 guard D’Moi Hodge, a junior-college transfer who hails from the Virgin Islands, has had an instant impact, averaging 11.1 points and notching the fifth-most steals in the league with 30.
The Vikings have set a program record for Horizon League wins (they became a member in 1994-95). They did share the title with Butler and Milwaukee at 13-5 in 2010-11.
Their most wins in any league is 15 in the Mid-Continent Conference in 1992-93.
FRIDAY’S GAME
Milwaukee at Wright State, 7 p.m., Friday, ESPN3, 106.5
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