But even he couldn’t keep from taking occasional peeks when Trey Calvin twirled the digits at Youngstown State last week.
“I saw he had 17 points very quickly. He made every shot for us. And then, I looked up after a significant portion of the second half — it was under the 10-minute mark — and he only had 19 points,” Nagy sad.
“I knew he’d slowed down. I didn’t realize it was THAT much. I really didn’t pay attention much after that, and then it’s 44.”
The 6-foot senior scored five unanswered points in the final 19 seconds of regulation to force overtime, putting him at 24. He then scored 20 in the three extra sessions in a 91-89 loss.
He finished one shy of Bill Edwards’ program record of 45. It’s also the second-most by a Horizon League player this season behind Northern Kentucky’s Marques Warrick, who had 45.
It’s tied or the sixth-most in Division I this season. UNC Asheville’s Drew Pember has the top mark at 48.
Calvin has become so dominant that Nagy admits his offense is basically, “Give it to Trey and get out of the way.”
“It’s not rocket science. I’m not reinventing the wheel, doing unbelievable things as a coach,” he said.
“They’re not even calls. Trey just senses when it needs to happen, and he just does it.”
The suburban Chicago product has been on a roll since the end of the non-league season. He’s averaged 23.9 points in the last 13 games, hiking his season average to 20.3.
Edwards has the school’s best average at 25.2 in 1992-93, but Calvin is on pace for the top scoring mark since Seth Doliboa’s 22.3 clip in 2002-03.
Calvin is quick enough to get in the lane on anyone, and his midrange jumper is practically automatic.
“He’s in a good spot. Coming off the 44, I didn’t feel like he tried to force anything against Robert Morris,” said Nagy, referring to Calvin’s game-high 24 points in an 82-67 road win Saturday.
“He was very patient. His desire really is that it wouldn’t all fall on him, that the other guys would step up. And I think that happened.”
The supporting cast will likely be needed more in the final six regular-season games. The key for Calvin is to get a ball screen by a post player and then exploit the mismatch after a switch.
But Robert Morris sent two defenders at Calvin, forcing him to give it up.
That didn’t work, either.
Redshirt freshman forward Brandon Noel shook off a mini-slump to notch 16 points and 15 rebounds — the first time he’s scored in double figures in four games.
“Brandon showed signs of being out of his funk. It was the first time in two or three weeks that we felt comfortable throwing it in to him. We knew he could make something happen,” Nagy said.
Senior night: The Raiders play their final regular-season home game against Northern Kentucky at 9 p.m. Friday, and they’ll recognize their graduating seniors before the tipoff.
Tim Finke, C.J. Wilbourn and Andy Neff are all moving on. The good news for the Raiders is Calvin and fellow senior Amari Davis have told Nagy they plan to come back for their fifth season of eligibility.
“For Andy and C.J., it feels different because they didn’t get to play a lot. They poured themselves into our program and have given to it and never taken from it. And we’re all the better for it,” Nagy said.
“Tim gets to play more, but I feel the same way about him.”
Nagy pointed out seldom-used seniors have a chance to display character traits, and the back-ups passed the test.
Tyler Nagy, the coach’s son, was a scholarship player at Wayne State but rode the bench.
“As parents, it hurts to watch him go through that. But as a coach, the way he handled it — like I watched C.J. and Andy handle it — it’s way more important than basketball,” Nagy said.
“Those are guys you can count on the rest of their lives — whether they be husbands or fathers or in the work force. Those characteristics carry over.”
WEDNESDAY’S GAME
IUPUI at Wright State, 7 p.m., ESPN+, 980
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