It was even worse in 2021-22: plus-1.2 per game.
“I don’t like it,” Nagy said. “My goal is to out-rebound teams by 10. We’re going to try to pound you on the glass.”
They did that in 2020-21 when Love averaged 10.1 per game, and Tanner Holden (7.3) and Grant Basile (7.0) were cleaning up right behind him.
They finished with a plus-9.3 rebound margin, which was sixth nationally.
They shared the Horizon League regular-season title that year, and Nagy was a happy man.
“When I was at South Dakota State, and we were Division II, we had three or four years when we led the nation in rebounding. It’s one of those things that has always been important to me. We lacked some of that last year,” he said.
Brandon Noel, a 6-foot-8 forward, was third in the league in rebounding with a 8.7 average, and he had at least 15 in a game six times.
But the next-best average was 5.9.
“Adding Tanner is going to help us with that,” Nagy said. “Tanner is a good defensive rebounder and a really good offensive rebounder.
“There are just some people, no matter what you do, who end up around the ball, and Tanner is one of those guys.”
Nagy said the fundamentals in rebounding have been the same since the time of peach baskets: “There’s no magic to it.”
But it may be the one place where a little selfishness is not only tolerated, but encouraged.
“Defensive rebounding is a team stat. If your guy goes to the rim, you block out. We don’t need anyone worrying about stats with defensive rebounding,” Nagy said.
“But I always tell the players: ‘Offensive rebounding is a chance to pad your numbers. Go chase that ball and get some rebounds. You’ll score more because you’ll have the ball around the basket.’”
Though Nagy’s goal of out-rebounding teams by double digits for the season is probably unrealistic, the Raiders have done it frequently in games.
And it’s almost a surefire path to victory.
They did it nine times last season and were 8-1 in those games; they did it six times in 2021-22 and were 6-0; and they did it 12 times in 2020-21 and were 10-2.
They were out-rebounded by at least 10 in four games last season and four more two years ago and were a combined 0-8.
They were only out-rebounded in four games while going 18-6 in 2020-21 and never by more than seven.
“Some teams send all five guys back (after taking a shot). They want to keep you in front of them on defense. But I don’t think that way,” Nagy said.
“I think you should be able to offensive-rebound and get back. You should be able to do both. We try to work at that.”
SEASON OPENER
Friday, Nov. 10
Wright State at Colorado State, 9 p.m., 980
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