In their first three halves of the season, they gave up 45, 60 and 41 points and are 0-3 going into the Gulf Coast Showcase next week.
But they fought hard against the Hoosiers (3-0), who led by as many as 15 in the first half — especially since they were playing without star guard Trey Calvin, who reportedly was out with a shoulder injury.
He averaged 20.3 points last season and 27.5 through two games this year. Freshman Kaden Brown started in his place
“I’m not interested in moral victories, people going, ‘Oh, we played Indiana …’ There’s some things I’m very proud about. But I’m not happy with losing,” coach Scott Nagy said on his post-game radio show.
“I didn’t like the way we started the game. I was very frustrated. I thought we were very nervous. And I was super proud that we got over that and got ourselves back in the game.”
Andrew Welage, a senior guard from Greensburg, Ind., scored a career-high 25 points, going 8 of 13 from the field and 7 of 10 on 3′s.
Tanner Holden scored 24, going 8 of 17 from the floor and 7 of 7 of foul shots, and he tallied eight rebounds and eight assists.
Alex Huibregtse scored 11 of his 15 points in the first half.
“Andrew played one minute against Toledo (on Tuesday). It would have been very, very easy for him to be discouraged,” Nagy said
“I told the team after the game, ‘We should be so proud of him. That’s what our program is about — having a guy not hang his head and come in here and play the way he did.
“But 54 points at halftime and shooting 66% … in the second half, we guarded. Probably in the middle 10 minutes, we finally got our kids to get in and force them to shoot jump shots. We needed to pack it in, and we finally did it.”
The Raiders trailed by 11 with 11 minutes to go. But they ripped off seven straight points, making it a four-point game on an A.J. Braun layup with 8:28 left.
But the Hoosiers, picked sixth in the Big Ten preseason poll, took control after that.
Freshman guard Gabe Cupps, a Centerville product, missed his only shot while playing 18 minutes off the bench, but he had four rebounds and an assist.
The Raiders are 3-7 against major-conference teams under Nagy.
They’re 0-3 all-time against Indiana and 1-14 against the Big Ten. The win was a 53-49 upset of No. 6 Michigan State at the Nutter Center on Dec. 30, 1999.
MONDAY’S GAME
Wright State vs. Louisiana, 5 p.m., 1410, 101.5
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