Wright State at Clemson: What to know about Tuesday’s NIT game

Who: Wright State (21-13) at Clemson (19-13)

When: 7:05 p.m. Tuesday

Where: Littlejohn Coliseum

TV/Radio: ESPNU/106.5

Probable Wright State starters:

Alan Vest, 6-3, Sr., 5.1 ppg.

Parker Ernsthausen, 6-11, Sr., F, 5.1

Mark Hughes, 6-4, Sr., G, 9.2

Loudon Love, 6-9, Soph., C, 15.1

Cole Gentry, 5-10, So., G, 11.7

Probable Clemson starters:

Marcquise Reed, 6-3, 5th-Sr., G, 19.3 ppg.

Shelton Mitchell, 6-4, 5th-Sr., G, 11.5

Elijah Thomas, 6-9, 245, Sr., 13.0

David Skara, 6-8, 5th-Sr., F, 7.3

Aamir Simms, 6-7, Soph., F, 8.3

Series history: This will be the first meeting between the teams.

Coaches: Scott Nagy is 66-35 in three seasons at Wright State. He has an overall record of 456-263 in 24 season as a head coach.

Brad Brownell is 168-126 in nine seasons at Clemson. He is 335-211 in 17 seasons overall, including an 84-45 record in four seasons at Wright State from 2007-10.

Last games: Wright State lost 77-66 to Northern Kentucky in the Horizon League tournament championship game. Clemson lost 59-58 to N.C. State in the ACC tournament.

About Wright State: The Raiders are the co-champions of the Horizon League, sharing the title with Northern Kentucky… Love was named first-team All-Horizon League… Hughes made the all-defense team for the second year in a row. This year he was joined by Ernsthausen… Wright State is just 1-4 on neutral floors this season. The Raiders' win came last week at the Horizon League tournament in Detroit when they beat Green Bay in a semifinal contest… The Raiders are 3-2 on Tuesdays this season… They are making their NIT debut… Nagy led South Dakota State into the NIT in 2015, beating No. 1 seed Colorado State in the first round before losing to No. 5 Vanderbilt in the second… The Raiders lost to Tennessee in the first round of the NCAA tournament last season… Wright State ended the year ranked 127th overall in KenPom.com rankings with the No. 140 offense and No. 121 defense.

About Clemson: The Tigers tied N.C. State for eighth in the ACC regular season standings… They won four of their last five regular season games… Clemson has appeared in the NIT 16 times with a record of 18-16. The Tigers were runners-up in 1999 and 2007…They have made two previous NIT appearances under Brownell and been to two NCAA tournaments in his time as coach… Reed made the All-ACC third team while Thomas garnered honorable mention and made the All-Defense team… The Tigers are 29th in KenPom rankings with the No. 11 defense in the country and No. 90 offense.

Next game: The winner will play the winner of a first-round game between Furman and Wichita State to be hosted by the highest remaining seed on a day to be determined.

About the Author