Wright State rolls to victory, finish Vegas 4 tourney with two wins in three games

Credit: Timothy D. Easley

Credit: Timothy D. Easley

Wright State coach Scott Nagy had a challenge for his players before facing Weber State on Wednesday, hammering home how they have to be ready from the opening bell after a poor first half cost them against UC Riverside the day before.

Judging by a near flawless start against the Wildcats, Nagy’s team clearly took the message to heart.

The Raiders bolted to a 50-30 lead in the first half, making 22 of 30 shots for 72.2%, and led by as many as 30 on their way to an 87-65 victory to finish 2-1 in the inaugural Vegas 4 tourney in Henderson, Nev.

“Everything was at the rim,” Nagy said of the shooting display on his post-game radio show. “It was good passing. I’m mostly proud of the way the guys bounced back from yesterday.”

The Raiders (5-2) shot 65% overall and had 30 assists on 37 baskets. They had a similar shooting night against Abilene Christian in their easy tourney-opening win, hitting 68.4% in the second half.

They shot 74.1% in both halves against Defiance last week.

The school record for field-goal shooting in a single game is 76.6% against Otterbein on Dec. 16, 1978.

“We were sharp offensively,” Nagy said. “We really snapped (our passes) and moved it. Inside, they just didn’t have an answer for us.”

Brandon Noel, a 6-foot-8 redshirt freshman, had 23 points in 23 minutes while going 10 of 11 from the field and connecting on two of three attempts from 3.

He also pulled down a team-best seven rebounds and finished the three games with 45 points and 25 boards.

“I said (Wednesday) morning to the players, ‘We didn’t play very good last night. We just didn’t.’ ... But the one thing I did say was, ‘Brandon, son, you played well. I need you to know that, and I want the team to hear it’ — because I’m as hard on Brandon as anybody.

“I’m after him all the time because I think so highly of him. He’s just so talented. They didn’t have any answers for him.”

Trey Calvin, coming off a six-point game the night before, had 14 points (all in the first half) on 7-of-9 shooting and a career-high 10 assists.

Guard sub Alex Huibregtse had 13 points and six assists. He had a combined 15 points in the first two games.

Amari Davis had 10 points to go with 19 and nine in the first two games.

Tim Finke had 13 points, five rebounds and four assists while notching his second double-figure scoring game in the event.

The Wildcats (2-4) had a 22-17 lead with 10:57 to go in the first half, but the Raiders ripped off 20 points in a row over the next 4:43 to blow the game open.

Huibregtse had five points in the run and Calvin and Davis four each.

“Alex gave us great minutes off the bench. He playing really well with great pace,” Nagy said.

“I’m just really pleased with everybody. I’m happy with the team. And this certainly makes the trip home a lot better.”

NEXT GAME

Thursday, Dec. 1

Robert Morris at Wright State, 7 p.m., ESPN+, 980

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