Wright State vs. Youngstown State: What you need to know about Friday’s game

Who: Youngstown State (6-4, 2-4) at Wright State (7-2, 5-1)

When: 7 p.m.

TV/Radio: ESPN2/106.5

Series:  Wright State leads 49-12.

Coaches: Scott Nagy is 98-45 in his fifth year at Wright State and 508-285 in his 26th year overall. Jarrod Calhoun is 44-63 in four years at Youngstown State and 168-101 overall. He had a four-year stint at Division-II Fairmont State that included an NCAA tourney runner-up finish.

Probable Wright State starters

Name Ht. Class Pos. Avg.

Loudon Love 6-8 Sr. C 15.4

Tanner Holden 6-6 So. G 16.3

Jaylon Hall 6-5 Jr. G 10.8

Tim Finke 6-6 So G 8.8

Trey Calvin 6-0 So. G 10.6

Probable Youngstown State starters

Michael Akuchie 6-8 Sr. F 9.2

Naz Bohannon 6-6 Sr. F 18.0

Shemar Rathan-Mayes 5-11 Fr. G 12.0

Garrett Covington 6-5 Sr. G 10.0

Darius Quisenberry 6-1 Jr. G 13.7

About Wright State: The Raiders dropped one spot to 16th this week in the CollegeInsider.com mid-major Top 25. … Love has led the Raiders in scoring the previous two seasons, averaging 15.1 and 15.9 points, but Holden took over the team lead with a 40-point weekend at Oakland. Since opening the season with a combined 17 points in two games, he’s averaged 18.6 over the last seven games, making 49 of 81 field goals (60.5%) and 29 of 32 free throws (90.6%). … Grant Basile is averaging 12.3 points and 7.2 rebounds off the bench. And while most of the rest of the Raiders are struggling on 3-pointers, the 6-9 sophomore has been an unexpected deep threat. He’s gone 6 of 13 on 3′s after hitting 3 of 21 last season. The rest of the team is shooting 32.2%.

NET rankings: The Raiders — no surprise — are the Horizon League’s top team in the opening week of the NET rankings (NCAA Evaluation Tool). They’re 75th after finishing 127th last season. Milwaukee is second at 156, followed by Cleveland State at 166 and UIC at 188. The other eight conference teams are in the 200s, including Youngstown State at 246.

About Youngstown State: The Penguins were picked to finish second in the league behind Wright State. They were 18-15 last season and lost in the conference tourney finals to UIC, 67-61. The Flames knocked out the Raiders in the semifinals. … Bohannon is second in the league in scoring and field-goal shooting (57.1%) and fifth in rebounding (8.4). The Penguins are fifth nationally in offensive rebounds with 15.6 per game. ... They’re only 1-3 on the road in the league with a split at Northern Kentucky and two losses at Cleveland State. That’s nothing new. In Calhoun’s four years, the Penguins have a 14-38 road record overall. They at least don’t have to worry about fans at games this year, which hurts the Raiders’ cause. They averaged a league-leading 4,154 per game last season. … Quisenberry, a Wayne grad, missed the two CSU losses Dec. 26-27, but he returned against Green Bay last weekend, scoring 14 and 12 points. The Phoenix, though, picked up its first win Saturday after starting the season with nine straight losses.

Next game: The Raiders will play four home games in a row, hosting Youngstown State at 3 p.m. Saturday and then first-place Cleveland State on Jan. 15-16 at 7 p.m each day.

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