The Colonials are only 10-16 overall and 6-9 in the Horizon League but have won two of their last three games. And the lone loss was to surprising Green Bay in overtime.
“They’re leading the league in offensive rebounding. They’re a great rebounding team. They’re playing hard,” Nagy said.
Robert Morris is averaging a league-high 13.7 offensive rebounds in conference games — an area where the Raiders have been vulnerable — and they have the HL’s best rebounding margin at plus-5.6 per game.
“They’re a different team now than when we played them. And we are too, quite frankly,” Nagy said, referring to a pair of subpar performances in their last two outings.
“Who knows? That can switch again. But they’re a lot better than they were, and I really don’t know where we are.”
The Raiders are 14-12 overall and in a tie for fourth in the league with Northern Kentucky at 9-6.
Green Bay and Oakland are tied for first at 12-4, while Youngstown State is 11-5.
The leaders are a combined 5-0 against Wright State.
But Nagy’s team has five games left, playing at Detroit Mercy (which beat IUPUI on Wednesday for its first win of the year) and Oakland next week and finishing with Purdue Fort Wayne and Northern Kentucky at home.
The top five teams get byes into the league tourney quarterfinals, and the top four get home games.
But Nagy said he’s not allowing himself to think that far ahead.
“There’s some things we can control, and some things we can’t. A lot of people could finish in a lot of places. All I can really do is focus on Robert Morris. I don’t spend a lot of time thinking about the other,” he said.
But like the rest of the league, Nagy has been thoroughly impressed with the turnaround at Green Bay, which is trying to become the first league team in 43 years to go from worst to first.
Xavier finished last in the league’s inaugural season in 1979-80 when it was known as the Midwestern Collegiate Conference and then won it in 1980-81.
The Phoenix is 17-10 overall after going 3-29 last season — tying Cal for the worst record in college basketball — and first-year coach Sundance Wicks is breathing life into a program that has just one NCAA tourney trip in the last 28 years.
It helps, of course, to have impact players. And 6-foot-3 junior guard Noah Reynolds, one of 11 newcomers on the roster, is the front-runner for the league player of the year award.
He’s third in scoring at 19.7 per game and second in assists at 4.4.
In two wins over Wright State, he’s scored 39 and 30 points and has a combined 14 assists and 10 rebounds.
“In basketball, one good player can change a lot — not that they don’t have other good players. But the Reynolds kid makes everybody on the floor better, and he gives them all confidence,” Nagy said.
Wicks is a former Wyoming assistant, and Reynolds was the second-leading scorer there last season at 14.5 per game.
He entered the transfer portal in March and attracted big-time offers. He was briefly committed to Wisconsin, but he backed out and decided to follow Wicks to Green Bay.
Reynolds’ brother, Nic, is also an assistant on the staff.
“He’s a winner and is the best player in the league,” Nagy said.
“They added a lot of good players, but they’re even better with him.”
SATURDAY’S GAME
Robert Morris at Wright State, 1 p.m., ESPN+, 101.5, 1410
About the Author