Despite entering the contest with a sore knee, Joe Thomasson left a mark in Wright State’s 70-57 win Friday. He led the team with nine rebounds to go with 10 points.
Even with a sore knee, Thomasson played 33 minutes in Friday’s contest.
Friday marked the third time Thomasson finished with nine rebounds. He is still looking for this first Division I double-digit performance in rebounds.
“When I am out there, I go as hard as I can,” Thomasson said. “Coach (Billy Donlon) and (trainer) Jason Franklin helped me, they limited my reps in practice this week to make sure I was healthy as I can be and it helped.”
Despite being questionable entering the game Friday, after going through his pregame routine, Thomasson said the pain went away.
“I got in the hot tub and when I got in the hot tub, all my pain just went away,” Thomasson said. “When I am on the court, I don’t think about injuries or anything. I just want to compete for my team no matter how bruised I am.”
This was Thomasson’s first time playing in a Horizon League battle.
“I just know that coach (Billy Donlon) is more intense,” Thomasson said. “As far as us players, we picked up our focus level. We know we’re a talented team and we haven’t played to our expectations yet. Hopefully we have the wheels going.”
Hopkins plays through the flu
The recent flu epidemic has hit the Wright State locker room. Guard Chrishawn Hopkins was limited in practice this week with the flu after playing 28 minutes last Saturday at Ohio State.
His game time status was questionable but he managed to play 23 minutes Friday and lead the team with six assists to go with seven points. His six assists marked a career high since Hopkins joined the Raiders.
“The only bad thing is he is not going to want to practice before every game since he didn’t practice,” Donlon said. “I thought he played well, I was proud of his defense. He took care of the basketball. He has a tendency, as with any good guard, you have so much confidence in your dribble and go by people, you can over dribble.”
The 23 minutes Hopkins played was fewest he has played all season.
Hopkins has struggled in recent games to score. After scoring in double figures in five of the first six games this season, he has not scored more than eight points in a contest in the last nine contests.
Mitchell makes second start
WSU freshman guard Justin Mitchell made his second start of the season and his first since Wright State’s 81-58 win over Urbana Dec. 7. Mitchell played by far the most minutes he has played in a contest with 33 minutes.
Mitchell responded with nine points and only turned the ball over once. Mitchell, along with Thomasson, were tasked with guarding Juwan Howard Jr., the leading scorer in the Horizon League. The duo kept Howard four points below his season average.
“Those two guys deserve all the credit, they did all the yeoman’s work,” Donlon said. “We wanted to make catches inside of the 3 really difficult on him because he is really good. You can’t defend a guy from 25 feet and when he makes a 25-footer, you shake his hand.”
