CHICAGO - For the first 20 minutes of Tuesday’s game, no one was more dominant on the floor than Wright State’s 6-foot-4 guard Justin Mitchell. Mitchell was in a zone as he had a career high 11 rebounds in the first half alone.
Unfortunately for Wright State, the last seconds for Mitchell were forgettable.
Mitchell committed a turnover with six seconds left with WSU trailing by one. After UIC’s Jay Harris made a pair of free throws, Mitchell made the mistake of driving into the lane when WSU needed to shoot a 3 to force overtime. The Raiders never got a shot off as UIC won 60-57 to advance past the first round of the Horizon League Championships.
“Just a freshman mistake. I should have come out to see what I had and gave it to a senior,” Mitchell said about his final play.
Wright State head coach Billy Donlon said the final moments of the game should not discount Mitchell’s effort and energy in Tuesday’s game.
“The kid played great,” WSU coach Billy Donlon said. “Everybody’s going to remember the last play, but he’s a freshman. He made a big-time shot when they were making their run right across from our bench, made his free throws. For anybody to think that kid didn’t play great is crazy. He played great all night long.”
After having 11 rebounds in the first half, he had none in the second half.
Duo sidelined
After returning to play from significant injuries last Saturday, Wright State forwards JT Yoho and Steven Davis sat out all of Tuesday’s game. Both players dressed and participated in warm-ups for WSU.
Yoho was WSU’s leading scorer in its lost at UIC last Saturday.
“JT could not play,” Donlon said. “We suited him in case of fouls or free throws late but he could not play.”
Donlon said that Wright State’s 19-point advantage the Raiders built in the first half of Tuesday’s game played a factor in not playing Yoho or Davis.
“The first 30 minutes, we were pretty good,” Donlon said. “Once they cut into (our lead), I didn’t feel it would be fair to (Yoho). That was the choice I made.”
Yoho had a knee injury that caused him to miss over a month of action. Davis missed over two months of play with a severe bone bruise on his foot he suffered at Ohio State on Dec. 27.
Turned over
Wright State did a good job in the first half of taking care of the basketball. In the second half, the Raiders were handing the ball to UIC. The Flames took advantage of 10 second-half turnovers by WSU by scoring 21 points.
Conversely, UIC only committed two second-half turnovers leading to no points for Wright State.
“If you can get more possessions and more shots than the other team, you can have a good chance to win,” Donlon said. “Three straight games now where opponents have shot under 40 percent, so we have guarded well.”
Mitchell and Joe Thomasson each committed three turnovers.
“In the second half they out-toughed us for the rebounds and the loose passes,” Mitchell said.
