Wright State men’s basketball team is set to tip-off their season opener against South Dakota (17-16 last season) on Friday, Nov. 13 at the NIU Showcase in Dekalb, IL.
“We have three tough games ahead of us,” Raiders head coach Billy Donlon said.
Donlon is entering his seventh year as the WSU head coach with an overall record of 87-81 and a Horizon League conference record of 40-44.
“I think we can play a lot of different ways,” Donlon said. “ We’ll certainly learn a lot more about our team through the weekend.”
The Raiders went 11-20 last season while battling many injuries to key players. The team has brought back 11 players this year and looks to have depth due to the younger players getting experience by filling in.
Donlon, the 2013 Horizon League Coach of the Year expressed confidence in his team.
“We’ve made a lot of progress, especially some of the younger players,” Donlon said. “This is by far the biggest team we’ve had. I think this year we'll have more opportunities to play differently, to change the course of the game and adjust better.”
South Dakota averaged 70 points per game last season with a .422 shot percentage, compared to WSU with an average of 64.2 points per game and a .442 shot percentage.
The Raiders ranked last in the conference last season being out-rebounded by their opponents by five per game and averaged six less per game than the Coyotes.
“We have more size and some of it is misleading because we don’t go to the offensive glass, we only send one or two,” Donlon said. “I don’t send as many to the offensive glass to protect transition defense. I’m a defensive rebounding percentage guy. The goal is between 75 and 80 percent."
The Raiders posted a defensive rebound percentage of 76 percent last season.
The Coyotes lost their two leading scorers and top rebounder from last season due to graduation and could look toward senior guard Casey Kasperbauer to lead the team after averaging 9.9 points per game.
“Starting with South Dakota who’s extremely well-coached,” Donlon said. “They’ve got five guys out there all the time that can make three’s; some of them are 6’11’’ so it’s a unique match-up.”
The Raiders will tip-off against South Dakota at 5:30 p.m. on Friday, followed by Cal State Northridge (10-24) at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 14 and Northern Illinois (14-16) on Sunday, Nov. 15 at 4:30 p.m.
The projected starting line-up for the Raiders looks to be:
#5 Justin Mitchell - sophomore guard 6-3, 185 lbs. *Career high 18 points vs Oakland (2/18/15)
#13 Grant Benzinger – sophomore guard 6-3, 190 lbs. *Career high 31 points vs Oakland (2/18/15)
#32 Joe Thomasson – senior guard 6-4, 165 lbs. *Career high 20 points twice.
#11 JT Yoho – senior forward 6-6, 235 lbs. *Career high 25 points vs Charleston Southern (11/22/14)
#14 Michael Karena - senior center 6-10, 270 lbs. *Career high 21 points vs UIC (2/12/15)
