Wright State men’s basketball team will look to bounce back from a 76-68 loss to Green Bay on Monday, Jan. 4 with a Horizon League match-up at Northern Kentucky on Saturday, Jan. 9.
“Northern Kentucky is a good team,” Raiders head coach Billy Donlon said. “I think their Horizon League Conference opener will be a tough challenge for us.”
The Raiders held a 10-point lead at half time against the Phoenix but fell cold in the second half as they were outscored 41-23.
"I don’t know if aliens invaded our bodies coming out of halftime in the second half but certainly credit Green Bay,” Donlon said. “That’s our league. If you’re not ready you’re going to get wacked and that happened to us.”
After scoring zero points at Xavier on Dec. 8, senior guard JT Yoho has led the Raiders by averaging 15.8 points per game over the last six games off of the bench. Yoho scored 17 points last time out against Green Bay as did sophomore guard Mark Alstork who is averaging 15 points per game over the last five games.
Wright State (7-8; Horizon 1-1) has won four out of their last five after starting the season 3-7.
“It’s been a player-driven locker room,” Donlon said. “They’ve done an unbelievable job. They deserve all of the credit for what they’ve accomplished and how they’ve stayed with it.”
Senior center Michael Karena has found success recently, averaging 14 points per game in the last three games while senior forward Joe Thomasson is averaging 13.8 points per game in the last five games.
“We’ve shown we can play a lot of different ways and we’re improving defensively,” Donlon said. “To adjust the way we’ve been able to adjust, give our guys credit. It takes basketball IQ and communication and that’s all player leadership on the floor.”
Northern Kentucky is led by senior center Jalen Billups who leads the team with an average of 13.5 points per game and is five points shy of 1000 for his career.
Last time out for the Norse, they fell 76-67 to Milwaukee who Wright State defeated two nights before in an 84-82 overtime thriller. Alstork scored six points in overtime to lead the Raiders to victory.
Sophomore guard Lavone Holland II averages 12.7 points per game for NKU and scored a team-high 19 points against the Panthers while collecting eight rebounds. He scored 13 of his points in the first half.
Freshman forward Drew McDonald received Horizon League freshman of the week honors for NKU while scoring 14 points against Milwaukee with 10 coming in the second half.
Senior guard Tyler White is averaging 10.8 points per game for the Norse and junior guard Cole Murray is averaging 9.9.
The Norse (4-9; Horizon 0-2) have lost three straight games against Toledo, Green Bay and Milwaukee but have found success at home this season with a 4-1 record.
The game will tip-off at 1 p.m. at BB&T Arena.
