The Wright State men’s basketball team lost to the Murray State racers (MSU) 80-61, bringing their overall record to 0-3 this season.
The game was competitive throughout the first half. Loudon Love shot 4-5 from the field and scored eight points to lead WSU in scoring. Parker Ernsthausen also added six points in the first half.
It was in the second half that things started to go south for Wright State. Murray State started to double team Love, forcing WSU to look to other players to make shots. This strategy worked for MSU, as all Wright State players not named Loudon Love would shoot only 6-19 (31%) from the field in the second half.
Murray State would pour on the scoring in the final five minutes of the game to secure the 19 point victory against Wright State.
WSU head coach Scott Nagy said post game that part of the team’s struggles come from not having a player that is used to playing the point guard position.
“We played the entire second half without a point guard," Nagy said. “It makes the game pretty hard to do that. Once we get Cole (Gentry), all of that will change. We will have somebody who can really handle pressure and get guys easy shots."
Cole Gentry is sitting out until the spring semester due to his transfer from South Dakota State University.
With Justin Hill sitting out this game with an injury, WSU relied heavily on its freshmen players to play crucial minutes in the game. Redshirt freshmen Loudon Love and Everett Winchester each played 29 and 24 minutes, respectively, and true freshman Jaylon Hall played 22 minutes in the game.
Nagy spoke about his freshmen’s performance, and called for the upperclassmen to start making big plays.
“I was very pleased with what we got out of our freshmen, and they will just continue to get better. We just need our older guys to believe in themselves and make those plays for us that they’re capable of making."
Love continued his impressive season with 14 points and eight rebounds in the game. Senior Grant Benzinger contributed 13 points as well.
Senior guard Justin Hill will suit up for the Raiders next game against Tiffin University, according to Nagy. That game will take place Monday, Nov 20 at the Nutter Center.
