Men's Basketball vs. Milwaukee | Photo by Christian Peters | The Wright State Guardian
Wright State University (WSU) Men’s Basketball has been on a tear in recent weeks, winning six games in a row for an overall season record of 8-7. The streak jumped to six last week after a win over the University Illinois-Chicago Flames (UIC) and the Indiana University - Purdue University Indianapolis Jaguars (IUPUI).
The six-win streak includes four games in conference play, jumping to an overall 5-1 record in the Horizon League (HL). The Raiders currently sit in fourth in the HL standings, behind the Detroit Mercy Titans, the Oakland Golden Grizzlies and the Cleveland State Vikings, who all have yet to lose a game.
While the Raiders have looked dominant in recent games, according to Head Coach Scott Nagy, there is still much to improve on in the future.
“We are not a good rebounding team, and we are not a good defensive team. It’s bothered me all year,” Nagy said. “I think we’re getting better defensively, but it’s nowhere near what we need to win a championship.”
From up close
The duo of Tanner Holden and Grant Basile in WSU’s recent matches has taken control of close and mid-range shooting, with Basile scoring points in the paint and Holden driving to the rim from the outside while baiting fouls.
“When we do that, we play it to the post, we get lot better looks,” Basile said. “I think that’s our identity.”
Holden and Basile currently sit third and fourth in points per game respectively, with a vast majority of all their points coming from the paint.
“I think [in the paint] is an area where [Basile’s] gotten really comfortable,” Tim Finke, a guard for the team, said. “When he takes his time in there, you can’t stop him.”
Holden has been an expert in driving to the rim, baiting a foul almost every drive and many times converting for a three-point play.
He currently sits first in the entire nation in free-throw attempts with 108, and second in the nation in free-throws made with 86.
These points and fouls up close have a huge impact on WSU’s game. In their 90-72 win over UIC, the Raiders made only six 3-point shots to UIC’s thirteen, but the Raiders had 22 free throw attempts to UIC’s three.
“They shoot very few free throws, they made three and we made 22,” Nagy said. “They made 13 threes and we won by 18.”
What to improve
For the Raiders to improve their win streak and improve their chance at a championship, they need to work on their defense and their effort at the start of games, according to Nagy.
WSU has definitely been a second-half team so far this year, getting off to a slower start in all six of its wins.
“We’re just too bad defensively to start games,” Nagy said. “All of our starts have been awful, we’ve got to break that pattern.”
For Nagy, defensive play and rebounding will be what the team focuses on moving forward.
