This year’s WSU basketball team is off to a 6-0 start in conference play. There is a lot to be excited about, and the peak of that excitement is having a legitimate chance to make the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2007.
The Raiders still have a long road ahead of them, but this year’s team can make it happen for these five reasons.
Distributed scoring
As of yesterday, WSU has six players scoring at least eight points a game: Grant Benzinger, Loudon Love, Justin Mitchell, Mark Hughes, Jaylon Hall and Cole Gentry. Only WSU and Detroit Mercy have those stats in the Horizon league. This is different from last years WSU basketball team, where they relied heavily on Mark Alstork’s 19 points per game. The ability to look to almost half of the team as a go to scorer will be very beneficial throughout the season when players go through cold streaks, injuries, etc.
Current conference status
The Horizon League overall is having a down year so far. As of yesterday, only three of the ten teams in the conference have an overall winning record (WSU, NKU, Oakland). This could be partially because of the departure of Valparaiso, who were the winners of the horizon league tournament 2013 and 2015, and the regular season champions 2015-2017 and the arrival of IUPUI — a new team in the conference.
While it is never a good idea to underestimate your opponent — as evidence of last years Horizon League Tournament which saw the top two seeds lose in the first round — it is worth noting that WSU is at the top of an under performing conference as a whole.
Beating NKU
On Thursday, Jan. 11, WSU went on the road to Highland Heights, Kentucky and beat NKU 84-81. This was something WSU couldn’t do last season, where they lost to NKU three times. The Raiders gutsy performance on the road shows they can rise to the occasion and pull out tough wins.
Freshmen making a difference
Redshirt freshmen Winchester and Love, and true freshman Hall are combining for an average of 26.9 points per game, over a third of WSU’s average of 71.5 PPG. The impressive play of young players has been essential for the Raiders this year, and without them they would not be as dynamic and diverse of a team.
Experienced seniors
There are two things that create wins in March, future NBA players and experienced seniors. While we will have to wait and see if any Raiders make the NBA, we know for sure that they have senior leadership. Benzinger and Mitchell have a combined 215 games of experience between the two of them, and both are scoring over 11 PPG this season.
While nothing is certain in the world of college basketball, this year’s team has the talent, leadership and chemistry to send WSU to the big dance.
