VALPARAISO, Ind. – Every time Wright State center Michael Karena touches the basketball, defenses swarm to him. It is not because he is a prolific scorer; it is because of the options that are available to Karena.
Last Wednesday versus Oakland, Karena got into foul trouble late, meaning open chances for players like Grant Benzinger dried up. Valpo saw this and when the Crusaders grouped around the 6-foot-10 junior center, it forced him to get rid of the basketball quickly. The pressure was tough on Karena as he committed a team-high three turnovers in WSU’s 55-48 loss at Valpo.
The loss at Valpo was Wright State’s seventh in a row and 10th out of its last 11 games.
“When you start with Michael in November, he is not a good passer,” WSU head coach Billy Donlon said. “That is not me knocking him. Look, every kid has an area of improvement; I have to get better at coaching. He is not a good passer, so when the double (team) comes, we are still working on that and that hurt him.”
As Karena has been a more consistent factor for the Raiders, Horizon League defenses have put more effort into guarding him. Karena has scored in double figures in five of the Raiders’ last six games.
“Once I started being a presence inside, they started to double (team),” Karena said. “Luckily the last couple of games, Benzinger has been hitting shots. One thing I have to learn is when to take it to the hoop and when to pass it out.”
Karena nearly had a career high in playing time with 35 minutes versus Valpo. For the first time during conference play, Karena stayed out of any foul trouble. Karena committed just one foul in last Saturday’s contest en route to a 10-point, seven-rebound performance.
Donlon said earlier in the season that it is important for Karena to stay out of foul trouble as Wright State is missing two of its other three forwards due to injury.
“Each game, I am obviously trying to stay under four or five fouls, which is pretty good,” Karena said. “I am a big body so I am going to get called for fouls which aren’t fouls, but I have to eliminate the ones that are stupid like over the back fouls and charges.”
Happy returns
The Raiders welcomed back Joe Thomasson to the lineup Saturday after he missed three games due to a car accident that he and teammate Chrishawn Hopkins were involved in two weeks ago.
Hopkins had returned to the lineup last Wednesday versus Oakland, but left in the first half when Hopkins took an elbow to the eye. Both players played over 30 minutes in their first full game last Saturday.
Having Thomasson and Hopkins back meant less minutes for freshman Justin Mitchell and no playing time for Grant Evans and Daniel Collie.
“The boost is definitely there but the biggest thing is when you have a short bench, and you’re out there, you have to rest,” Donlon said. “And you can’t rest in our league on possessions, so I thought that was really helpful.”
Honoring seniors
The Raiders return home Thursday to host Milwaukee for their final regular season home game of the year. Donlon and the program will honor Hopkins, Reggie Arceneaux and Kendall Griffin in a ceremony following the game.
Arceneaux recently reached the 1,000-point mark and Griffin has missed the last month of play due to a career-ending concussion. Arceneaux and Griffin played all four seasons at WSU, while Hopkins transferred before his junior season from Butler.
