CHICAGO – The returns of JT Yoho and Steven Davis were not enough to reverse Wright State’s fortunes Saturday as the Raiders lost their program record’s ninth in a row, falling to UIC 61-46.
“We struggled today, too many turnovers,” WSU senior guard Chrishawn Hopkins said. “We just got physically manhandled down low.”
The Raiders finish with their worst Horizon League record since the program joined the league at 3-13. WSU is staying in Chicago Saturday night to await the results of tonight’s Youngstown State versus Milwaukee game. Had WSU won Saturday, the Raiders would have hosted a first round game in the Horizon League Tournament Tuesday.
If Milwaukee wins, WSU remains in Chicago to play UIC again Tuesday night to open Horizon League Tournament play. If YSU wins, the Raiders will travel to Detroit to take on the Titans.
Yoho played for the first time since Jan. 14. He was the Raiders’ leading scorer with nine points. Davis played for the first time since Dec. 27. Davis entered in the second half and scored four points right away.
“I thought Steven gave us great minutes in the second half,” Wright State head coach Billy Donlon said. “He is in worse condition than JT. I wasn’t sure when to use him. It was good to see JT out there. You can tell he is very, very rusty, but we needed him.”
Yoho was WSU’s leading scorer before going down with a knee injury versus Cleveland State.
“I knew coming in that my jumping was not there,” Yoho said. “That is probably the only thing I noticed. During the game, I felt fine. But my explosion was at 75 percent.”
Senior Marc Brown, who scored 18 points, led UIC. Fellow senior Jay Harris scored all 12 of his points from the free throw line.
“Marc Brown had a great will tonight, a great will to win on his senior night,” Donlon said. “We couldn’t match it and I thought their whole team was energized by his physicality. I thought he was the difference.”
The Raiders lost the turnover battle 15-8.
After the Raiders took a 10-6 lead, UIC responded with a 12-0 run as the Raiders committed four turnovers in a five-minute span. The 18-10 lead UIC had in the first half was its largest of the half.
Thomasson snapped the run with a bucket. The Flames held a two-possession lead for the final six minutes of the first half. UIC led at halftime 24-18.
Yoho and Davis both started the second half and made immediate impacts. Davis made a couple of layups before Yoho hit a 3-pointer before the first media timeout. The Raiders got within one at 28-27 early in the second half, but could not get any closer.
“Both halves, we got off to good offensive starts,” Donlon said. “It all came down to UIC’s physicality in every aspect of the game. There wasn’t a position where we weren’t mishandled. Credit their staff.”
UIC put the game away in the middle of the second half with a 13-2 run to go up 15.
And now Wright State sits in Chicago and waits.
Courtney Barker
“Compared to the other frustrations of the season, this (wait) should be a cakewalk,” Donlon said.
If Yoho and Hopkins have their choice, they would like to redeem themselves after being swept in the season series against UIC.
“We can win a couple games in the tournament and make some noise in the tournament,” Hopkins said. “We just need to find our team again.”
