WSU Men’s Basketball vs. Purdue | Photo by Noah Kindig | The Wright State University
After a dominant showing at their home opener against Lake Erie 86-53, the Raiders have struggled on the road, losing twice in a row to Marshall (MRSH) and #6 Purdue (PUR).
The loss against the Thundering Herd was close, but the game against the Boilermakers seemed nowhere near a contest.
While Wright State University (WSU) was not expected to take a win off of a top-10 ranked opponent, they gave away a lot of uncharacteristic turnovers in both games and could not find the net at all in Purdue, leading to a 17-51 score at just halftime against Purdue, and a 88-96 loss against Marshall.
“Our offense isn’t quite where it needs to be. We ended up taking bad shots that led to easy shots for the other team in transition,” said Scott Nagy, Head Coach for the team.
A track meet at Marshall
From the very start of the Marshall game, it was obvious that the teams played quick basketball, with both sides running the ball up the court as soon as they could.
However, the Raiders would often sprint up the court straight into The Herd defense at the start of the game. Marshall would steal the ball and run back down the court on a fast break for an easy layup or dunk.
This gave the Herd a 19-8 lead after six minutes of play, and that was not the worst of it. In the second half alone, Marshall scored 20 fast breakpoints, and the Raiders only got one.
Even so, the Raiders still hung in the game with a career-high 37 points from Grant Basile and 25 from Tanner Holden.
Those were the only double-digit scorers for WSU, with Tim Finke and Trey Calvin, the scorers the team could largely rely on, only scoring six,
On the other hand, where MRSH’s Taevion Kinsey scored 22, six members of The Herd scored double digits, netting the win by eight.
“We need more than two people in double figures. I would much rather be balanced and win games than have a guy score a bunch of points and we don’t win,” Nagy said. “That’s what I’m looking for, is more balance.”
Struggling to score
At the very start of the game, it looked like the Raiders might give Purdue a challenge. The 7’4’’ Zach Edey won the tip, but the Raiders got a steal, found Holden wide open and nailed a three-pointer for a 3-0 WSU lead.
The Boilermakers fought back hard after their first mistake, scoring 14 in a row for a 14-3 lead. They kept pushing for a decisive lead early in the game, leading 19-7 off of a rock-solid defense and seven points from Caleb Furst.
Edey had seven inches on Basile, dominating the rebound game so that the 37 points in the previous game turned into just seven in Mackey Arena.
Without Basile able to score in the paint, the Raiders tried to force the ball up the court quickly, similar to the game against MRSH, but just like against The Herd, the Boilermakers would get a steal and quickly break down the court for easy baskets.
The only shining spot in this game for WSU was Calvin finding his form again, leading the game in scoring with 21 points.
Two double-digit scorers for WSU vs. five for PUR and three with a double-double decided the game. PUR would end the dominant game 96-52, with two of WSU’s starters not scoring a single point.
Hopefully the Raiders’ shooters can find their form once again at the Naples Invitational in Florida before the start of the Horizon League Season.
