Men's Basketball Preview--Wright State

So, now we turn our attention back to the men's basketball team, which was 6-5 when we left them.  They are now heading to Dayton to play Wright State...a game that certainly appears winnable on paper.

The Raiders are 7-7 with 2 non-DI wins.  Their other 5 wins are relatively undistinguished, with probably the best one coming in the last game against Missouri-KC.  They lost to Georgetown, but also @Morehead State and @Miami.  They are undefeated at home.

The two teams played last year at the Stroh.  BG won 54-41 on the strength of a strong second half.

There were two things Wright State was doing at that time.  Substituting at an incredibly fast pace and playing at an incredibly slow pace.

They are still doing one of those things.  Wright State has 11 players averaging 10 minutes a game or more...and no player averaging more than 25.

The other they are not doing so much.  The BG game last year featured only 57 possessions, which is next to nothing.  They are playing at a pretty normal mid-high 60s pace this year, with some higher numbers against uptempo teams like VMI and Morehead.

Remembering that according to current RPI Wright State has played among the five softest schedules to date, they have decent numbers.  They are scoring 1.04 points per possession, shooting 48% for all FGS and 36% from 3s.  They are decent on turnovers and shooting 74% from the line, but not good on the offensive boards at all.

College Basketball

On defense, they have been very efficient.  They are .93 points per possession, which is excellent.  They allow 43% FG shooting, which is good, especially when combined with forcing a turnover on 26.7% of their possessions.  They do an average job protecting the offensive boards.

Individually, they have only one guy in double figures, which is not surprising given that no one plays big minutes.  The big scorer is AJ Pacher, a 6'10" Sr. who is scoring 10 points in 19 minutes on 71% shooting.   He also leads the team with 4.4 rebounds.  JT Yoho is scoring 9.6 and Miles Dixon 9.5.

Anyway, this is an interesting team to watch, because they have no real dominant players and spread everything out over a wide number of players.

This is a game BG has a decent shot to win.  Wright State has played well at home, however, and while BG is above expectations so far, they are nowhere near a position to be able to count on winning.  Even so, this is a winnable game and a nice chance to build some confidence on the road.