Today’s game
Who: Cleveland St. (22-5, 11-4) at Wright St. (17-11, 10-6)
When: 7 p.m.
TV: WWRD (tape delay 9 p.m.)
Radio: WONE-AM (980)
FAIRBORN — The Wright State basketball team was tied for second place in the Horizon League with Cleveland State when the Raiders entered CSU’s Wolstein Center on Saturday, Jan. 22.
In two hours, WSU suffered through its all-around worst offensive game of the season.
The 65-46 drubbing against the Vikings was Wright State’s worst regular-season league loss in 76 games, or nearly four calendar years. The Raiders had first- or second-worst performances of the season in points, field-goal percentage and 3-point percentage.
Now, as Wright State tries to battle out of fifth place in the tight Horizon League race, second-place CSU makes its return visit to the Nutter Center at 7 p.m. today. Coming off two straight road losses at Butler and Valparaiso, the Raiders would like redemption for their offensive struggles.
“Our offensive pace was horrific,” said WSU coach Billy Donlon. “We were slow, and they deserve a lot of credit. Because of their pressure, we were slow.”
Cleveland State went ahead 21-8 and led 33-20 at halftime before things got worse. But Wright State is 12-1 at home this season, and the Raiders feel the urgency of two regular-season league games remaining while just two games separate first through fifth place in the standings. With tonight’s game and a home game against Detroit on Feb. 25, WSU will try to close in on the highly coveted No. 2 seed in the league tournament, which receives two byes into the tournament semifinals. That starts tonight against Cleveland State.
“You have to try to get to their bench,” Donlon said. “They have the best starting five in the league.”
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