Wright State will try to advance to its third Horizon League championship game in four seasons tonight when the third-seeded Raiders (21-12) take on No. 2 Oakland (21-10) in a 9:30 semifinal at Joe Louis Arena.
Here are five things to know about the game:
1. Sweep streak
Wright State will try to do something tonight that is hasn’t done in nearly 20 years – beat a team it has already lost to twice in the regular season.
The Grizzlies routed the Raiders 89-63 in Oakland on Jan. 29, and they scored an 89-73 triumph at the Nutter Center on Feb. 15.
Tonight will mark the eighth time since joining the Horizon League in 2001 that WSU has played a team in the conference tournament that it lost both games against in the regular season, and all eight times the opponent completed the three-game sweep.
It’s happened four times since Billy Donlon took over as head coach in 2010, the most recent of which was last year against Illinois-Chicago. Donlon’s squads also went 0-3 against Valparaiso in 2012-13, Butler in 2011-12 and Cleveland State in 2010-11.
2. Heartbroken Hooper
Oakland senior Max Hooper, the conference’s Sixth Man of the Year, is expected to play after flying to Detroit from California following the death of his father, Chip, on Saturday.
The video of Hooper's emotional moment with his dad on Senior Night went viral, and the HL plans to hold a moment of silence for Chip prior to tonight's game.
“The magnitude of this game obviously is important, but this is a lot bigger than a 40-minute basketball game,” Donlon said. “Certainly our deepest sympathies go out to Max, his family and the entire Oakland community.”
3. Secret spilled
A few minutes before Donlon went on his tirade in Sunday's postgame press conference, there was a moment of levity when the topic turned to what the Raiders need to do differently tonight than they did in their 26- and 16-point losses to Oakland in the regular season.
Senior forward JT Yoho fielded the question and said the key to the game would be pace.
“Oakland’s one of the best teams at getting out and running transition and shooting the ball the first six to 10 seconds of the shot clock,” he said. “We’re going to slow down and work through it and try to make them guard for the whole 30 seconds.”
Within seconds of Yoho finishing, Donlon refuted that.
“That’s not true,” he said. “We’re going to try to score in the first five seconds of the clock. You’re incorrect. We haven’t even talked about the plan. We’re going to try to score in the first five seconds. It’s going to be the fastest game of the season.”
After Yoho and teammate Grant Benzinger had finished the players portion of the press conference and were headed back to the locker room, Donlon joked to Yoho that he could expect to run some sprints for giving that answer.”
4. Shoe swap
WSU sophomore guard Mark Alstork will wear teammate Trey Stacey’s shoe again tonight after blowing out his left one four minutes into Sunday’s quarterfinal win against Detroit.
Alstork had a backup pair, but he didn’t like the way they felt. He and Stacey wear the same size, so Stacey, a sophomore who rarely plays, gave up his left shoe and watched it play a key role as Alstork scored 17 points and had game highs in steals (three) and blocks (three).
5. Alma mater awareness
Wright State won’t be the only school close to Donlon’s heart that will be playing a big game tonight.
Donlon’s alma mater, North Carolina-Wilmington, plays in the championship game of the Colonial Athletic Association tournament at 7, two and a half hours before WSU tips off.
“I don’t know how much I’ll watch, because I always feel like a jinx,” Donlon said. “But I will definitely be following the score.”
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