Second straight Horizon League Player of the Year honors for Wright State’s Loudon Love; three teammates honored by league

Loudon Love drives through traffic against NKU (courtesy Wright State Athletics)

Becomes the third player in HL history with multiple Player of the Year and Newcomer of the Year awards

INDIANAPOLIS/DAYTON – After clinching at least a share of the Horizon League regular season championship for the third consecutive season and setting a new program record for league wins, the Wright State men’s basketball team has received six Horizon League honors, the league office announced Monday morning, headlined by Loudon Love earning his second consecutive Player of the Year selection Loudon Love.

Love’s honor puts the Raider big man in rare Horizon League company, becoming just the sixth player in League history to win two Player of the Year awards and only the third Horizon League player to garner multiple Player of the Year honors and also have been named the League’s Newcomer of the Year.

It’s been 20 years since a Horizon League player has pulled off back-to-back Player of the Year honors, while Love joins former Xavier standout Byron Larkin and former Detroit Mercy standout Rashad Phillips on the pedestal with multiple Player of the Year awards and a Newcomer of the Year honor.

The only other Wright State player to earn the Horizon League’s top individual honor other than Love was DeShaun Wood following the 2006-2007 season.

In addition to those honors, Love was also recognized on the Horizon League first team, joined by sophomore Tanner Holden, while redshirt-sophomore Grant Basile was a second team selection. Love and Tim Finke each earned All-Defensive Team recognition as well.

Love leads the Raiders in both scoring and rebounding, averaging a double-double for the regular season with a 16.7 points per game average and a 10.3 rebounds per game clip. He has recorded double digit point totals in 22 of 23 games, including 14 games with 15 or more points and has 12 double-doubles this season, including six of the last seven games, and has 49 overall for his career. His 12 double-doubles are tied for the fourth-most in the NCAA this season. Love’s rebound average is second in the Horizon League, and he has 12 double-digit rebounding games, including a pair of 16 rebound games.

Love has played in 119 career games with 1,778 career points, No. 3 all-time in Wright State program history, and his 1,117 career rebounds are the most in Wright State basketball history (men and women) and is the 82nd-most in NCAA history. He is second in career rebounding among active players.

The first team honor was the third consecutive for Love, who began his Raider career as the Horizon League’s Freshman of the Year and as a second team all-conference player following the 2017-2018 season. He is the 17th player in Horizon League history to be a three time First Team selection.

Tanner Holden in action against Northern Kentucky (courtesy WSU Athletic Communications)

Holden joined Love on the first team after averaging a team-high 34 minutes per game and 15.8 points per game, second-most on the roster. He has recorded 20 double digit scoring games, including 17 games with 15 or more points, while shooting 52 percent from the floor with 239 shot attempts, the fifth-best mark in the league, and is a 79 percent free throw shooter, which is seventh in the league.

Holden is averaging 7.2 rebounds per game, the second-most on the Wright State roster and eighth in the league overall. The first team honor is the first of his career after he was an all-freshman honoree last season.

Grant Basile Wright State shooting free throw vs Miami (courtesy WSU Athletics)

Inserted in the starting lineup the last 14 games of the regular season, Basile is scoring at a 14.2 points per game clip with 18 double digit scoring games, including 10 games with 15 or more points. He is averaging 6.7 rebounds/game, the third-most on the Wright State roster and 11th in the league overall.

Basile’s 62 percent shooting from the floor is the highest among Wright State regular rotation players. That mark that leads the Horizon League and is 11th in the country overall, while he is also a 49 percent shooter from three-point range. The first team honor is the first of his career after he was an all-freshman honoree last season.

Tim Finke going to basket against Miami RedHawks (courtesy WSU Athletics)

Finke earned All-Defensive honors after averaging 6.9 rebounds a night, third on the Wright State roster, and has been a consistent presence on the glass, having tallied 17 games with at least five rebounds. He is averaging 5.2 defensive rebounds a night heading into the postseason in addition to drawing the opposing team’s toughest defensive assignments weekly.

Love’s defensive honors come after pulling down a team-leading 236 rebounds, the fifth-most nationally, while recording 30 blocks and 1.3 blocks/game, which are both second in the league behind Basile. His 10.3 rebounds per game average is 17th in the nation, his 3.52 offensive rebounds/game is 15th nationally and he is No. 28 nationally in defensive rebounds/game at 6.74.

After clinching at least a share of the Horizon League regular season championship for the third consecutive season, Wright State will be No. 2 seed for the 2021 Horizon League Championship. Under the current neutral-site championship format introduced in 2016, the No. 1 seed has not won a Horizon League tournament title.

The Raiders (18-5) will await the second-lowest remaining seed following the first-round matchups on February 25 and host that team at the Nutter Center in quarterfinal action on March 2 at 7 p.m., with the broadcast on ESPN+. The Horizon League semifinals are March 8 with the Championship game on March 9, both from Indianapolis.

Player of the Year: Loudon Love, Wright State

Coach of the Year: Dennis Gates, Cleveland State

Freshman of the Year: Marques Warrick, Northern Kentucky

Defensive Player of the Year: Tre Gomillion, Cleveland State

Sixth Player of the Year: Matt Johnson, Detroit Mercy

All-League First Team (alphabetical by school)

Torrey Patton, Cleveland State

Antoine Davis, Detroit Mercy

Jalen Moore, Oakland

Tanner Holden, Wright State

Loudon Love, Wright State

All-League Second Team (alphabetical by school)

Amari Davis, Green Bay

Marcus Burk, IUPUI

Trevon Faulkner, Northern Kentucky

Grant Basile, Wright State

Naz Bohannon, Youngstown State

All-League Third Team (alphabetical by school)

Bul Kuol, Detroit Mercy

Te’Jon Lucas, Milwaukee

Marques Warrick, Northern Kentucky

Daniel Oladapo, Oakland

Jarred Godfrey, Purdue Fort Wayne

All-Freshman Team (alphabetical by school)

Lucas Stieber, Green Bay

Marques Warrick, Northern Kentucky

Micah Parrish, Oakland

Trey Townsend, Oakland

Shemar Rathan-Mayes, Youngstown State

All-Defensive Team (alphabetical by school)

Tre Gomillion, Cleveland State

Deante Johnson, Cleveland State

Tim Finke, Wright State

Loudon Love, Wright State

Garrett Covington, Youngstown State

COURTESY WRIGHT STATE ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS

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