By Annie Walker
3 7 2024
DAYTON – The Wright State men’s basketball team opens postseason action with a Thursday night matchup against Northern Kentucky in the quarterfinals of the 2024 Barbasol Horizon League Men’s Basketball Championship. Tipoff is scheduled for 8 p.m. following the Raider women’s basketball quarterfinal game. Fans can follow the action several ways – via live stats, by watching on ESPN+ or by tuning in to the new home for Raider Basketball 101.5 HANK FM and WING 1410 AM. Chris Collins and Justin Kinner will have all the play-by-play on the television and radio feeds.
Fans can tune into 101.5 HANK FM live over the air in the Dayton metro area, as well stream the station live nationwide through a variety of free streaming apps. The iHeartRadio app, the TuneIn Radio app and the Audacy app are all FREE and each carry 101.5 HANK FM. Just search “101.5 HANK FM” on any of the three apps for Raider Basketball.
**Wright State has launched the Wright State Raiders app, allowing fans to stay up to date on Raider Basketball and all other sports. Fans are encouraged to use the Wright State Raiders app as the primary method for managing their digital tickets, which are required for entry to all WSU basketball events. Tickets for the 2023-24 basketball seasons are now uploaded and accessible on all purchaser accounts. Fans can easily view their tickets, download them to their mobile wallet, or transfer them to another individual account.**
THURSDAY: WATCH ON ESPN+ | FOLLOW LIVE STATS | LISTEN ON 101.5 HANK FM | GAME NOTES | TICKETS
LAST TIME OUT
Wright State saw five players score in double figures on Saturday night as the Raiders closed the regular season with a 94-88 victory over Northern Kentucky. Trey Calvin tallied 23 points while Tanner Holden flirted with a triple-double, scoring 16 points and grabbing nine rebounds while passing out eight assists and Brandon Noel recorded his third-straight double-double with 19 points and 12 rebounds
POSTSEASON PLAY
Thursday will be the fourth HL Tournament meeting between Wright State and Northern Kentucky, with the last coming in the 2022 HL Championship game. The teams also met in the 2019 HL title game and in the 2017 HL quarterfinals. This is the first HL tournament meeting on either teams’ home floor.
AWARDS SEASON
Three Raiders earned Horizon League honors, the league office announced March 4, headlined by Trey Calvin’s first team recognition, while Brandon Noel was named a second team performer and Tanner Holden was a third team selection.
NORSE NOTES
Wright State won both regular season games and leads the overall series 31-16. The Raiders have won nine of the last 12, including the 2022 HL Championship game and four of the last five contests inside the Nutter Center.
THE NORSE SIDE
-Northern Kentucky is 17-14 overall with a 5-12 mark on the road. Trey Robinson was named the Horizon’s Defensive Player of the Year to go with a nod to the All-Defensive Team, Marques Warrick was selected for the All-League First Team and Randall Pettus II rounded things out as a member of the conference’s All-Freshman Team.
COMPANY OF ONE
Thanks to Trey Calvin & Tanner Holden, Wright State is the only team in America with two players with 2,000-plus career points. Purdue (Zach Edey, Lance Jones) is the only other team with multiple players with 1,800-plus points.
NATIONALLY SPEAKING. . .
Wright State currently leads the nation with its 53.1 percent overall season shooting percentage. The Raiders’ Effective FG Percentage (58.7 percent) is No. 2 and the Scoring Offense (86.1) is No. 5. Individually, AJ Braun leads the country with his 69.7 percent field goal percentage. Trey Calvin is No. 26 nationally with 205 FG made, while No. 41 nationally with 19.6 points/game average and is No. 17 with his 90.0 percent Free Throw Percentage. Calvin’s 587 total points are No. 34, while Tanner Holden (498 total points) is No. 116. Holden’s 55.1 percent field goal percentage is No. 56 while 185 FG made is No. 74 nationally. Brandon Noel is shooting 54.2 percent, the No. 65 nationally.
BRAUN BUCKETS
AJ Braun leads the country with his 69.7 percent field goal percentage (159-of-228) and is doing it the old-school way. The Raider center has attempted only seven shots all season outside the paint – he’s 3-of-7 on midrange jumpers and does not have a three-point attempt. Braun is connecting at 74.5 percent around the rim (shots within 4.5 feet) and is 60.0 percent on all other shots in the paint.
HOT SHOTS
Six regular rotation players are connecting at over 50.0 percent shooting, led by AJ Braun (69.7), followed by Tanner Holden (55.1), Drey Carter (54.8), Brandon Noel (54.2), Alex Huibregtse (52.2) and Andrew Welage (50.0). Trey Calvin (48.3) is just off the shooting pace.
THAT’S DIFFERENT
Wright State connected on 11 three-pointers in the March 2 regular season finale against Northern Kentucky, just the fourth time the Raiders have hit double-digit three-pointers this season and one shy of the season-high mark of 12 hit at Robert Morris on Jan. 10. The Raiders also had 11 threes at Indiana on Nov. 16 and at Detroit Mercy on Feb. 22.
COURTESY WRIGHT STATE ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS
