12/14/2021

DAYTON – The Wright State men’s basketball team returns home for the first time in more than a month for a Wednesday night meeting with in-state foe Akron. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m. inside the Nutter Center, and is the first of two home contests this week for the Raiders, who host Tennessee Tech on Saturday afternoon. Wright State has not played since December 4 as the Raiders wrapped up the fall semester, while Akron is coming off of a seven-point Sunday home win over Florida A&M.

Fans can follow the action several ways – via live stats, by watching on ESPN+ or by tuning in on WZDA 103.9 FM, the new home of Raider Basketball on the radio. Chris Collins and Jim Brown will have all the play-by-play on the radio and ESPN feeds.

LAST TIME OUT
Trey Calvin turned in a career- and game-high 28 points last Saturday, but it wasn’t enough as the Raiders fell at Cleveland State 85-75 in Horizon League action. Calvin had 19 of his 28 in the second half as he finished the night shooting 10-of-18 overall with three three-point baskets and was 5-of-5 at the free throw stripe. Grant Basile turned in a double-double after he added 23 points of his own to go along with 15 rebounds, but the Raiders ended the opening weekend of League play with a road split as they wrapped up their seven-game road trip.

IT’S BEEN A WHILE. . .
Wright State and Akron square off for the 22nd time in program history on Wednesday, but the first time since December 31, 2005. Akron enters Wednesday with a 6-3 overall and coming off of a seven-point home win over Florida A&M at home on Sunday. Akron was 15-8 in the shortened 2020-21 season, ending the year in the MAC Tournament semifinals. The Raiders trail 9-12 in the all-time series, which began in January 1974 with a Wright State home game.

HOME SWEET HOME
Wednesday marks the first home game for Wright State since the season opener back on November 9. The Raiders are coming off of a seven-game road stretch, but find themselves now set up with six of their next seven contests inside the Nutter Center. This upcoming stretch includes four home Horizon League contests, the first of two separate four-game League home stretches for Wright State, with the second coming January 28-Feburary 5.

ZIPPING THROUGH IT
Akron enters Wednesday’s contest with a 6-3 overall record, including a perfect 5-0 mark at home this season. Akron dropped its lone true road contest – a 67-66 defeat at Ohio State in the season opener – and was 1-2 at the Gulf Coast Showcase in late November, with a win over Evansville and losses to Fordham and Appalachian State. The Zips early home schedule featured a pair of non-Division I opponents (Point Park and Wheeling) along with Southern and Florida A&M. Akron has one common opponent with the Raiders, as the Zips hosted Marshall on December 1 and came away with a 88-86 victory. Akron has four players currently averaging double-digits in the scoring column, paced by Enrique Freeman’s 13.6 points per contest, while Freeman is averaging a double-double this season to date with his 11.7 rebounds per game average as well. Freeman has tallied six double-double performances in nine games so far this season.

COURTESY WSU ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS