DAYTON – The Wright State men’s basketball team hits the road for the remainder of its postseason run, as the No. 7-seeded Raiders travel to take on No. 2 Milwaukee Thursday night in the 2023 Barbasol Horizon League Championship quarterfinals. Wright State opened HL tournament play with a 77-57 win over Green Bay at home on Tuesday while Milwaukee had the first round bye as they awaited their opponent. Tipoff is set for 8 p.m. ET from the Klotsche Center in Milwaukee.
Fans can follow the action several ways – via live stats, by watching on ESPN+ or by tuning in on WONE 980 AM. Chris Collins and Justin Kinner will have the call on the radio feed.
THURSDAY: WATCH ON ESPN+ | FOLLOW LIVE STATS | LISTEN ON WONE 980 AM | GAME NOTES
LAST TIME OUT
Brandon Noel tallied his 11th double-double of the season with a 20-point, 16-rebound effort to lead three Raiders in double figures as the No. 7-seeded Wright State men’s basketball team advanced to the quarterfinals with a 77-57 victory over No. 10 Green Bay. Trey Calvin got the Raiders rolling early with nine of his 14 points in the first half, while Tim Finke connected on a trio of three-pointers on the way to his 13 points and seven rebounds. Nine different Raiders found the scoring column in the win as eight players tallied a rebound, with Wright State ending the night owning a 42-20 rebounding edge including 33 rebounds on the defensive end.
MILWAUKEE MATCHUP
Milwaukee enters the postseason 20-10 overall, closing the regular season with two straight wins. The Panthers are 14-3 at home this season. Wright State won both regular season matchups, with Trey Calvin scoring eight of the Raiders’ nine overtime points in a 78-74 Jan. 14 road win, while Alex Huibregtse (25 points) and Andrew Welage (19 points) paced the Raiders in the 93-86 home win on Jan. 26. The teams have met 70 times overall, with the Raiders holding a 38-32 lead over Milwaukee in the overall series, including wins in nine of the last 11 meetings. The first meeting came back on Jan. 17, 1977 in Milwaukee, a 75-66 Panther win. The first Wright State home game was the following year – a 71-69 Raider win on Feb. 13, 1978.
PANTHER POINTS
-Milwaukee is 20-10 overall and finished with a 14-6 Horizon League record. The Panthers were 14-3 at home during the regular season (6-7 on the road).
-BJ Freeman was named Second Team All-Horizon League, Ahmad Rand was selected as the Horizon League Defensive Player of the Year and to the All-Defensive Team, and Elijah Jamison was voted to the Horizon League All-Freshman Team.
KNOW THE VENUE
Wright State and Milwaukee will play Thursday’s HL quarterfinal game at the Klotsche Center on campus and not downtown at UWM Panther Arena. Milwaukee is 5-0 at the Klotsche Center this season, defeating Purdue Fort Wayne in the building last week (96-94), with the other four games coming back in November. The Klotsche Center is the main home for Milwaukee women’s basketball and volleyball; Milwaukee men’s basketball called it its full time home from 1977-1992 and then from 1998-2003 and during the 2012-13 season. Since the 1999-2000 season, the Raiders are 1-5 in the Klotsche Center, but only two of those meetings came in the last decade and it’s been nine years since Wright State has played in the building.
-Last Wright State game at Klotsche Center – Jan. 30, 2014 (68-64 MKE win)
-Last Wright State win at Klotsche Center – Feb. 9, 2013 (64-49 WSU win)
NATIONALLY SPEAKING
Wright State’s 50.0 overall season shooting percentage to date is 3rd best in the country behind Gonzaga (1, 52.6 percent) and Colgate (2, 50.8). Trey Calvin’s 485 total field goal attempts is No. 7 nationally and his 239 field goals made is 9th. Brandon Noel’s 61.3 percent field goal percentage is tops in the Horizon and is No. 18 nationally in shooting percentage.
DOUBLING DOWN
Brandon Noel’s 11 double-doubles to date are the third-most the Horizon League, while Noel tallied a HL-best eight double-doubles during regular season League play. Noel has recorded double figures scoring 22 times with seven games of 20-plus points. He has 13 double-digit rebound games and has five-plus rebounds in 28 contests.
COURTESY WRIGHT STATE ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS
