DETROIT -- The Horizon League's highest-scoring offense and most stiffling defense face off tonight as Detroit hosts Wright State with a share of first place at stake for the Raiders.
With a win, Wright State would improve to 5-1 in conference play and move into a tie with Valpo for the top spot in the standings. The Crusaders completed a second straight late-game comeback to hand the Raiders their first Horizon League loss on Saturday night at the ARC in the first contest of a tough three-game roadtrip for WSU.
Valparaiso's previous comeback win came on Thursday night, when the Crusaders overcame a 22-point second-half deficit to end Detroit's 17-game home winning streak. The Titans bounced back, however, and defeated UIC on Saturday night by a score of 98-47, the largest margin of victory ever in Horizon League men's basketball.
Tonight, Detroit hopes to put that high-powered offense on display once again. The Titans average 79.4 points per game, tops in the Horizon League and eighth in the nation. They're the only team with three players in the top 10 the Horizon League in scoring: forward Nick Minnerath (9th, 13.3 ppg) and guards Jason Calliste (6th, 14.2) and Ray McCallum (1st, 18.7).
The Raiders, meanwhile, hope to stiffle the Titans. They're allowing just 56.6 ppg, the best defense in the conference and 14th in the NCAA.
The primary goal, according to Wright State coach Billy Donlon, is slowing down Detroit and keeping the Titans from racking up fastbreak points. While Wright State's adjusted tempo of 63.7 ranks 287th in the country, Detroit checks in 29th with a 71.2 adjusted tempo.
“The key with them is you’ve got to slow their transition game,” Donlon told the Dayton Daily News. “And you can’t turn the ball over. You have to get shots, and you have to make them guard you at the other end of the floor."
While the Titans and Raiders are atop the Horizon League in offense and defense, respectively, the opposite is also true: Detroit ranks last in defense, allowing 69.7 ppg, while Wright State's 62.1 ppg on offense rank eighth.
In the series, Detroit has won four straight after Wright State had won the previous 10 in a row. The Titans are the only Horizon League team still undefeated against Donlon, now in his third season with the Raiders.
