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By Joel Welser
Wright State Raiders
Horizon League (23-9, 13-3)
Seed: #14
West Region
RPI: 72
Big Wins:
1/10 Loyola Ill (81-55), 2/10 Butler (77-65), 3/6 Butler (60-55)
Bad Losses:
11/19 at Coastal Carolina (63-70), 11/22 at Chicago State (70-86), 12/16
Bowling Green (56-59)
Last NCAA
Appearance: 1993, First Round loss to Indiana
Coach:
Brad Brownell (0-2 in 2 NCAA appearances)
Probable
Starters:
Dashaun Wood,
Senior, Guard, 19.8 ppg, 3.9 apg, 5.0 rpg
Vaughn Duggins,
Freshman, Guard, 8.9 ppg, 2.6 apg, 3.3 rpg
Todd Brown,
Freshman, Guard, 8.6 ppg, 2.9 rpg
Drew Burleson,
Senior, Forward, 8.8 ppg, 5.8 rpg
Jordan Pleiman,
Junior, Forward, 7.4 ppg, 5.5 rpg
Key
Roleplayers:
William Graham,
Sophomore, Guard, 3.5 ppg, 2.2 apg
Reinaldo Smith,
Senior, Guard, 1.6 ppg, 1.1 rpg
Scottie Wilson,
Junior, Forward, 5.0 ppg, 3.6 rpg
Why They Can
Surprise:
The Raiders
play solid defense and are a fundamentally sound team all around. After an
up and down non-conference portion of the season, Wright State fought their
way through a very tough Horizon League and ended up on top at 13-3. The
opposition will struggle to find quality looks on the perimeter and WSU
shoots an excellent 73.6% at the free-throw line.
The Raiders
have one star in senior Dashaun Wood. The senior takes almost twice as many
shots as anybody else on the team and scores more than twice as much. He is
a decent distributor and will find his teammates when he is not scoring. The
turnovers are rarely a problem as the team only commits 12.3 per game.
Why They Can
Disappoint:
Freshmen Vaughn
Duggins and Todd Brown and forwards Drew Burleson and Jordan Pleiman are all
candidates to become the Raiders second scoring option, yet none are
consistent. Burleson is a power forward that can stretch the defense with
his outside shooting and Pleiman plays a big role by scoring in the paint.
Both the forwards, although a little undersized at 6-6 and 6-8, are decent
rebounders, but Wright State consistently gets beat on the glass as a team
and that will be a problem against bigger, stronger frontcourts.
Who To
Watch:
Duggins and
Brown on the wings can be very explosive scorers. Yet, as freshmen, they
will also disappear for long stretches at a time. Brown has scored in
double-digits nearly half of Wright State’s games, but in every loss during
the season, the 6-5 Canton, OH native has been held to under ten points. If
history teaches us anything, the Raiders will not win if Brown does not
reach double-digits.
By the
Numbers:
Scoring
Offense: ??.? (??rd in nation, ?th in conference)
Scoring
Defense: ??.? (?th, ?st)
Field-Goal
Percentage:
Field-Goal
Defense:
Free-Throw
Percentage:
Rebound Margin:
Assists Per
Game:
Turnovers Per
Game:
Joel’s
Bracket Says: First Round loss to Pitt
▪
2007 NCAA Tournament Bracket
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