SPRINGFIELD — Wittenberg men’s basketball coach Bill Brown is already looking back on his team’s season-opening loss as one he would like to have back, but today the Tigers get their first chance to put that defeat behind them.

Wittenberg plays at Capital at 7 tonight, its first game since a 90-84 loss to Indiana University East a week ago.

“It was just a really poor effort defensively,” Brown said. “We gave up way too many lay-ups, and from the first day of practice, we were emphasizing you can’t be any good defensively if you’re giving up lay-ups.”

Capital is 2-0 with a 75-72 victory over Brooklyn College and a 79-70 victory over Greensboro College. It trailed Brooklyn by 26 points in the second half before rallying.

The Crusaders finished 16-11 last season and return six of their top seven scorers.

“They’re just really good,” Brown said. “They lost only one senior from last year and played great basketball late in the year. They’ve picked up right from there.”

Wittenberg’s lineup will stay the same today, though it is experimenting at having wing David Hieber and forward Ian Quick switch positions.

“We really think once we get time to work on it, it will be beneficial,” Brown said. “Ian’s just moving and cutting as a perimeter player better than David. We’re not certain David won’t get the same quality of 3-point looks playing Ian’s position.”

Brown said Josh McKee, whose season with the Wittenberg football team ended Saturday, will return to practice Monday with the goal of playing in the team’s North Coast Athletic Conference opener at Allegheny on Dec. 4.

Another football player, Michael Cooper, will be evaluated Monday. He battled injury problems all fall, and Brown wants to be sure he’s healthy before he returns to the basketball team. Brown said Cooper might not play until Dec. 20 against Ohio Wesleyan.

Two other football players will join the team as well, Brown said: Northeastern grad Jon Ingerman and freshman Desi Kirkman, who is out for now with a broken hand.