Pacher perfect in season-opening win for Wright State

Wright State’s A.J. Pacher may have been the only one in the building who didn’t realize he had made all nine of his shot attempts Sunday at the Nutter Center. Even 10 minutes after the game, he didn’t know.

Not until he asked about his perfect night and he had a chance to pore over the box score did it dawn on him.

“Uhhh, yeah, I guess so,” the senior forward said. “I was just out there playing. That’s interesting.”

Pacher scored 21 points, hitting one 3-pointer, eight shots inside the arc and also making 2-of-2 free throws. The Raiders opened the regular season with an 82-49 victory over Mount St. Joseph. This counted as an exhibition game for the Lions, a Division III team.

It’s never easy to predict the star of the game for the Raiders. Last year, on any given night, it could have been anyone. There was no doubt it was Pacher on this night.

“My response to him during film will be, ‘When you get nine layups, you should make nine layups,’ ” Wright State coach Billy Donlon said. “I know one of them was a 3, but he was wide open.

“Last year, he missed the entire month of December (with a foot injury). He didn’t practice. We tried to play him a minute at a time in games, but he never practiced. When guys don’t practice for a month, it’s impactful. It took him until January to get back. He didn’t play great in January. In February, he got his legs under him, and he played really well.”

Dixon plays: Donlon said early last week senior guard Miles Dixon wouldn't play in the opener. That changed a couple days ago. Dixon said he wanted to try to play despite the torn labrum in his shoulder.

Dixon scored six points in 22 minutes.

“I thought he looked really good,” Donlon said. “He didn’t play timid.”

Yoho's game: Sophomore J.T. Yoho scored 17 points on 6-of-10 shooting. He hit 3-of-5 3-pointers. The Raiders shot 56 percent as a team.

“We went back to last year, not caring who gets the credit,” Yoho said. “Everyone on the stat sheet scored. That was definitely a good team win.”

Few fouls: The much-discussed changes in officiating with the emphasis on calling more hand-check fouls had little impact on this game. The Raiders, who had 30 fouls and saw four players foul out in their exhibition game against Findlay, committed only eight fouls in this game.

Next game: The Raiders play at Georgetown at 7 p.m. Wednesday on Fox Sports 1. The Hoyas lost their season opener Saturday, 82-75, to No. 19 Oregon in a game played in South Korea in front of troops at a U.S. Army base gym.

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