Southern at Wright State: What you need to know about Thursday’s game

Who: Southern (3-6) at Wright State (7-3)

When: 7 p.m. Thursday

TV/Radio: ESPN3/106.5-FM

Series: Wright State leads 1-0

Coaches: Scott Nagy is 73-38 in his fourth year at Wright State and 483-278 in his 25th year overall. Sean Woods is in his second year at Southern, having gone 7-25 last season. He coached Mississippi Valley State for five years and Morehead State for four, compiling a 127-150 record. He scored 21 points for Kentucky in the famed 1992 Elite Eight game against Duke, which prevailed,104-103, in overtime on a last-second shot by Christian Laettner.

Probable Wright State starters

Name Ht. Class Pos. Avg.

Grant Basile 6-9 Fr. C 8.7

Tanner Holden 6-6 Fr. F 8.6

Jaylon Hall 6-6 So. F 9.1

Bill Wampler 6-6 Sr. G 15.0

Cole Gentry 5-10 Sr. G 10.0

Probable Southern starters

Amel Kuljuhovic 6-10 Sr. C 9.2

Darius Williams 6-9 Sr. F 6.4

Ahsante Shivers 6-3 Jr. G 6.6

Micah Bradford 6-1 Sr. G 9.4

Lamarcus Lee 6-2 Jr. G 6.3

About Wright State: The Raiders are coming off an 84-77 overtime defeat to Indiana State, which was picked to finish sixth in the Missouri Valley Conference. The starters went a frigid 13 of 38 from the field (34.2 percent), including a 1-for-11 effort by Wampler. Reserves Trey Calvin, Jordan Ash, Skyelar Potter and James Manns actually outscored the first-stringers, 42-35, and went 16 of 33 from the field (48.5 percent). Calvin, a 6-foot freshman point guard from Chicago, had a team-high 15 points (his first game in double figures) and didn't commit a turnover in 28 minutes. Ash, a grad transfer from Northwestern, had a season-high nine points. "A lot of our bench players are good enough to start," Nagy said. "It was good to see Trey get going, because he's struggled. And for him to gain some confidence will help us for sure."

About Southern: The Jaguars are coming off a 72-57 loss at Akron on Sunday. They'll finish a three-game road trip at Butler on Saturday and get rare national exposure on Fox Sports 1. Kuljuhovic, a transfer from Cal State Fullerton, had 18 points and six rebounds against the Zips, both team highs. … Southern was picked to finish sixth in the 10-team Southwest Athletic Conference. Mississippi Valley State, which visits Wright State on Tuesday, was picked 10th. Prairie View A&M was the preseason favorite. … The Jaguars took Nebraska to overtime before losing, 93-86, on the road. They notched an 83-77 win over IUPUI of the Horizon League in a neutral site game.

Coming up: The Raiders conclude the non-conference season at Toledo at 2 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 21. They start conference play at home against Green Bay on Dec. 28 and Milwaukee on Dec. 30.

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