Bolting to the top of the Horizon League standings — and winning three of those five games on the road — meant the Raiders had become legit title contenders for the first time in four years.
Cooper, averaging 15.4 points and a team-high 28.9 minutes, recovered enough from a sprained ligament in his right thumb to score 14 points against Cleveland State on Wednesday. But instead of giving his team a boost, the Raiders took a step back in an 85-79 loss.
Just when you think you have sports figured out …
“I thought he looked good in spurts. I thought he had a good two days of practice and gradually was getting better. His communication is better. I would have liked to have seen a little more at the rim. But he’s not only young, he’s coming back from an injury. All that is understandable,” coach Clint Sargent said.
“But we’ve just got to get better defensively. All of that doesn’t matter. The offense gets magnified when you’re not getting stops. I’ve just seen this show way too many times where you’re not only fighting shots not going in, but now we can’t get stops, and it just snowballs on you.”
The Raiders — who will host rival Northern Kentucky at 1 p.m. Saturday (the tipoff was moved up because of major snow in the forecast) — had another issue they may not have anticipated.
With the freshman phenom out, others stepped up — most notably fellow point guard TJ Burch.
While they’ve played together and have meshed well, Burch had taken the lead in Cooper’s absence, averaging 15.6 points while shooting 52% with 4.4 assists per game.
Both are aggressive offensive players, and rebuilding that chemistry will take more than one game.
Center Michael Imariagbe, the team’s second-leading scorer, also missed one game and part of another with a leg injury.
With Kellen Pickett, a 6-9 freshman, emerging as a star and averaging nearly a double-double the last eight games, the coaches will have another tough decision in also handling their frontcourt rotation.
“Just that rhythm of having everybody back — Mike back and Coop back and where TJ is at — now we have a different team all of a sudden,” Sargent said.
“That’s a great thing. It’s going to be the best team we can be. But finding that rhythm offensively, I think that was part of (the problem).”
Cooper went only 6 of 14 from the field and 0 of 5 on 3s against CSU.
“I still have some work to do, strengthening it back up,” he said of his injury. “It should be good here soon.”
Asked about watching his teammates still thrive in his absence, he said: “It was encouraging. I knew I had to bring it when I got back. It made me better as well.
“It’s tough to lose my second game back, obviously. I have to make some changes and help the team continue to keep winning. We have a lot of season left. We can’t get complacent.”
The Raiders are 12-8 overall and still have the best league record at 7-2. NKU is 14-7, 6-4, and the series is tied, 11-11, in the last nine years.
“We have NKU coming to our house for a big game. We’ve got to shift our focus. We can’t dwell on (the loss),” Cooper said.
“Anybody can beat anybody in this league. We have to bounce back.”
Next game
Who: Northern Kentucky at Wright State
When: 1 p.m. Saturday
Streaming: ESPN+
Radio: 1410-AM, 101.5-FM
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