Raiders can’t break through on road
The road continued CHICAGO — to treat the Wright State men’s basketball team unkindly Wednesday night as Loyola (Ill.) defeated the Raiders 77-64 at the Gentile Center.
Loyola led 37-28 at halftime and it never got much better for the Raiders. After winning their season opener on the road against Southern Illinois, they’ve dropped their
TUESDAY’S GAME
Urbana at Wright State, 7 p.m., 106.5 last three away from home.
Mark Alstork led WSU (6-4) with 13 points, Grant Benzinger added 12 and Justin Mitchell 11, but the Raiders shot 40 percent from the field and went 5 for 20 from 3-point range.
Loyola, meanwhile, shot 58 percent from the field. The Ramblers (8-2), who won despite being outrebounded 38-27, had four double-digit scorers, led by Milton Doyle with 13.
“We’re not getting any stops at all,” WSU coach Scott Nagy said. “We’ve not been good defensively the whole year. There’s some things we have to change as coaches because what we’re teaching is not getting through.”
Wright State, which had won seven straight against Loyola and 13 of the last 14, led 9-8 six minutes into the game, but never again. Loyola has won 18 of its last 19 nonconference home games, including six this season.
“They just have a lot tougher team right now,” Nagy said.
The Raiders (6-4) face Division II Urbana at the Nutter Center on Tuesday before playing four more road games starting Dec. 18 at Kent State and leading into Horizon League play. Esa Ahmad scored 14 points to lead the Mountaineers (7-1) past the Catamounts (3-6). West Virginia forced 34 turnovers, a week after setting a school record by forcing 40 against Manhattan. West Virginia scored the game’s first seven points and used a 16-0 run to build a 25-point lead midway through the first half. The Mountaineers lead the nation in scoring margin (30.3), forced turnovers (25), steals per game (13) and turnover margin (14.7).
Brenton Scott made one of two free throws with 0.8 seconds left and finished with 25 points to lead the Sycamores (5-4) to the upset of the Bulldogs (8-1). Matt Van Scyoc scored 23 points and had six 3-pointers, both career highs, as the Sycamores won their third straight to snap a four-game losing streak in the series. Coach Greg Lansing set a school record by picking up his fifth career victory over a ranked team. Lansing had been tied with Bill Hodges, who coached Larry Bird, and the late Royce Waltman. Andrew Chrabascz had 18 points for Butler. The Bulldogs came into the game as one of 11 unbeaten teams left in Division I.
Bronson Koenig scored 21 points, and Ethan Happ had 12 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Badgers (8-2) past the Bengals (1-8). Nigel Hayes added 11 points for the Badgers, who had a 44-14 edge in points in the paint and outscored Idaho State 23-5 in points off turnovers. Wisconsin won its fourth straight game.
BIG TEN
Marquise Moore had 25 points and 13 rebounds, and Otis Livingston added 18 points to lead the Patriots (7-3) past the Nittany Lions (6-4). George Mason won its sixth straight for the first time since the 2011-12 season. Payton Banks led Penn State with 21 points.
ACC
Cameron Johnson and Michael Young each scored 17 points to lead the Panthers (7-2) past the Bulls (4-5). Pittsburgh led by 26 points midway through the first half, but the Bulls had a 16-2 run to end the first half and got as close as one point in the second half. Buffalo got 23 points and eight rebounds from forward Nick Perkins. Blake Hamilton scored 18.
Tommy Amaker became the winningest coach in Harvard history when Chris Lewis had a season-high 22 points and Seth Towns scored 18 to lead the Crimson (4-4) past the Eagles (4-4). It was Amaker’s 179th win in his 10th season, moving him ahead of his predecessor, Frank Sullivan (178-245), who was the coach from 1991-2007. Jerome Robinson led Boston College with 25 points.
Josh Heath hit a 12-foot jumper in overtime, breaking a tie at 73, as the Yellow Jackets (5-3) beat the Rams (6-3). Tadric Jackson scored 19 of his 24 points after halftime for Georgia Tech, which snapped a two-game road losing streak. Justin Tillman had 26 points and JeQuan Lewis scored 16 for VCU. Zach LeDay scored 23 points to lead the Hokies (7-1) past the Hawks (1-8).
SEC
JC Hampton scored a season-high 21 points on 7-of-10 shooting as the Aggies (6-2) defeated the Pioneers (3-5). Hampton, a senior transfer guard from Lipscomb, made 5 of 7 3-pointers. Joe Rosga led Denver with 24 points.
NOTEWORTHY
Late
Former Kentucky coach Billy Gillispie retired Wednesday, citing health concerns as he stepped aside as coach at a Texas junior college. Gillispie, 57, said in a text message to The Dallas Morning News that he’s been battling high blood pressure since the summer. The former Texas A&M and Texas Tech coach said he is following the advice of doctors by leaving early in his second season at Ranger College. Gillispie took the Kentucky job in 2007, but was fired after two seasons when the Wildcats missed the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 17 years.