FRESHMAN HALL STEPPING UP AT WRIGHT STATE
Lack of team depth forced WSU not to redshirt guard.
As disappointing as it was for Wright State to fall out of first place in the Horizon League for the first time with a 74-73 loss to Wisconsin-Milwaukee, things could have been worse last week.
Two days prior the Raiders had to rally from 11 down against Wisconsin-Green Bay, and they needed a huge play from freshman Jaylon Hall in the final seconds to close out a 68-64 win.
The Phoenix trailed by two points and had a chance to tie or win the game on their final possession, but Hall had a steal and drew a foul with 5.5 seconds to go. His two free throws iced the win.
“At the end of the game when it’s close, some guys on defense kind of get tentative and don’t want to foul,” senior guard Grant Benzinger said. “But (Hall) was the aggressor and came up with a huge steal, got fouled and put the game to four points. That was the biggest play of the game.”
Hall, a 6-foot-6 guard averaging 9.6 points and 2.6 rebounds, has been making a lot of plays like that recently as he continues to grow into his role and earn more playing time.
After playing a career-high 33 minutes Feb. 3 at Youngstown State, Hall logged 31 minutes (his second most) against Green Bay and 28 vs. Milwaukee.
“I’ve always felt comfortable since I got here, especially on the floor,” he said. “I don’t really feel pressure out there. Especially now, I feel tournament ready. I’m just going to continue to do things that my team needs me to do to get a win.”
A Houston native, Hall moved to Louisville before his freshman year in high school to play for his uncle and Doss High School coach Tony Williams. He already had experience living away from home when he arrived on campus and began taking classes in June.
Unlike fellow freshmen Loudon Love and Everett Winchester, who had redshirt seasons in 2016-17, Hall needed to jump right into the fray due to the team’s lack of depth.
And he’s shown steady improvement since.
“I think he’s come a long way from the beginning of the season,” junior guard Mark Hughes said. “You can tell he’s really maturing and starting to make the right plays.
“He’s made some big plays for us. We need him. He’s definitely stepping up and doing a really good job for us.”
Hall had 16 points, one shy of his career high, against YSU and Green Bay. And he’s scored in double dig- its in seven of the last night games after doing it only six times through the first 16 games.
“I felt like Jaylon was the one that was going to get better as the year went along, that he was the one who was going to make the big- gest improvement,” coach Scott Nagy said.
“Early in the year we weren’t even playing him, and now he plays 30-some minutes and makes some huge plays for us.”
Like the one Thursday night, many have come on defense.
“Jaylon’s one of our best defenders,” Nagy said. “The thing he lacks right now, that he’ll get, is strength.
“That’s a big reason why we wanted to redshirt him but we just couldn’t because of depth.
“At his height at 6-6, he’s just incredibly quick and he made a great play (at the end of the Green Bay game).”
That wasn’t the only big play Hall made in that game, as he added two other steals, two assists and two rebounds.
What made the performance so impressive is that most of his key plays came after a first half where he had four turnovers while miss- ing all three of his 3-point attempts.
“Once that buzzer hit for halftime, that half is over with,” he said. “That half was in the past. My teammates picked me up, the coaches picked me up.
“I knew there was another half of baske t ball to be played.”
Nagy was impressed with Hall’s ability to bounce back.
“I’m just proud of him for fighting through and not giving in to despair,” he said.
“Because sometimes that happens. Things aren’t going well and you just kind of give in. And he didn’t.”
Hall and the Raiders will need to follow that same script at 9 p.m. Friday when they try to rebound from the Milwaukee loss against firstplace Northern Kentucky at the Nutter Center.
A win would move WSU back into a first-place tie in the Horizon League and give the Raiders the tiebreaker edge via a season sweep after beating the Norse 84-81 at NKU on Jan. 11.
Contact this reporter at 513-820-2193 or email Jay.Morrison@coxinc.com.