Northern Kentucky coach feels Raiders’ pain
FAIRBORN — Wright State’s crowd of 4,725 was louder and more invested in the Northern Kentucky game than it had been all season, especially when the Raiders jumped out to a 17-2 lead.
After having lost the first two meetings in fairly convincing fashion, it seemed as if the Norse were ready to tap out — though there was one person inside the Nutter Center who didn’t share that sentiment.
“You can’t just go, ‘Oh, they’re going to roll over.’ I mean, come on.” Raiders coach Scott Nagy said.
“There’s two teams (in the league) that have players who have played in the NCAA tournament, and they were both playing (in that game). There was a lot of experience out there.”
The Raiders still led, 33-16, with 6:22 left in the half. But the defending Horizon League tourney champs put together a 17-7 run to cut the deficit to 40-33 at halftime.
That’s when optimism in the fan base waned, and the expectations for an easy night left the building.
“I went in and tried to encourage our guys: “You have a seven-point lead. You shouldn’t be discouraged. You had to expect they weren’t just going to roll over,’” Nagy said.
The Norse rallied for a 99-97 overtime win in one of the great college basketball games at any level this season — a game so intense during the frantic final minutes that spectators couldn’t stay seated.
Both teams shot over 50% — NKU 53.7 and Wright State 51.4 — and produced gutty plays at the end of regulation and in the OT.
No one should have been surprised. The Norse (four) and Raiders (two) have won six of the last seven HL tourney crowns. And while NKU will have a shot at another when the semifinals commence Monday, coach Darrin Horn has some empathy for Wright State.
“It’s hard. It’s really hard. It’s an example of what stinks in being in a league like this,” he said.
“Wright State can play with a LOT of people, and they’re not going to get a chance to because you lose one game, and it’s over.
“It’s the reality of this time of year in a (one-bid) league like this. We try to embrace it. I don’t know if that helps, but it’s hard. We’ve been there.”
While it’s probably no consolation, Horn believes the league’s top team won’t be in Indianapolis for the semis.
Oakland (the No. 1 seed) plays Cleveland State (7) at 7 p.m. Monday on ESPNU, while NKU (5) faces Milwaukee (6) at 9:30 on ESPN2.
“We have so much respect for Scott and his program — how they play, how he coaches his guys, how they carry themselves. I felt like — and still do, actually — they’re the best team in the league this year. They’re the oldest and biggest and deepest,” he said.
“No. 3 — I can’t say the kid’s name (Alex Huibregtse) — I voted for him for all-conference. I thought they had four all-conference players this year.”
Trey Calvin made the first team, while Brandon Noel was second team and Tanner Holden third for the Raiders, who finished with their second straight 18-win season at 18-14.
“He had 20 points how many times this year?” Horn asked of the 6-4 Huibregtse, who did it five times, including a 32-point outing. “He shoots with range. He creates off the bounce. He has good size. No matter what you try to do, they have an answer.
“The big thing we tried to do — and we ended up accomplishing this — you’re not taking everything away from Wright State, but we just didn’t want them to kill us at the foul line again. When they do that, they’re really, really dangerous.”
The Norse, though, has the best player in the league, and it isn’t even close.
Marques Warrick, a 6-2 senior guard, had 35 points after dropping 39 on the Raiders in the regular-season finale.
The three-time all-league pick was a combined 26 of 41 from the field, 9 of 16 on 3-pointers and 13 of 14 on foul shots in the two games.
Calvin was assigned to the lefty both games — and he even was given more help Thursday — but it didn’t matter.
“You look at his March numbers, and they’re better than the rest of the year,” Horn said.
“The bigger the moment, the better he is.”