Excerpt from the Dayton Daily News
By Tom Archdeacon
After Loudon Love pulled down the rebound with one hand because Northern Kentucky’s Drew McDonald had hooked his other arm and was holding it down — after the referee’s whistled a Flagrant 1 foul and the large, revved-up Nutter Center crowd cheered wildly and Love responded with a biceps-bulging muscle pose — Parker Ernsthausen knew his job was done.
At that very moment — with just 23.5 seconds left and Wright State about to muscle aside NKU, 81-77, for its eighth win in nine games and a share of the Horizon League lead with the Norse — Love did look like the Horizon League Player of the Year.
But early in the game, the 6-foot-9, 270-pound sophomore center looked nothing like a player worthy of a pedestal.
“I think Loudon would tell you himself,” Raiders coach Scott Nagy said. “Honestly, he did not play great. There were a lot of times early in the game where he was just kind of floating around. He didn’t have great focus.”
Raiders guard Bill Wampler — who came off the bench to score a game-high 29 points, including 13 in a row late in the first half — agreed: “He was kind of lulling around in the first half.”
Later, Love tried to explain what was going on during the first part of the Horizon League showdown with the Norse:
“Sometimes it just takes a second to adjust. I think I was a little hesitant at first because the last time we played them I was in foul trouble in the first half. Then tonight I made my first roll and got a questionable charging foul.”
That came less than three minutes into the game and Love said it bothered him:
“I was kind of worried and it kind of stayed with me through the first half.”
As Love floated, the Raiders failed and with 5:50 left in the half, WSU trailed by 16 points (40-24.)
Wright State needed its big man to rise to the moment, especially on this night as he went up against McDonald, whom at 6-foot-8, 250 pounds, is of similar size and came in with much more billing.
