Excerpt from the Dayton Daily News
By Tom Archdeacon
These days — and especially Thursday night at the Nutter Center — he has an answer for that cutting question that left him timid and tongue-tied four years ago.
It was the fourth game of Mark Hughes’s college career. His Wright State Raiders had gone to Lexington to play No. 2 Kentucky and he found himself matched up against Jamal Murray, who the Denver Nuggets would make the seventh overall pick in the NBA draft just seven months later,
“Yeah, that game stands out,” Hughes said shaking his head as he stood outside the WSU dressing room Thursday night. “I’m a freshman coming into Rupp Arena and it was basically a deer in the headlights deal. I had no idea what was going on. No idea I was guarding a future pro.
“I remember one time he steps back, hits a shot on me and says: ‘What are YOU doing guarding ME?’
“I was like, ‘Aaaah…I don’t know.’ I was star-struck. I had nothing to say, so I just ran down to the other end of the court.
Thursday night had Cleveland State’s point guard Tyree Appleby — who is the fifth-leading scorer in the Horizon League, a guy who dropped 26 on IUPUI five days earlier, scored 24 on Green Bay nine days before that and earlier this season lit up Bowling Green for 37, Milwaukee for 33, had 28 against Kent State and 27 in another Green Bay game — asked that same question, Hughes, now a senior, would have had an answer.
Something like: “I’m the guy who’s going to shut you down tonight.”
No deer in the headlights look this time. There was a glint in Hughes’ eyes:
“Him being their leading scorer is the reason they go. But I’m the best defender on our team and I take the assignment of guarding the best wing every game.
“He’s a smaller guard, so me being bigger and stronger, I figured I could really bother him with my size and length.”
And that’s just what happened.
