Excerpt from the Dayton Daily News
Wright State was heading to a game at Mississippi State last year knowing it would have to improvise since star Loudon Love was out with a sprained ankle. And despite being shorthanded, the Raiders pushed the 17th-ranked Bulldogs for 40 minutes before falling, 67-63.
Coach Scott Nagy is hoping to get the same effort and production from his team again with Love sidelined indefinitely with a right-elbow injury.
The All-Horizon League center took a hard fall in the second of three games at the Gulf Coast Showcase last week. Nagy didn’t want to speculate until hearing from the medical staff — Love was scheduled to undergo tests Monday, though the coach didn’t know when he’d get definitive results — but the 6-foot-8 junior is expected to miss a minimum of two weeks.
“Where we’re mostly hurt is depth. That’s the main thing. But even offensively, it changes us. It makes us more of a perimeter team,” Nagy said.
“When we went to Mississippi State last year, Parker (Ernsthausen) was our 5, and he was able to shoot the ball a little bit. It changes what our offense looks like. We’re hoping Grant can do that for us, too.”
Grant Basile, a 6-9 redshirt freshman who had 17 points and 12 rebounds in a win over Miami on Wednesday, has already displayed an ability to shoot the 3. And that defense-stretching skill will be needed when the Raiders (6-2) host Western Kentucky (6-2) at 7 p.m. Tuesday.
