Excerpt from the Dayton Daily News
Most college players have to be exhorted, coerced and practically threatened to have their meal money taken away before they become fully committed to defense.
Mark Hughes is different. The Wright State senior is more comfortable trying to stop someone than he is playing offense, though he’s been urged to hoist shots at will.
Against Detroit on Saturday, he was assigned to Antoine Davis most of the game and was the main reason the freshman star managed only 17 points, about 10 below his average.
The 6-foot-1 Davis had trouble even getting shots off against the 6-4 Hughes. He went 7 of 18 from the field, including an airball, and 2 of 10 on 3-pointers.
“Mark is a tremendous defender,” coach Scott Nagy said. “We know, obviously, Davis tore us up last time (scoring 48 points). It can be frustrating guarding him because you can do everything correctly, and he can still make that shot. A guy who has that much freedom, he’s going to take some tough shots, and some are going to go in.”
Davis is a high-volume shooter, to put it mildly. He’s taken 526 shots, the most in the nation. His average of 21.9 per game is more than the top two shot-takers in the Raiders’ starting lineup combined, Loudon Love (12.1) and Cole Gentry (9.4).
But he didn’t get much breathing room against Hughes, who made the Horizon League all-defensive team last season.
