"When Todd's out of the game, I don't know if we have a primary scorer. It's kind of who's playing well that night. Our primary scorers are in street clothes. We've got to manufacture points the best that we can." - WSU head coach Brad Brownell

Photos © and Courtesy of Tim G. Zechar

Thanks to ESPN and the Bracket Busters, today's contest tipped-off with the unusual starting time of 11:00 am. However, college basketball teams such as Wright State and Northeastern don't mind. For them, the ESPN Bracket Buster is a concept made in heaven. It's a way to get major exposure in front of a national TV audience. Unfortunately for the Raiders, the nation did not see them at their best.

The story of this game was Northeastern scoring 26 points off of 16 Wright State turnovers, and Todd Brown getting into foul trouble in the first half when the Raiders fell apart.

The Green and Gold opened the game by jumping out to an early 7-2 lead. It appeared that the Raiders might put on a good show for the ESPN2 audience. However, things did not turn out that way. Northeastern answered with 7 straight points to take a 9-7 advantage. There were nine lead changes and four tied scores in the first 15 minutes of play. At that point of the contest, Wright State was in front 22-21. Minutes earlier, Todd Brown went to the bench after picking up two questionable fouls. The Huskies took advantage, scoring the next 10 straight points, on their way to a 16-2 run before halftime. The Raiders trailed 37-24 at the break.

With Brown out of the game, the Raiders were in search of a primary scorer. Wright State head coach Brad Brownell said "When Todd's out of the game, I don't know if we have a primary scorer. It's kind of who's playing well that night. Our primary scorers are in street clothes. We've got to manufacture points the best that we can."

The Zooperstars, featuring Lebronco James, Peyton Manatee, and Ken Giraffey Jr. tried to lift the spirits of the Raider faithful with an entertaining halftime show. It helped, but the crowd really came to life when the Raiders scored the first 8 points of the second half on two Todd Brown 3-pointers and a Ronnie Thomas bucket. Wright State trailed 37-32 with 17:41 to play.

But that's when Northeastern showed good discipline. They relaxed, stayed calm, executed well, and did not let the Raiders get closer than 3 points throughout the remainder of the contest. The Huskies maintained leads in the 5 to 9 point range for most of the rest of the way, before winning by a final score of 69-57.

"They (Northeastern) are very poised," Brad Brownell said. "They've got an older group. They were focused and wanted to win this game." He continued by saying "We had some free throw opportunities to get the game to within a possession, but we missed those. They out-executed us down the stretch. They're a good basketball team."

Todd Brown led the Green and Gold in scoring with 15 points, shooting 6-of-10 from the field, including 3-of-5 from beyond the arc. Ronnie Thomas played his best game as a Raider with 12 points, 3 blocked shots, and 3 rebounds in 25 minutes of action. Cory Cooperwood grabbed 10 rebounds, chipped in with 6 points, and dished out 3 assists.

Northeastern scored more points in the paint (18-8) and off of turnovers (26-10). Wright State won the battle of the boards 30-23.

The Raiders shot 41% from the field (16-of-39), 43% from 3-point land (7-of-16), and 75% from the charity stripe (18-of-24).

Game Notes:

Todd Brown's 15 points against Northeastern gives him a career total of 995. With 5 more points, Todd will become the 27th player in Wright State men's basketball history to join the 1,000-point club.

Will Graham collected his 310th career assist today. That is the 8th most among all players to ever put on a Wright State uniform. Mark Woods holds the record with 744.

Will Graham moved into a 2nd place tie on the all-time list for games played by a Wright State Raider. Today's game was his 119th. Jordan Pleiman holds the record with 122 games played.

Final Games:

The Wright State Raiders (16-12, 10-6 Horizon) close out the regular season this week with a pair of Horizon League contests at the Nutter Center. Wright State will host Milwaukee on Thursday (Feb. 26) and Green Bay on Saturday (Feb. 28). Both games are set for 7:00 tip-offs. The Green and Gold lost to both opponents in early December, while in the midst of their 0-6 start to the season.

The Horizon League tournament begins on Tuesday March 3 at the Nutter Center with an opponent to be determined. Game time will be 7:00. Go to www.wsuraiders.com for the dates, times, and locations of any additional tournament games.