Raiders' Wilson breaks hand

[IE]

Forward is expected to miss several games after Wednesday surgery.


FAIRBORN ? Wright State's tiny band of basketball players got tinier Monday when 6-foot-6 junior forward Scottie Wilson found out his right hand was broken.

Wilson, who will have surgery on the hand Wednesday ? causing him to miss that night's game at Marshall ? also is expected to miss the three home games that follow (Bowling Green on Saturday, Marist on Tuesday and Chicago State on Thursday).

"I hurt it in the first half at St. Bonaventure (Saturday night)," said Wilson, who has started only one of WSU's games, but plays significant minutes. He is third on the team in scoring at 7 points a game, and leads the Raiders (3-3) in rebounding with 6.3 a game.

He also leads the team in fouls with 22, fouling out of three games.

"I was surprised," Wilson said. "It didn't feel like a normal break. My hand got caught on another player's and my fingers were bent apart. (Trainer) Tony (Ortiz) taped it up and I played the second half."

Surgery, with screws inserted, is expected to reduce the usual 4-week healing process by 2 to 3 weeks.

Wright State coach Brad Brownell said he wasn't sure what he would do with his lineup, but has started either Wilson or

6-6 Drew Burleson with 6-8 Jordan Pleiman in every game but one. He also has not played the three of them together, keeping at least one on the bench.

"Injuries are circumstances you can't control," Brownell said. "We have only three true post players. Now, we have two. And it happens at a time we have three games in a week."

 

[IE]

Struggling Herd faces Wright State tonight






HUNTINGTON ? After nearly 10,000 miles in travel and a nine-day break for final exams, Marshall?s basketball team hopes to continue its nonconference schedule in less of a foul fashion.

It?s not just the Thundering Herd?s 2-6 record. It?s the way the Herd has given away points at the foul line ? both ways.

That and the team?s assist-to-turnover ratio are two key areas that must be addressed as Wright State comes calling tonight at Cam Henderson Center. Tipoff is at 7 p.m.In a season where all of the Herd?s games, save for the snowballing nine days ago by Top 25 Memphis, have been decided by a handful of points, deficiencies in those two areas have hurt. In eight games, the Herd has committed 139 turnovers and dished out just 116 assists. Its turnover margin is minus-18, a deficit of just over two per game.

At the free-throw line, Marshall actually has attempted the exact number of shots as its opponents, 193. But those eight foes have combined to shoot a ridiculously efficient 81.3 percent to the Herd?s 66.8 percent. Result: a 28-point deficit at the line.

The Herd is getting outscored by just 35 for the season, most of that coming in the 77-59 setback Dec. 4 at Memphis. A few points here and there, and the Herd?s record might be a little shinier.

Coach Ron Jirsa doesn?t want to wait around for foes to quit shooting so well, though the odds favor it.

?We?ve fouled our opponents more than they?ve fouled us,? Jirsa said. ?We?ve got to have better [defensive] technique to keep them from scoring so many points at the free-throw line.?

The time to start is tonight against the Raiders (3-3), who are coming off a 59-57 win Saturday at St. Bonaventure. They lost a nine-point lead but won it with two DaShaun Wood free throws with nine seconds left.

Any resemblance to North Carolina-Wilmington, which bedeviled the Herd twice in recent years, will not be coincidental. After Brad Brownell rolled up an 83-40 coaching record at UNCW, he headed to the Horizon Conference?s Wright State, which finished 13-15 last season.

Don?t expect a run-and-gun game tonight. Brownell?s teams generally grind out games in the 50s and 60s, and the Raiders? other two wins are 57-56 (over Miami of Ohio) and 50-49 (over Detroit).

Only Wood averages in double digits for the Raiders, scoring 15.0 points per game. The 5-foot-11 Wood is a returning All-Horizon Conference selection.

?He had 19 shots against Bonaventure, and scored 17,? Jirsa said. ?He?s an aggressive scoring point guard.?Jirsa said final exams were just the tonic to get his players minds off the loss at Memphis. The Tigers led by 32 points at one point.

It didn?t help that Marshall?s leading scorer, Travis Aikens, sprained his foot and played just 17 minutes.

?You can?t have one of your leaders not play in that one and still compete,? Jirsa said.

Aikens, averaging 14.5 points, will play tonight but Jirsa estimates him at about 75 percent. Taurean Marshall, the walk-on point guard who has played 71 minutes this season, still has a sprained ankle and won?t play.

This is the first of four home games in the next five for Marshall. The Herd hits the road for a Saturday game against Princeton, then stays home for games against Bowling Green on Dec. 22, Virginia Tech on Dec. 30 and Ohio on Jan. 3.

 

[IE]

Travis Aikens leads Marshall with a team-high 14.5 points and 5.8 rebounds per game. He is expected to start despite suffering an ankle injury against Memphis and sitting out the entire second half of the loss.