Wright State basketball swept the regular season and conference titles for the first time since 2007. Can they continue this dream season?
After a three-year gap, Wright State is back in the tournament in just the second year for head coach Clint Sargent. Wright State hasn’t won a tournament game since moving up to D1 in 1987, but is looking to change that this year.
How they got there:
Wright State won the Horizon by two full games, finishing with a 15-5 record in conference play. In the conference tournament, they were impressive, winning their first game by 29, then winning their semifinal game by 13 (and scoring 103 points). The final was a lot closer, but they were able to sneak past Detroit Mercy thanks to a 19-point performance by TJ Burch.
Wright State enters the NCAA Tournament winning seven of their last eight, in large part due to TJ Burch, the Horizon Tournament MVP, and Michael Cooper, who also made the All-Tournament team.
General Information:
Team: Wright State
Location: Dayton, OH
Record: 23-11 (15-5)
Head Coach: Clint Sargent (2nd season overall, both at Wright State)
What to know about Wright State basketball:
The first player you have to know, as mentioned earlier, is TJ Burch. Burch averaged 2.5 steals per game, 10th most in college basketball. He is an absolute pest on the ball and could give their first-round matchup’s guards some trouble. He also leads the team in assists at 3.5 a game.
Michael Cooper is his Robin (or Batman, depending on who you ask). Cooper led the team in scoring and showcased his confidence in the non-conference against Power 5 opponents, scoring 17 on 54% shooting against Cal.
Despite being “just” 6’7, Michael Imariagbe averaged seven rebounds a game this season. That includes multiple 16 rebound games this season. Kellen Pickett grabbed 5.4 himself on the season.
Wright State is a very neutral team. There isn’t a ton they do exceptionally well, but there’s also not a ton they do poorly. They shot the ball well from deep, finishing 50th in three-point percentage and 44th in blocks per game.
NCAA Tournament prediction for Wright State basketball: Round of 64 exit
Seed: 14
Wright State got matched up with Virginia in the first round, which is not ideal. Wright State is small. Pickett is the tallest player on the team at 6’9, and Cooper and Burch stand at 6’3 and 6’1. Compare that to Virginia, who have Thijs De Ridder at 6’9, and Ugonna Onyenso and Johann Grunloh at 7’0. That’s going to be a huge problem that they really can’t do much about.
Wright State played two Power 5 teams in the non-conference. They lost by 10 to California and 25 to Butler. Wright State will need its guards to get hot. Neither of them is by any means a flamethrower, but they’ve shown up big in some of Wright State’s biggest games. Hopefully, this Wright State team can ride its late-season momentum and join the list of double-digit seeds to take down Virginia in recent history.