Horizon League men’s championship game preview

No. 1 Wright State (22-11, 15-5 Horizon League) vs. No. 3 Detroit Mercy (18-14, 12-8 Horizon League)

Tuesday, March 10, 7 p.m. ET, on ESPN

Wright State went 15-18 in 2024-25 and was picked seventh in the league’s preseason poll this year. It ended up leading the league for most of the season and won the regular-season title by multiple games. Detroit Mercy was picked ninth in that same poll after winning eight games in 2024-25. This season, it hung around the top half of the league and won games over the league’s best en route to the No. 3 seed in the league tournament.

Tonight, the two meet for the right to represent the Horizon League in the NCAA Tournament. Led by two coaches in their second seasons with their respective programs, the two teams will meet for the third time this season on ESPN. If the game goes anything like the first two matchups, it is must-see television. Here is a little bit about those previous matchups and some potential keys to the championship game.

Regular-season meetings

Jan. 9 at Detroit Mercy: Wright State 84, Detroit Mercy 82

Matchup one between the two teams was extremely entertaining. Despite Detroit Mercy winning the turnover and rebounding battles, it went to the Raiders. The Titans went cold from three on the evening, connecting on just three shots from distance. Still, Mark Montgomery’s bunch mustered 49 second-half points to close an 11-point halftime deficit, but Wright State, even without Michael Cooper got it done.

The leading scorer for each team came off the bench in this game, with Andrea Holden leading the Raiders with 17, and Legend Geeter’s 22 on 8-for-8 from the field led Detroit Mercy. Orlando Lovejoy shot just 4-for-15 and had the Titans’ lead man shot the ball a little better, maybe this outcome would have been different, but that’s easier said than done with the league’s defensive player of the year in TJ Burch on the other side.

Feb. 12 at Wright State, Detroit Mercy 77, Wright State 74

In the encore, Lovejoy had a more characteristic day, scoring 18 points on 7-for-11 shooting. Just one other Titan, however, joined him in double-figure scoring in the form of 10 points off the bench from London Maiden. Detroit Mercy shot 52% from the field as a team, and it was Tyler Spratt who was the hero, connecting on a three-foot shot with 10 seconds to play to give the Titans the lead. Cooper, who was active for Wright State this time around, missed a three to win it but scored 15 points off the bench. Burch was the Raiders’ only starter in double figures, and the other four shot a combined 9-for-29. Wright State was able to win the turnover battle in round two. It more than doubled Detroit Mercy’s free-throw attempts but shot 28% from three and just didn’t have the offensive firepower to sweep the season series.

Championship Preview

The two teams delivered highly competitive and entertaining games in both regular-season meetings. Despite ranking seventh and ninth in the league’s preseason poll, respectively, Wright State has been the best team in the league all season, and Detroit Mercy has been among the top challengers in a remarkable turnaround effort. Now, they meet with it all on the line and a chance to get back to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2022 for the Raiders and since 2012 for the Titans.

Each team is coming off a semifinal victory in which it forced 15 turnovers, and that number will be a key in the championship game. Ironically, in the two regular-season matchups, the team that won the turnover battle lost the game. Of the guards who will be the primary ball handlers in this game, Lovejoy is the only senior. TJ Nadeau is a sophomore, and Tyler Spratt and Lance Stone are each seeing major minutes as freshman. On the other side, Burch, Solomon Callaghan and Dominic Pangonis are all sophomores. Cooper, a freshman, was the team’s leading scorer in the regular season. Of the two relatively young backcourts, the one that handles the postseason intensity best and takes care of the ball could emerge victorious.

In both regular-season meetings, Detroit Mercy was able to win the battle on the glass. The Titans finished second in the league in that department, but Wright State was not far behind in fourth. In game one, the Titans’ frontcourt had an unexpected scoring boost with Geeter’s 22, but it was the group’s defensive effort that stood out in the previous meetings. The starting frontcourt of Kellen Pickett and Michael Imariagbe for the Raiders scored just 29 points total in the two meetings. While Wright State mustered more offensive rebounds than Detroit Mercy in meeting two, more offensive production from a frontcourt that has produced for most of the year, and maybe a rebounding-battle win in the series rubbermatch would be welcoming signs in the championship game.

Razor thin margins separated the two in each regular-season matchup. Not only was it one of, if not the most, competitive two-game series between any two teams in the league, but it was two teams not expected to be in this position, yet here we are. These are two teams that have looked every part of championship-caliber all year long, and now they’ll meet on the league’s biggest stage with a ticket to the Big Dance on the line. The league has been chaotic all year, and there should be no shortage of it in the final.