Raiders, you did al(W)right

No. 14 Wright State fell in the first round of the NCAA Tournament to No. 3 Virginia, 82-73, after a spirited upset effort that put the nation on notice.

The young Raiders turned the Cavaliers over, made tough shots, and competed on the glass all afternoon to stay in the game from end-to-end, showing poise well beyond their years, despite the result.

“There are certain things as a coach that I will learn from which I will be thankful for in time, but these guys, in terms of their effort, we told them early, nobody cares that you’re freshmen. You have no excuses not to step onto the stage with great expectation for yourself, and we always encourage them to make choices,” Wright State head coach Clint Sargent said. “Don’t give in to the emotion of the game; you just continue to make choices. That’s part of being a man. Make choices, and I thought they did that really throughout all the ebbs and flows of the game.”

Wright State freshman guard Michael Cooper and sophomore guards TJ Burch and Solomon Callaghan combined for 46 points, hitting timely buckets for a majority of the game to give Wright State a chance. Equally as important, led by Burch with five, the trio accounted for seven steals, in a team defensive effort which resulted in 14 Virginia turnovers.

Cavaliers’ head coach Ryan Odom, who’s led a mid-major to a Cinderella story himself, was complimentary of Sargent’s group, which gave him his first experience at a high-major fending off an upset. 

“I can’t say enough good things about Wright State coach Sargent and his team. They just played lights out. They gave us everything that we could handle throughout the game. It was an excellent and well-played game, a really competitive game,” Odom said. They played a little bit differently than we were expecting going into the game, and kind of how we prepared. They did a nice job picking on our big guys a little bit in terms of popping and shooting some threes.”

Michael Imariagbe, the lone senior who played significant minutes in the contest for Wright State, entered the contest with one made 3-pointer on the season, and just four in his career. The veteran big man, to the surprise of Odom and probably anyone who’s watched the Raiders, delivered a legacy game from behind the arc, providing the kind of unexpected offensive boost necessary for an upset.

In the first half alone, Imariagbe knocked in three triples, helping the Raiders take a 43-38 lead into halftime. 

“My coaches and teammates gave me confidence. We have been practicing. I have been shooting,” Imariagbe said. “We don’t care if you miss, make it, ride or die for you. So they gave me confidence that I could shoot today.”

It was the 3-point shooting en route to a 19-point, 10-rebound double-double that stood out on the stat sheet for Imariagbe today, but throughout the course of a championship season for the Raiders, he has been so much more than a big man that can score and rebound at a high level.

When the final buzzer sounded in Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia, Imariagbe’s career came to a close, but his impact on the young roster will last beyond this season.

“I’m very proud. We were well connected off court, which brought it on court. As you can see, we became a good team, made history here at Wright State,” Imariagbe said. “And being a senior, I still learned a lot from these younger guys. They gave me advice, I give them advice too, and we just learn off each other.” 

For the young Raiders, there were plenty of moments where it felt like the sheer talent and size of the Cavaliers generated enough momentum for the No. 3 seed to pull away, but as Sargent said prior to the tournament, his team refuses to die, and that’s what it did again today. 

At the 12:38 mark in the second half, Dallin Hall was whistled for a travel, but after a Virginia appeal, Imariagbe was assessed a flagrant foul, resulting in two Hall free throws and possession for the Cavaliers. In a tie game with momentum slipping a bit for the Raiders, it could have been a detrimental sequence.

Instead, Wright State got a stop and responded with a three from Dominic Pangonis to regrab the lead. Just about 20 seconds of game time went off the clock, but it was a crucial sequence for the Raiders to avoid losing their momentum.

Less than two minutes later, a Burch and-one finish initiated a media timeout. He converted the free throw to give Wright State a 61-58 lead after the break, but Virginia followed with a 9-0 run to take a 67-61 lead.

As the Raiders have done all season, they refused to roll over and let the Cavaliers take total control, responding with a 9-0 run of their own to take the lead back at 70-67 with 5:32 to play. It ended up being Wright State’s final lead, but there was zero quit from the Horizon League champions.

“Yeah, I don’t think they wilted,” Sargent said. “Virginia’s trying to win, too. They swung back.” 

This time, the Cavaliers responded with an 11-0 run, capped by a Jacari White dagger three to grow the lead to 78-70 with 1:24 to go. The Raiders just couldn’t quite muster stops late and Virginia tightened the screws defensively to mitigate any chance of a miracle late-game comeback. 

Sargent and his staff strove to get their team an opportunity on the national stage, and after winning  Horizon League regular-season and tournament championships, they earned the right to do so.

Virginia, with the win, will face No. 6 Tennessee in the Round of 32 on Sunday, and for Wright State, the season comes to an abrupt finish. 

Despite the heartbreaking ending, in year two of the Sargent era, the Raiders brought championship-level back to the Nutter Center and never backed down on the national stage.

“These guys have given me an awful lot. The time we’ve shared has been everything you dream of when you dream of being a head coach,” Sargent said. “And what they’ve poured into, not only me and my family, but each other. It’s one of the most enjoyable. That word doesn’t even do it justice, most impactful group of young men I have ever been around.”