DAYTON – The Wright State men's basketball team officially opens its 2024-25 season and start of the season Clint Sargent era on Monday night as the Raiders take on Kentucky in a nationally televised contest. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. on ESPNU from Lexington. Fans can follow the action in a variety of ways – through live stats, by watching on ESPNU or by tuning in to Raider Basketball 101.5 HANK FM and WING 1410 AM at home. Chris Collins and Jim Brown will have the entire play-by-play radio feed.

Fans can tune in to 101.5 HANK FM live over the air in the Dayton area and stream the station live nationwide via a variety of free streaming apps. The iHeartRadio app, TuneIn Radio app, and Audacy app are all FREE and each feature 101.5 HANK FM. Just search “101.5 HANK FM” on one of the three apps for Raider Basketball.

MONDAY: WATCH ON ESPNU | Follow the live statistics | LISTEN ON 101.5 HANK FM | GAME NOTES

RAIDER RETURNS
Wright State returns eight letterwinners from its 2023-24 roster, led by starters Alex Huibregtse And Brandon Noel. Both players started 31 of 32 contests last season, averaging 33.1 and 34.4 minutes per game, respectively. Noel, the 2023 Horizon League Freshman of the Year, averaged 14.5 points and 8.0 rebounds and shot 53.5 percent overall last season as a redshirt sophomore, while Huibregtse averaged 12, 3 points and 3.8 rebounds while shooting 52.5 percent overall and 41.7 percent from three-point range.

PRE-SEASON SELECTIONS
Wright State received 315 total votes and four first-place votes as the Raiders were picked to finish fifth in the Horizon League preseason poll ahead of the 2024-25 season. Brandon Noel was named the Horizon League Preseason Player of the Year with a spot on the first team Alex Huibregtse received second team honors in the preseason.

EXHIBITION RETURN
Wright State topped Wilmington 108-59 on Oct. 26 as all 14 Raiders saw action on the floor, nothing over 24 minutes, while Wright State shot 56.5 percent overall as a group and received scoring contributions from 12 different players. Logan Woods And Ayden Davis Each finished the game with a best 13 points Jack Doumbia And Alex Bruskotter each scored 12 points. Keaton Norris was the final Raider in double figures with 11 points, while five other players scored between seven and nine points in the tuning competition. Michael Imariagbe pulled down 10 rebounds to pace all players, while Wright State saw 13 players grab at least one board and eight Raiders collect three or more rebounds.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS
At Wright State's exhibition on October 26, seven players saw their first unofficial action for the Raiders, with the group scoring exactly half of the 108 total points (54) as they combined for 33 to grab Wright State's 57 total rebounds in the win.

KNOW THE FINE
– Kentucky was 23-10 a season ago and lost to Horizon League foe Oakland in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament. Former Kentucky player Mark Pope takes over as head coach after John Calipari departed after the season.
– The Raiders have played Kentucky four times previously, meeting at Rupp Arena in three of the four previous contests while facing each other in Cincinnati in November 1998.
-Wright State and Kentucky last met at the start of the 2015-16 season.
– This is the second time Wright State and Kentucky have opened the season against each other, following the 1992-93 opener played on December 2nd.

This isn't entirely new
Wright State's new head coach Clint Sargent will officially lead the Raiders for the first time Monday night at Kentucky, but Sargent is familiar with leading the Raiders on the sideline. During the 2021–22 season, Sargent was required to step in as interim head coach in place of Scott Nagy, who was sidelined due to COVID-19 protocols, with Sargent leading Wright State against Milwaukee on December 30, 2021 and against Milwaukee on January 30, 2021. 1, 2022 vs. Green Bay. Sargent led the Raiders to wins in both games, albeit wins that were on Nagy's coaching record.