Four from men’s basketball honored by Horizon League

Head coach Scott Nagy and three players from the Wright State men’s basketball team received honors as the Horizon League announced its annual league awards Wednesday afternoon: Nagy was tabbed as Coach of the Year, senior Grant Benzinger was selected to the first team, Loudon Love was named Freshman of the Year and selected to the second team and junior Mark Hughes was voted to the All-Defensive Team.

“I think that the awards given out are essentially team awards for us, I think that’s how the guys look at it, and I’m sure they’re all very humbled for being honored,” Nagy said. “All three of them made tremendous contributions to our basketball team and certainly are very deserving.”

Nagy, in his second year at Wright State, led the Raiders to a 22-9 and 14-4 record as WSU finished in second place.  Nagy becomes the fourth Raider head coach to win the honor.  The 14 league wins marked a new school record for conference wins and includes two victories over regular-season champion Northern Kentucky.

Benzinger, a guard from (Cincinnati, OH) Moeller High School, has led the Raiders in scoring all season and currently has a 14.6 points per game average, ranking eighth in the Horizon League.  He scored in double figures in 24 games, including his season-best 31 points at Northern Kentucky.  Benzinger, who was the Player of the Week on January 15, leads the league in free throw shooting at 89.1%, third in three-point shooting at 37.1%, fifth in minutes played at 34.4 per game as well as 18th in rebounding with an average of 4.9.

Love, a center from (Geneva, IL) High School, was named the Freshman of the Week seven times this year as he led the league in rebounding at  9.7 per game and averaged 12.7 points, which ranks 15th.  He collected his career-high 19 rebounds against Milwaukee and his high of 25 points at Oakland.  He also had 12 double-double performances while starting all 31 games.  The freshman became the first WSU player to receive the Freshman of the Year honor after it was renamed from the previous Newcomer of the Year Award prior to the 2012-13 season.  As the Newcomer of the Year Award, five Raiders received the honor.

Hughes, a guard from (Youngstown, OH) Ursuline High School, has led the Raiders in steals with 37, as he helped the Raiders rank second in team defense in the Horizon League.  He is the seventh Raider to appear on the Defensive Team since 2007.  Hughes also averaged 10.1 points and 3.0 rebounds per game while hitting 57 three pointers.

The Raiders will next play in the Little Caesars Horizon League Championship at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, MI.  WSU will take on the winner of the Green Bay/Detroit Mercy winner on Saturday at 5:30 pm.

Player of the Year: Kendrick Nunn, Oakland

Coach of the Year: Scott Nagy, Wright State

Freshman of the Year: Loudon Love, Wright State

Sixth Man of the Year: Godwin Boahen, UIC

Defensive Player of the Year: Tai Odiase, UIC

All-League First Team (alphabetical by school)

Khalil Small, Green Bay

Drew McDonald, Northern Kentucky

Jalen Hayes, Oakland

Kendrick Nunn, Oakland

Grant Benzinger, Wright State

All-League Second Team (alphabetical by school)

Kameron Chatman, Detroit Mercy

Jeremiah Bell, Milwaukee

Lavone Holland II, Northern Kentucky

Loudon Love, Wright State

Cameron Morse, Youngstown State

All-Freshman Team (alphabetical by school)

Tyree Appleby, Cleveland State

Jermaine Jackson Jr., Detroit Mercy

Jalen Tate, Northern Kentucky

Loudon Love, Wright State

Naz Bohannon, Youngstown State

All-Defensive Team (alphabetical by school)

Khalil Small, Green Bay

Jalen Tate, Northern Kentucky

Martez Walker, Oakland

Tai Odiase, UIC

Mark Hughes, Wright State