The second-half comeback was impressive, but Brian Hammel knows, his nine players know and 2,238 fans in Evans Field House know Northern Illinois didn`t deserve to beat Wright State on Monday night.
Not when the home team shoots 17 percent in the first half (6 of 35). That set the table for the Huskies` 84-70 defeat.
Northern (5-10, 3-3 in the Mid-Continent Conference), which hit 70 percent in the second half Saturday to beat Illinois-Chicago 85-81, missed its first eight shots. Mike Hidden finally made a driving layup 5 minutes 14 seconds into the contest, but by that time Wright State already was ahead 13-7.
Except for Brian Molis` two free throws to open the game, Northern never led.
”We have to talk to the shooting coach about that, and I think it`s me,” Hammel said. ”I didn`t think we took good shots early, and we played tentative.”
At the same time, Marcus Mumphrey, Bill Edwards and Sean Hammonds played with supreme confidence for Wright State (8-6, 4-2). Mumphrey, a 6-foot-1-inch senior guard averaging 11 points a game, clicked for a season-high 26. Edwards, a 6-8 junior being compared to former Miami of Ohio standout Ron Harper added 23 despite sitting out most of the first half with two fouls, and Hammonds chipped in with 12 points, 10 in the second half, and 12 rebounds.
”Early in the year, he couldn`t get in sync with our freshman guard
(Chris McGuire),” Raiders coach Ralph Underhill said of Mumphrey. ”Now they`re getting used to each other. We`re going to be a lot tougher as the year goes on.”
Wright State looks plenty tough right now.
The Raiders cruised to a 37-25 halftime lead thanks to Northern`s sickly shooting. For the second straight game, however, freshman guard Marlin Simms lit a fire under his Huskie teammates.
Trailing 68-54 with 7:11 left, Simms canned two free throws, made a tough 7-foot bank shot, then blocked a shot by Mumphrey. His lead pass to Molis resulted in a layup and 68-60 deficit.
Unfortunately, Molis reinjured his often-sprained left ankle, and the spark Simms had ignited began to flicker.
After David Mitchell`s free throw with 4:11 left cut State`s lead to 68-61, Vaurice Patterson made a steal but couldn`t get under control, throwing the ball away. Wright State responded with a 16-9 run to seal its third straight victory.
”Northern made a good run,” said Underhill, ”but they just couldn`t seem to knock the threes down tonight.”
No kidding. The Huskies finished 3 of 24 from three-point range and 23 of 70 overall (33 percent).
Molis led NIU with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Steve Oldendorf and Simms added 13 apiece and Hidden and Mitchell each had 11.
