Twice in the first three minutes Saturday at the Nutter Center, Matt Vest finished off fast breaks for Wright State with a layup and dunk.

The junior guard from Chaminade Julienne High School isn’t the Raiders’ best offensive player, but he is one of their best athletes and can get down the floor in a hurry. His early baskets set the tone in Wright State’s most-lopsided Horizon League victory of the season, 72-45 over Youngstown State.

“I came into this game preparing the same way I always do,” Vest said. “I was lucky enough to get out in transition, and I was on the lucky end of some early steals. That kind of got me going. Really, it was a lot of defense that led to offense for me tonight.”

WSU coach Billy Donlon credited Vest for his “running-start drives,” which led to several baskets. Vest finished with 11 points on 5-of-9 shooting.

“Sometimes our guys catch it, wait a second and go,” Donlon said. “You’ve got to do your homework before the catch. Matt did his homework. He knew if he had a shot or a direct drive. That’s hard to guard.”

Pacher’s game: AJ Pacher had seven of his nine points in the first half on 3-of-5 shooting. He also had two steals and three rebounds.

Pacher has been up and down this season like a lot of his teammates. He was scoreless in the two games in Wisconsin and then scored a combined 33 points in the next two games against Valparaiso and Cleveland State. He followed that with four points against Evansville and a scoreless night in 13 minutes at Illinois-Chicago on Tuesday.

“I was mad at AJ from Chicago,” Donlon said. “I thought we put the ball in really good places offensively. At some point, you’ve got to start making those shots. I was proud of him because he guarded at UIC. That was probably the best defensive game he played. I said, ‘Let’s put it all together.’

“He’s just not a guy who walks around with his chest out. That’s not who he is. He’s got to become that. You can’t come to games hoping you’re going to play well. If you’re going to play at this level, you have to come knowing you’re going to play well, and he’s not quite there yet on the offensive end. But tonight he came with a determination.”

Perry injured: Youngstown State’s top scorer, Kendrick Perry, missed his third straight game with a knee injury. He warmed up before the game with a brace on the knee and could return in the Horizon League tournament.

Without Perry, Youngstown had only one player in double figures, Damian Eargle with 11.

“It’s really hard without Kendrick Perry,” Donlon said. “He’s an all-conference player. He’s scored over 1,500 points in his career. We had the good fortune to play them without him, but we handled our business well.”

Ticket info: All seats cost $10 for the two second-round games Friday at Valparaiso in the Horizon League tournament. It’s general admission seating. Horizon League students are admitted free with ID.

No. 3 seed Wright State plays No. 6 seed Youngstown State or No. 7 seed Loyola at 6 p.m. (EST) Friday. Wright State has a block of tickets available for purchase through its ticket office. All orders must be placed by 5 p.m. Friday. Fans can also purchase tickets for Saturday’s semifinals.

The 8:30 p.m. quarterfinal game on Friday will feature the winner of these Tuesday games: No. 9 seed Milwaukee at No. 4 Green Bay vs. and No. 8 Cleveland State at No. 5 Illinois-Chicago.