Men's Basketball | 1/11/2017 8:34:00 AM

DETROIT -- After splitting a tough road trip last week and seeing a nine-game winning steak come to an end, the Wayne State University men's basketball team (9-2, 6-1 GLIAC) will return to the Matthaei to host Michigan Tech (6-8, 4-3 GLIAC) on Thursday night and Northern Michigan (3-9, 1-6 GLIAC) on Saturday afternoon.  The Warriors remain on top of the GLIAC standings after playing through the league's South Division.  This week's games will begin a double round-robin format through the North Division.

STORYLINES
Despite a six-point loss at Findlay on Saturday afternoon to end a nine-game winning streak, Wayne State remains in first place in the league after playing through the South Division.  In what could very well be a GLIAC Tournament matchup, the Warriors and Oilers played a stellar game but Findlay pulled away at the end.  The nine straight wins was the longest winning streak since 1999.  WSU will return to the Matthaei to host Michigan Tech on Thursday night (7:30 p.m.) and Northern Michigan on Saturday at 1 p.m.  This week's games will begin a double round-robin format through the North Division.

THE SERIES
WSU leads 53-30 in the all-time series against Michigan Tech in a series that began in 1927.  Starting in 2009, the Warriors won five straight before the Huskies captured the next four meetings.  Wayne State snapped that streak last season with a 77-64 victory in Detroit.  WSU is 33-8 at home in the series and Coach Greer is 11-10 in his 16 seasons.

The Warriors also lead the all-time series vs. Northern Michigan with a 38-34 mark.  The teams began playing in 1935 and WSU won the first eight meetings.  Recently, Wayne State has won 10 of the last 11 contests.  WSU is 26-13 at home in the series and head coach David Greer is 13-7 vs. the Wildcats.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
Michigan Tech is 6-8 overall and 4-3 in the league after splitting last week with a win over Ashland and a loss at Tiffin.  Kevin Luke, the winningest coach in Michigan Tech basketball history, is in his 23rd season leading the Huskies.  MTU has four players scoring in double digits led by sophomore forward Kyle Monroe at 18.5 points per game.  Freshman guard and current GLIAC North Division PLayer of the Week, Tommy Lucca is scoring 18.4 points per night.  Monroe leads the team with 7.1 boards per contest, while Lucca is dishing out 4.2 helpers per contest.  As a team, the Huskies are scoring 75.0 points per game and allowing 74.4 points.

Northern Michigan enters the week with a 3-9 overall record and a 1-6 GLIAC mark.  The Wildcats have dropped four straight games.  Head coach Bill Sall is in his fourth season at NMU after spending 11 seasons as the head coach at Ferris State.  Five Wildcats are scoring in double figures led by sophomore guard Naba Echols at 15.7 points per night.  Echols is also averaging 4.2 assists per game.  Freshman forward Will Carius is the team's top rebounder with 6.3 boards per contest.  As a team, NMU is scoring  70.5 points per game, while allowing 81.3 points.

LAST TIME OUT
Wayne State dropped its first GLIAC game of the season at Findlay on Jan. 7th.  The Oilers jumped out to an 8-2 lead at the 17:49 mark.  After Findlay extended its lead to 12, at 23-11, with 13 minutes left in the first half, a Chuck Key layup kept WSU within striking distance.  Baskets from Michael Lewis and Marcus Moore cut UF's lead to 29-24 at the 5:30 mark.  At the three-minute mark, Jalen Adams scored his first points as a Warrior with a three-pointer pulling WSU within four.  Another bucket from Lewis and a triple by George Spencer gave WSU its first lead of the game just before halftime.  Findlay started the second half strong and led 39-34 at the 16:29 mark.  Seven points from Moore, including a three-pointer with 13:11 left, put the Warriors back on top, 43-41.  An offensive rebound by Spencer led to two free throws from the junior, giving the Warriors a 48-44 advantage with 11 minutes remaining.  A 5-0 run by the Oilers gave Findlay a 51-50 lead at the 8:32 mark.  A jumper from Moore snapped a 7-0 run and trimmed the deficit to 53-52 with 7:10 left to play.  An Oilers' jumper with 5:19 remaining stretched the home lead to 57-52.  Lewis connected on a baseline jumper to keep WSU within three, 59-56, at the 2:51 mark.  Findlay led by six, 64-58, with just over a minute to play as head coach David Greer used a timeout.  Findlay was able to hold on and win 70-64.

COACHING MILESTONE
With the win on Dec. 3rd over Hillsdale, David Greer became the winningest coach in the 99 years of Wayne State men's basketball.  He passed his predecessor Ron Hammye's mark of 212 victories, which he collected in his 13 seasons (1988-01).  

FAST STARTS
After beginning the 2014-15 season 0-4 and the 2015-16 campaign 0-5, the Warriors got off to a fast start at 9-1 (also won at Detroit Mercy in an exhibition matchup). Wayne State began the 2013-14 season 5-1, 2012-13 season 5-1, 2011-12 season 8-1, and the 2010-11 season 9-1.

WINNING STREAKS
The longest winning-streak in program history is 17 games done on two occasions in 1955-56 and 1994. Other streaks of note include 14, 12, and the nine-game winning streak for this year's team is one of four in program history and the longest since the 1998-99 season.

DEFENDING THE MATTHAEI 
Under Coach Greer, the Warriors have been very tough to beat at home. WSU is 133-66 (.668) inside the Matthaei over the last 16 seasons including a 5-0 mark this season.

CAN THEY KEEP IT UP?
The solid shooting by the Green & Gold has obviously powered its 9-2 record but WSU is on a historic pace in terms of the program's record book.  Currently, Wayne State is shooting at a .476 clip, which would be the highest since the 2011-12 season's squad shot .479 from the field.

NCAA STATISTICAL RANKINGS
In the latest NCAA stats release, WSU ranks 10th in scoring defense (63.7), 13th in fewest turnovers (134), 30th in winning percentage (.818), 31st in opponents field goal percentage (.407) and 41st in turnover margin (+3.1).  Ronald Booth ranks 41st nationally in steals per game (2.09).

NORTH VS. SOUTH
After the 15 GLIAC programs completed its out-of-division play, the GLIAC North Division has a 32-24 (.625) record against the GLIAC South Division.  Six of the eight North members have a winning conference record, while Findlay is the only South team with a winning mark in league games.

ELITE DEFENSE
Wayne State is allowing 63.7 points per game this season, which ranks second in the league and is the third-best mark in the last 59 years.  The 1982-83 team allowed 63.0 points per night, while the 2011-12 squad allowed 63.3 points per contest.  Opponents are shooting .407 against WSU this season, which is the best performance since the 1999-00 season (.401) in school history.

COMCAST/XFINITY
Every home men's basketball game beginning in 2017 will be aired live throughout the state of Michigan on Comcast CN 900.  The crew of Sean Baligian, Rod Beard, Joe Abramson and Tony Ortiz will call the action. 

LIVE ON WDTK
Kevin Brechmacher will call every contest live on the radio on WDTK - The Patriot (1400 AM / 101.5 FM).  Fans can also stream the action online newstalk1400.us.  Joining Kevin for home games will be WSU alum Kendall LeSure, who played at Wayne State from 2000-04 and scored 1,068 points during his career.