STORYLINES
Wayne State split its GLIAC-opening week of action and will hit the road for two games on the west side of the state.  The Warriors will play Davenport for just the third time ever on Thursday night before returning to the Grand Rapids area for a Saturday night clash at Grand Valley State.

THE SERIES
WSU won the first-ever two meetings against Davenport last season.  The Warriors won 65-62 at DU on Dec. 16th before cruising to a 71-56 home victory on Jan. 27th.  The Panthers joined the GLIAC prior to the start of the 2017-18 campaign.

Wayne State trails 34-48 in the all-time series versus Grand Valley State.  The Warriors have captured three straight wins in the series, including both matchups last season.  WSU is 13-25 on the road dating back to 1971 when the teams began playing.  Coach Greer is 13-12 against the Lakers and 6-7 on the road in his previous 17 seasons with Wayne State.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
Davenport had won seven straight games to begin the season before falling at Parkside on Saturday.  In addition, the Panthers took Central Michigan to the wire before CMU won the exhibition contest, 89-84.  Head coach Burt Paddock is in his 10th season with the program.  Five Panthers are scoring at least 10 points per contest led by senior forward Dyllon Hudson-Emory at 16.6 points per game. He is pulling down a team-high 7.4 rebounds per contest.  Sophomore guard Avery Hudson is scoring 16.5 points per game and dishing out 5.8 assists per night.  Sophomore guard Delano Smith (13.4 PPG), junior forward Robbie Bramhill (10.6 PPG) and sophomore guard Chris Rollins (10.5 PPG) round out the quintet scoring in double figures for the Panthers.  DU is scoring 86.9 points game and allowing 73.1 points per night.
 

Grand Valley State is 6-1 overall and 2-0 in the GLIAC after wins at Parkside and Purdue Northwest.  Head coach Ric Wesley is in his 15th season with the Lakers.  Sophomore forward Jake Van Tubbergen leads the team in scoring (17.7 PPG) and rebounding (7.3 RPG).  Junior guard Hunter Hale is scoring 16.9 points per game, while junior guard Jeremiah Ferguson is averaging 15.0 points per game and a team-best 3.9 assists per contest.  GVSU is scoring 87.4 points per night and allowing 74.3 points per game.
 

LAST TIME OUT
After a thrilling 90-89 win over defending DII national champion Ferris State on Nov. 29th, the Warriors were unable to begin league play 2-0 for the third straight season with a 24-point loss to Lake Superior State on Dec. 1st.

Wayne State led 10-5 in the first four minutes but the Lakers would control the rest of the game and led 36-29 at halftime.  The visitors started the second half on an 8-0 run and led 44-29 at the 17:09 mark.  Lake Superior State would not relinquish its double-digit lead as the Lakers would lead by 13 at the 10:46 mark and 20 with 4:38 left to play.  Wayne State would lose 89-65.
 

Karim Murray finished with his second straight double-double and third of his career with 14 points and 12 rebounds, while Xavier Cochran tallied 13 points and Latin Davis, Jr. chipped in 10 points.

HISTORICAL VICTORY
The men's basketball program won its 800th game (76-73 over GVSU on Nov. 30, 2017) as Wayne State University (1956-present).  In the 102 years of basketball, WSU has won 1,229 games (first 60 as Detroit Junior College [1918-23], 120 as College of the City of Detroit/CCD [1924-34], and 235 as Wayne University [1934-56]).
 

HEAD COACH LONGEVITY
Head coach David Greer is in his 18th season as the top man on the Warriors' bench.  He equals the school record for years as head men's basketball coach in 2018-19, joining Newman Ertell (1929-48) and Joel Mason (1948-66) at 18 years on the WSU bench. 
 

COLLEGIATE AND WSU DEBUTS
After five seniors graduated from the 2017-18 roster, Wayne State rolled out a new look roster this season.  Two transfers have made their WSU debuts as Xavier Cochran (Albany) and Jacob Joubert (Detroit Mercy) both appeared in the season opener at Ohio Dominican.  Freshman Antonio Marshall also made his collegiate debut at ODU.  Freshman LJ DeWolf played his first career minutes vs. Lake Superior State.
 

SWEATER VEST COLOR
Head coach David Greer makes an important decision every gameday on what color his sweater vest is going to be.  We will track this throughout the season.  So far, the Warriors are 0-2 when he wears the dark grey, 0-2 in the tan, 0-1 in the light grey, 0-1 with the black sweater and 1-0 with his green vest.  This includes the exhibition against Detroit Mercy.

RIM PROTECTOR
Senior center Tristan Wilson has become one of the best shot blockers in program history. Wilson ranks 10th with 67 career blocks and his 1.2 blocks per contest is seventh best in the Wayne State record books.  This season, he ranks third in the GLIAC and 51st nationally in blocks per game (1.7).  His 10 total blocked shots is tied-for-third best in the league and 67th nationally.

COMCAST/XFINITY
Every home men's basketball game in 2019 will be aired live throughout the state of Michigan on Comcast/CN 900.  Sean Baligian (play-by-play), Rod Beard (analyst) and Joe Abramson (sideline) will call the action.

LIVE ON WDTK
Kevin Brechmacher will call every contest live on WDTK - The Patriot (1400 AM / 101.5 FM).  Former Warrior standouts Ian Larkin and Mike Lewis will serve as analysts during home broadcasts during the 2018-19 season.  Fans can also stream the action online at PatriotDetroit.com.