DETROIT -- In what will begin a four-game home stand, the Wayne State University men's basketball program (4-9 overall, 1-8 GLIAC) will host Saginaw Valley State (11-6 overall, 5-4 GLIAC) on Thursday night and Northwood (8-9 overall, 3-6 GLIAC) on Saturday afternoon.

STORYLINES
Looking to snap a six-game losing streak, the Warriors host Saginaw Valley State on Thursday night and Northwood on Saturday afternoon for the first two of four home straight contests.  Wayne State has been in nearly every game this season, including two overtime defeats, despite having a short bench for much of the year.

THE SERIES
Wayne State trails 36-40 in the all-time series against Saginaw Valley State, but WSU is 20-16 inside the Matthaei.  The Cardinals won both meetings last season, including a 101-97 overtime triumph in Detroit.  SVSU has won seven of the last nine contests in the series, including the last three.

The Warriors lead 43-30 in the all-time series against Northwood, including a 26-11 mark at home.  The teams began playing in 1975 and WSU has a 32-26 advantage in GLIAC meetings.  Both teams won on the road last season, including a 77-76 WSU triumph in the second-to-last game of the 2018-19 season.  Wayne State has won four of the last six matchups.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
After a seven-game winning streak from Dec. 7th until Jan. 9th, the Cardinals have lost three in a row.  SVSU nearly upset 11th-ranked Ferris State at home on Jan. 12th, but lost 86-82.  Head coach Randy Baruth is in his eighth season leading the program.  Sophomore guard Myles Belyeu is one of the better scorers in the league at 20.1 points per night, along with a team-best 7.5 rebounds per contest.  Junior guard Malik Ellison is averaging 17.4 points per game, while junior guard Darnell Hoskins, Jr. is scoring 9.6 points per matchup.  As a team, the Cards are averaging 75.5 points and allowing 71.7 points per night.

Northwood enters the week at 8-9 overall and 3-6 in the GLIAC.  The Timberwolves will play at Ashland on Thursday night before traveling to Detroit.  NU has dropped of four of its last five contests, with its lone victorycoming on Jan. 11th over Lake Superior State.  Head coach Jeff Rekeweg is in his 10th season leading the program.  Senior guard Trey McBride is leading Northwood in scoring at 11.4 points per game, while senior forward Bruno Solomun is pulling down a team-high 6.1 rebounds per night.  Sophomore guard Ja'Kavien Lewis is dishing out 4.1 assists per contest to lead the squad.  As a team, Northwood is averaging 66.1 points and allowing 69.1 points per game.

ABOUT LAST WEEK
Wayne State started the week at Parkside on Thursday night and trailed 36-27 at halftime.  A dunk by Kylin Grant tied the game at 66-66 with just over a minute remaining, but Brandon Trimble banked in a jumper with 41.4 seconds left to give the lead back to the Rangers.  Antonio Marshall answered with a contested layup with 20.6 seconds remaining tying the game at 68-68.  Parkside was unable to get a shot off as regulation ended.  In overtime, the game was deadlocked at 73-73, but Solomon Oraegbu made one of two free throws to give UWP a one-point advantage with 68 seconds left to play.  With Wayne State trailing 76-73 and 7.9 seconds remaining, LJ DeWolf missed a last-second three-point attempt. Brailen Neely finished with 26 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds, while Nate Talbot and Marshall scored 14 points.  James Gordon chipped in with 11 points and seven rebounds.  

On Saturday at Purdue Northwest, WSU trailed 43-34 at halftime.  The Pride controlled the majority of the second half, but the Warriors cut the deficit to eight at the 12:11 mark.  That would be as close as WSU would come the rest of the way.  James Gordon tallied a career-high 24 points along with seven rebounds, while Antonio Marshall finished with 13 points and Nate Talbot posted 12 points and three blocks.  Brailen Neely chipped in with 11 points and a career-best 17 assists, which is a program record.  The previous mark was held by Darrell Evans who had 15 helpers against Ashland on Feb. 17, 2005.

TORCHING THE NET 
On Jan. 11th vs. 18th-ranked Grand Valley State, Brailen Neely recorded his second 30-plus point effort of the season finishing with 32 points.  Neely had 33 points in the GLIAC opener at Ferris State last month.  Last year (2018-19), Javon Henderson had two 30-point outings (31 at Purdue Northwest and 36 vs. Davenport).  The last time prior to Henderson, a Warrior had at least two 30+-games in a season was 2006-07 when Kris Krzyminski had four such affairs.  Krzyminski tallied 34 and 41 points against Gannon, 32 vs. Clarion and 38 against Hillsdale.

ASSIST RECORDS
Brailen Neely's 17 assists at Purdue Northwest last Saturday is the most in program history.  He surpassed a 15-assist performance from Darrell Evans on Feb. 17, 2005, vs. Ashland.  Evans also had the second-highest mark of 13 vs. Findlay (2/14/05) along with Grady Wicker against Northwood (2/9/80).  Neely has 97 helpers this season, which is tied-for-30th all-time.  The season record is 232 by Evans in 2004-05.

ON TOP
The Warriors lead the GLIAC in opponent field goal percentage (.397), opponent three-point shooting percentage (.310) and blocks per game (4.5), while ranking second in rebounds per game (38.5) and third in three-point percentage (.365).  

OVERTIME THRILLERS
Wayne State and Ohio Dominican started the season in style on Nov. 8th.  The Warriors fell 87-86 in double overtime.  It was the first overtime game to begin a season for WSU since the 2001-02 season when the Warriors lost to Northwood in one overtime.

WSU dropped its second extra-session game of the season on Jan. 16th at Parkside, 76-73.

GREER BACK FOR 19TH SEASON
Head coach David Greer is in his 19th season as the top man on the Warriors' bench.  He equaled the school record for years as head men's basketball coach last season, joining Newman Ertell (1929-48) and Joel Mason (1948-66) at 18 years on the WSU bench.  The win at Hillsdale on Nov. 27, 2019, was his 250th at Wayne State.  The game vs. Lake Superior State on Jan. 30th will be his 500th game at Wayne State.

NEW BASKETBALL ARENA 
In May of 2019, it was announced that WSU Athletics and the Detroit Pistons would be partnering to construct a $25 million basketball arena on the west side of the athletic campus.

The approved plan includes construction of a 70,000 square-foot arena near the intersection of Warren and Trumbull avenues with seating capacity for approximately 3,000 fans, office space and locker room areas for both WSU's men's and women's basketball teams, a concessions area and other ancillary spaces.  The arena will be ready for play in the 2021-2022 basketball season.

The Pistons G-League team will also call the new facility home.

LOCKER ROOM REPORT
Check WSUAthletics.com every week to watch David Greer's weekly locker room report.  He will recap the week's previous games and preview upcoming opponents.

WARRIOR ALL-ACCESS
Every home women's and men's basketball game can be seen live on Warrior All-Access at WSUAthletics.com.  A 24-hour pass is $5.95, while a monthly re-occurring subscription is $9.95 and a yearly pass is $69.95.  

Every game is archived in the on-demand section.  All home football, volleyball, basketball, softball and baseball games will be available on the channel.

LIVE ON WDTK
Kevin Brechmacher will call every contest live on WDTK - The Patriot (1400 AM / 101.5 FM).  Former Warrior standout Mike Lewis will serve as an analyst for home broadcasts during the 2019-20 season.  Fans can also stream the action online at PatriotDetroit.com.