STORYLINES
With a win and a Northwood loss, Wayne State would be tied-for-eighth in the GLIAC standings.  The final playoff berth would then be determined by the league's point tiebreaker system but the Warriors will likely fall short of advancing to the postseason, after qualifying each of the last two years.  WSU travels to 23rd-ranked Ashland in the regular-season finale eyeing the upset and to avenge a buzzer-beating win for the Eagles inside the Matthaei on Jan. 23rd.
 

THE SERIES
Wayne State leads 31-26 in the all-time series against Ashland.  The Eagles have won seven of the last nine meetings, including a 63-61 decision earlier this season.  The Warriors are 11-16 on the road in the series and head coach David Greer is 18-14 (8-8 on the road) vs. AU during his 18 seasons with the program.
 

SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
Ashland is 22-5 overall and 14-5 in GLIAC games and fell to 23rd in the Division II after a 1-1 week.  The Eagles will enter the playoffs as the second seed and will host a quarterfinal game on March 5th.  Head coach John Ellenwood is in his 10th season leading the program and posted his 200th win at Ferris State on Feb. 7th. 
 

Junior center Drew Noble is scoring a team-best 17.3 points per game, while redshirt senior guard Ben Haraway is averaging 13 points per outing.  Also scoring in double figures are junior guard Rodrick Caldwell (12.1 PPG) and redshirt sophomore Aaron Thompson (10.8 PPG).  Caldwell is the team's top passer with 2.7 assists per night, while Thompson is the league's top rebounder at 9.3 boards per game.  As a team, the Eagles are scoring 75.1 points per game and allowing a GLIAC-best 62.6 points per night.

LAST TIME OUT
Wayne State won 77-76 at Northwood last Saturday after leading by as many 14 in the second half.  WSU led 63-49 midway through the second half before  NU began to chip away at the deficit and eventually led 76-75 with 29 seconds to play. 
 

Latin Davis, Jr. scored the game-winning layup off an inbound play at the eight-second mark.  NU's three-point attempt hit the side of the backboard as time expired.  Javon Henderson tallied a game-high 23 points, while Davis finished with 18 points.

Darian Owens-White finished with 12 points and Karim Murray recorded a double-double of 10 points and 12 rebounds.
 

OVERCOMING A HALFTIME DEFICIT
Wayne State's 71-70 win over Parkside on Feb. 14th was the first time this season that the Warriors overcame a halftime deficit to win.  WSU trailed 36-34 at the break and outscored the Rangers 37-34 in the second half to win by one.  Prior to that, the Warriors were 0-13 when trailing at halftime.
 

POSTSEASON IMPLICATIONS
The first seven seeds for next week's GLIAC Tournament have been decided as have the four teams with hosting duties.  A WSU win and a Northwood loss would leave the teams tied-for-eighth and the final playoff berth, which would then be decided by the GLIAC's points system.  It appears the Warriors will not advance to the postseason, after playing in the GLIAC Tournament in 2017 and  2018.
 

WSU VERSUS TOP FOUR
Wayne State is 2-5 against the league's top four teams.  However, three of those five losses were by two points (63-61 vs. AU), three points (73-70 vs. DU), and four points in overtime (71-67 vs, UWP).
 

HENDERSON'S CONTRIBUTION
Javon Henderson has grown into a standout player during his final collegiate campaign.  He posted four double-doubles in January, the first four of his career.  He totaled 61 points, 49 rebounds, nine steals and four blocks in his first 10 games.  Over the last 14 games, he is averaging 19.2 points per game (269 total points), 8.9 boards per contest (125 total rebounds), 1.8 blocks per night (26 total blocks) and 1.7 steals per outing (24 total steals).
 

He garnered a 31-point and 14-rebound performance at Purdue Northwest (Jan. 10th) and followed that with 15 points and 13 rebounds at Parkside (Jan. 12th).  He posted a pair of double-doubles in late January, first at Central State, where he tallied 21 points, 15 rebounds and six blocks.  and then vs. Ashland (Jan. 26th) with 11 points, 10 rebounds, six blocks and four steals.  He scored a WSU individual season-high of 36 points vs. Davenport (Feb. 2nd).  He finished with his fifth double-double of the season vs. PNW on 22 points and 12 rebounds to go with three steals and a blocked shot.
 

CLOSE CALLS
Wayne State snapped a four-game losing streak on Jan. 23 at Central State.  During the dry spell, the Warriors played three overtime games and another contest came down to the final possession.  WSU lost the four games by a total of 14 points.  The trend continued on Jan. 26th, as the Warriors fell on a last-second jumper against Ashland.  Wayne State has lost seven games by four points or less this season, including the three aforementioned overtime contests.
 

TOUGH SCHEDULE
Wayne State has played nine (#1 Bellarmine,  #2 Lewis, #2 Ashland, #4 Davenport, #5 Northern Michigan, #7 Davenport, #8 Ohio Dominican, #9 Grand Valley State and #10 Ferris State) of the top 10 teams in the Midwest region (at the time of the meeting).  WSU's schedule ranks 107th in terms of cumulative opposition (.533 winning percentage).
 

SHARP SHOOTER
Sophomore Darian Owens-White is quickly becoming one of the most lethal long-range shooters in the league, nation and program history.  He has made 59-of-127 three-point attempts this season.  He currently leads the league in three-point field goal percentage (.465), and is fifth in program history in career three-point percentage (.429 / 66-of-154).  Additionally, his 66 made triples is tied-for-24th.
 

HEAD COACH LONGEVITY
Head coach David Greer is in his 18th season as the top man on the Warriors' bench.  He has equaled 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. 
 

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.