DETROIT -- Wayne State (3-7 overall, 3-3 GLIAC) will aim to keep the momentum after winning twice to begin 2019 as it travels to Purdue Northwest (5-9 overall, 1-5 GLIAC) (Thursday at 8 p.m. ET) and Parkside (5-7 overall, 3-3 GLIAC) (Saturday at 4 p.m. ET). The Warriors will meet two of the newest members of the GLIAC. WSU is searching for its first road win since last year's regular-season finale at Northern Michigan. The combined record of this season's road opponents (Ohio Dominican, Bellarmine, Davenport and Grand Valley State) is 41-11.
THE SERIES
WSU leads 2-0 in the all-time series against Purdue Northwest, winning both matchups last season.
Wayne State trails 5-9 in the all-time series vs. Parkside. Saturday's game will be the first meeting between the teams since 2011 and the first game as GLIAC counterparts. WSU is 2-5 in true road games.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
Purdue Northwest is 5-9 overall and 1-5 in GLIAC action. Head coach Boomer Roberts is in his first season with the program. Freshman guard Dean Tate leads the team in scoring at 10.8 points per game, while junior guard Timothy Gilmore is scoring 10.4 points per night. Freshman forward Anthony Barnard is the team's top rebounder at 6.2 boards per contest. Freshman guard Chase Rankin is dishing out 2.9 assists per game and leads the league in free throw shooting at .968 (30-of-31). As a team, PNW is scoring 82.5 points per game, which ranks fourth in the league and allowing 86.8, which is last in the conference.
Parkside is 5-7 overall and 3-3 in the GLIAC after splitting its opening week of 2019 league play. The Rangers won at home over Northwood before falling to Saginaw Valley State on the road. UWP hosts Ashland on Thursday before welcoming the Warriors. Head coach Luke Reigel is in his 16th season at the helm. Redshirt freshman Brandon Trimble leads the roster in scoring at 13.1 points per contest, while fellow redshirt freshman center Joey St. Pierre is scoring at 10.6 points per game. Senior guard Adam Bonk is contributing 10.8 points per night and redshirt senior Chavares Flannigan is scoring 10.3 points per game. Redshirt freshman Brandon Hau is the team's top rebounder at 6.6 boards per contest.
LAST TIME OUT
Wayne State won for the second straight game, topping Michigan Tech 67-54 on Jan. 5th to improve to 3-3 in the GLIAC. The Warriors led 35-26 at halftime before going on to win by 13 points.
Darian Owens-White and
Latin Davis, Jr. paced the offense with 20 points each.
STINGY DEFENSE
Wayne State has always let its defense be its calling card and it is beginning to round into shape after two impressive efforts against Northern Michigan and Michigan Tech. The Warriors allowed just 51 points against NMU and 54 vs. MTU. The 51 points allowed is the best defensive performance since WSU allowed 47 points versus Michigan Tech on Feb. 9, 2017. The 105 points allowed is the best two-game stretch since WSU allowed 103 points on Jan. 23 and Jan. 25, 2014. That year, WSU fell 52-50 at home to the Huskies before topping the Wildcats 61-51.
TOUGH SCHEDULE
Wayne State has played six (#1-Bellarmine, #2 Lewis, #5 Northern Michigan, #7 Davenport, #8 Ohio Dominican and #9 Grand Valley State) of the top 10 teams in the Midwest region. WSU's schedule ranks 18th nationally in terms of past opposition (.638 winning percentage). Future opponents currently have a .498 winning percentage.
NATIONAL RANKINGS
Wayne State ranks 25th in Division II with just 132 turnovers (13.2 per game) and 42nd in fewest fouls (193).
Darian Owens-White ranks sixth nationally with his .509 three-point field goal percentage.
Tristan Wilson ranks 37th with 1.7 blocks per game.
SHARP SHOOTER
Darian Owens-White has made over 50 percent of three-point attempts this season, including a 63 percent clip over the last three games (12-of-19). He currently ranks second in the league and sixth nationally in three-point field goal percentage (.509) and fifth in program history in career three-point percentage (.429).
RIM PROTECTOR
Senior center
Tristan Wilson has become one of the best shot blockers in program history. Wilson ranks ninth with 74 career blocks and his 1.2 blocks per contest is seventh best in the Wayne State record books. This season, he ranks fourth in the GLIAC in blocks per game (1.7). His 17 total blocked shots is fifth best in the league.
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 1-2 when he wears the dark grey, 0-3 in the tan, 0-1 in the light grey, 0-2 with the black sweater and 2-0 with his green vest. This includes the exhibition against Detroit Mercy.
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.
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.