STORYLINES
The Warriors begin an important home stretch this week, playing five straight GLIAC contests inside the Matthaei.  WSU will look to put two straight overtime losses at Purdue Northwest and at Parkside behind them.

THE SERIES
WSU leads 42-29 in the all-time series against Northwood.  The Warriors have won five of the last seven meetings and are 26-10 all-time at home against the T-Wolves.  The teams began playing in 1975 and WSU holds a 31-25 advantage in GLIAC matchups.  Head coach Davis Greer is 15-12 (11-2 at home) in his time with the Warriors.
 

Saginaw Valley State leads 38-36 in the all-time series, including taking five of the last seven games.  However, Wayne State is 20-15 at home and Coach Greer is 14-12 (8-4 at home) vs. the Cardinals. 

SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
Northwood is 6-10 overall and 3-5 in league games.  Head coach Jeff Rekeweg is in his ninth season leading the program.  Senior guard Alec Marty is scoring a team-best 15.1 points per game, while junior guard Trey McBride is second on the roster at 12.8 points per contest. Freshman guard Ja'Kavien Lewis is scoring 12.4 points and ranks second in the GLIAC with 5.8 assists per night.  Junior forward David Jelinek is the squad's top rebounder at 6.2 boards per game.
 

SVSU enters the week at 5-10 overall and 2-6 in the league after a double-overtime loss at Davenport on Jan. 12th.  The Cards travel to Ashland on Thursday night before visiting Midtown Detroit.  Head coach Randy Baruth is in the middle of his seventh season at the helm.  SVSU is led offensively by freshman guard Myles Belyeu, who is scoring 16.1 points per game.  Sophomore guards Darnell Hoskins, Jr. (14.2 PPG) and James Toohey (12.3 PPG), and junior forward Fred John, Jr. (10.7 PPG) are all averaging double-digit points for the season.  John, Jr. is grabbing 7.5 rebounds per night to lead the roster, while Belyeu and Hoskins, Jr. are dishing out 2.5 and 2.4 assists per night, respectively.

LAST TIME OUT
Wayne State led 35-34 at halftime on Saturday at Parkside, but was unable to secure a lead by the end of regulation as the teams were tied at 59-59.  The Warriors led 65-62 in overtime with two minutes left to play, but the Rangers made five of their six free throws down the stretch as WSU went cold from the floor, giving the home team a 71-67 victory.  Darian Owens-White finished with 20 points, while Javon Henderson (15), Karim Murray (13) and Latin Davis, Jr. (11) also scored in double figures.  Henderson posted his second straight double-double with 13 rebounds.

STINGY DEFENSE
Wayne State has always let its defense be its calling card and it led the Warriors to two impressive wins against Northern Michigan and Michigan Tech on Jan. 3rd and Jan. 5th.  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.

HENDERSON'S CONTRIBUTION
Javon Henderson posted back-to-back double-doubles (first two of his career) last week, including a 31-point and 14-rebound performance at Purdue Northwest. He followed that with 15 points and 13 rebounds at Parkside.  The 46 points and 27 boards in the past two games nearly matched his season output of 61 points and 49 rebounds entering the stretch.

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 36th nationally in terms of past opposition (.598 winning percentage).  Future opponents currently have a .510 winning percentage.

NATIONAL RANKINGS
Wayne State ranks 33rd in Division II with just 163 turnovers (13.6 per game).  Darian Owens-White ranks sixth nationally with his .500 three-point field goal percentage.

SHARP SHOOTER
Darian Owens-White has made exactly 50 percent of his three-point attempts this season, including a 56 percent clip over the last five games (18-of-32).  He currently ranks second in the league and sixth nationally in three-point field goal percentage (.500), and is fifth in program history in career three-point percentage (.433 / 42-of-97).  Additionally, his 42 made triples is tied-for-42nd.

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 fifth in the GLIAC in blocks per game (1.4).  His 17 total blocked shots is tied-for-sixth best in the league.

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.