DETROIT -- The Wayne State University men's basketball program (4-13 overall, 1-12 GLIAC) will look to find the win column for the first time in 2020 by traveling to 15th-ranked Grand Valley State (18-3 overall, 11-2 GLIAC) on Thursday night and then at Davenport (16-7 overall, 8-5 GLIAC) on Saturday afternoon.

STORYLINES
After a four-game home stand, Wayne State will play at 15th-ranked Grand Valley State on Thursday night before staying on the west side of the state for a matchup at Davenport on Saturday afternoon.  The Warriors have dropped 10 straight and are 0-7 at home, while winning four of its 10 road contests.

THE SERIES
The Warriors trail 35-50 in the all-time series versus Grand Valley State, including a 13-26 mark on the road.  The teams began playing in 1971 and first met as conference foes in 1976, while GVSU holds a 33-37 edge in GLIAC contests.  Head coach David Greer is 14-14 (6-8 on the road) against the Lakers.  Wayne State has won four of the last six meetings after GVSU captured four straight from Feb. 22, 2014, until Jan. 19, 2017.  GVSU won 71-64 in Detroit earlier this season on Jan. 11th.

Davenport has a 3-2 advantage in the all-time series against Wayne State dating back to 2017.  The Warriors won the first two matchups, but the Panthers have captured the last three meetings, including a 73-65 win earlier this season on Jan. 9th. 

SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
GVSU enters this week ranked 15th in the country and carries an 18-3 overall record with an 11-2 mark in the league. Head coach Ric Wesley is in his 16th campaign with GVSU.  Junior forward Jake Van Tubbergen is the team's go-to player and is a five-time GLIAC Player of the Week.  He is averaging 18.9 points and 10.4 rebounds per game, while shooting nearly 55 percent from the floor and 78 percent from the free throw line.  Senior guard Jeremiah Ferguson (14.4 PPG), junior forward Christian Negron (11.0 PPG) and junior guard Isaac Gassman (10.7 PPG) are all averaging in double figures for the Lakers.  Senior guard Jayden Hodgson leads the team with 3.1 assists per night.  As a team, GVSU is scoring 75.4 points per contest and allowing 68.0 points per game.

Davenport (16-7 overall, 8-5 GLIAC), the defending GLIAC regular-season champions, has won two straight after wins over Parkside and Purdue Northwest.  The Panthers will host Ashland on Thursday night.  Head coach Burt Paddock is in his 12th season with the team.  Junior guard Chris Rollins leads the team in scoring (13.0 PPG), while junior guard Evan Hines is just behind at 12.9 points per contest.  Senior forward Robbie Bramhill is averaging 11.2 points per game.   Junior guard Tafari Beckford is scoring 11.2 points and pulling down a team-best 6.8 rebounds per contest.  As a team, the Panthers are scoring 74.5 points and allowing 66.2 points per game.

ABOUT LAST WEEK
Wayne State looked poised to end its skid last Thursday against Lake Superior State, leading 35-33 at halftime.  However, the Lakers outscored the Warriors 41-38 in the second half to win 74-73.  An old-fashioned three-point play by Karim Murray with 21 seconds left gave WSU a 73-72 lead, its first since halftime.  An offensive rebound by Ke'Montrece Collins led to a layup to give the Lakers a 74-73 advantage.  Wayne State had the ball with a chance to win the game but a turnover would effectively end the contest with 0.01 of a second left on the clock.

WSU trailed the entire game last Saturday against 11th-ranked Ferris State as the Bulldogs won 93-67.  James Gordon and Karim Murray both tallied 20 points to lead all scorers, while Antonio Marshall and Brailen Neely each chipped in with 10 points.  Neely collected his sixth double-double of the season with 13 assists.

CLOSE GAMES
In 13 of the 17 games this season, Wayne State was leading, tied or trailed by less than four points with under five minutes to play.  The Warriors are 1-5 in games decided by three points or fewer, including a pair of overtime games.  The four games that do not meet those standards were Michigan Tech, Purdue Northwest, Saginaw Valley State and Ferris State.

KARIM VS. THE BULLDOGS
Over the last four meetings between WSU and Ferris State, Karim Murray is averaging 23.5 PPG (93 points) and 7.3 RPG (29 rebounds).  In 148 minutes of action, Murray is 34-of-66 (52%) from the floor and 25-of-33 (76%) from the foul line with eight assists, five steals and a block.

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 on Jan. 18th 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 135 helpers this season, which is ranks 14th all-time.  The season record is 232 by Evans in 2004-05.  Additionally, Neely is currently averaging 7.9 assists per contest to lead the league.  That would be the high mark in program history if the season ended today.

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 on Jan. 30th vs. Lake Superior State was his 500th 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.

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. 

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.