STORYLINES
Wayne State welcomes Parkside and Purdue Northwest into the Matthaei on Thursday and Saturday, respectively for the final two home games of the season.  The Warriors are hoping to snap a three-game losing streak currently on the outside looking in regarding the GLIAC Tournament and will need to win the majority of their games down the stretch to have a chance to play in the postseason.  WSU will recognize its three seniors prior to the game on Saturday.

THE SERIES
Wayne State trails 5-10 in the all-time series against Parkside.  The Warriors fell in overtime, 71-67, earlier this season in Kenosha.  The teams first met in 1971 and WSU won the first two meetings before UWP took the next seven contests.

The Warriors have won two of the three meetings vs. Purdue Northwest.  The Pride won in overtime at home earlier this season on Jan. 19th.  The Warriors have won the only meeting in Detroit, 79-61.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
Parkside has won four of its last five games and has a firm hold on the third seed in the GLIAC standings.  Head coach Luke Reigel has led the Rangers to a 12-9 overall record plus a 10-5 league mark in his 16th season.  UWP's only setback in that stretch is a three-point defeat at Davenport on Feb. 7th.  Redshirt senior forward Chavares Flanigan is the team's top scorer at 13.1 points per game.  Redshirt freshmen guard Brandon Trimble (12.4 PPG) and center Joey St. Pierre (11.0 PPG) are offensive threats.  Redshirt freshman forward Brandon Hau is pulling down a team-high six rebounds per contest.  As a team, the Rangers are scoring 75.3 points per game and allowing 72.8.
 

Purdue Northwest is 7-16 overall and 3-12 in the GLIAC.  The Pride won 78-74 at Grand Valley State on Feb. 7th to end a six-game losing streak.  PNW will play at Ashland on Thursday before traveling to the Matthaei.  Head coach Boomer Roberts is in his first season with the program.  Freshman guard Dean Tate is the team's leading scorer at 11 points per night and tops the roster with 2.6 assists per game.  Junior guard Timothy Gilmore is scoring 9.9 points per contest, while freshman forward Anthony Barnard is averaging 9.4 points per game.  Junior forward Durante Lee ranks second in the league with a .632 field goal percentage and is scoring 8.9 points per game.  As a team, PNW is scoring 78.7 points per night and allowing 86.8.

LAST TIME OUT
Ferris State caught fire on Saturday, connecting on 16 three-pointers, to overpower Wayne State 104-78 and avenge a WSU victory in November.  FSU's Cole Walker hit nine of those triples to finish with 35 points.  Karim Murray contributed a career-high 32 points, along with a game-best nine rebounds, while senior Javon Henderson chipped in with 16 points and seven boards.

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 and four blocks in his first 10 games.  Over the last 10 games, he is averaging 18.7 points per game (187 total points), 9.5 boards per contest (95 total rebounds) and 2.3 blocks per night (23 total blocks).
 

He notched 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.  He followed with 11 points, 10 rebounds, six blocks and four steals vs. Ashland on Jan. 26th.  He scored a WSU individual season-high of 36 points vs. Davenport (Feb. 2nd).

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 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).  However, WSU's remaining schedule ranks 235th (.464 winning percentage) and 83rd in terms of cumulative opposition (.544 winning percentage).

NATIONAL RANKINGS
Darian Owens-White ranks third nationally in three-point field goal percentage (.486) and 31st in minutes per game (36:25).  Latin Davis, Jr. ranks 29th in minutes per game (36:31).  Javon Henderson ranks 38th with 3.10 offensive rebounds per game.

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 48.6 percent of his three-point attempts this season.  He currently leads the league and is third nationally in three-point field goal percentage (.486), and is third in program history in career three-point percentage (.442 / 61-of-138).  Additionally, his 61 made triples ranks 29th.

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.