DETROIT -- The Wayne State University men's basketball program (4-5 overall, 1-4 GLIAC) will play a pair of games at home this week as Davenport (10-5 overall, 2-3 GLIAC) and 18th-ranked Grand Valley State (11-2 overall, 4-1 GLIAC) visit the Matthaei.
STORYLINES
Wayne State returns to the Matthaei after an eight-game road trip to host Davenport on Thursday night and Grand Valley State on Saturday evening. Â The Warriors will aim to make up ground in the GLIAC standings with six of their next eight games being played in Detroit.
THE SERIES
Each side has twice in the all-time series against Davenport. Â The Warriors won the first two matchups, but the Panthers took both contests last season. Â WSU lost 73-70 at DU, before falling 84-75 at home.
The Warriors trail 35-49 in the all-time series versus Grand Valley State, including a 21-23 mark at home. Â The teams began playing in 1971 and first met as conference foes in 1976, while WSU holds a 33-36 tally in GLIAC contests. Â Head coach
David Greer is 14-13 (8-5 at home) against the Lakers. Â Wayne State has won four of the last five after GVSU captured four straight from Feb. 22, 2014, until Jan. 19, 2017. Â Last season, the Lakers won at home (95-62) before the Warriors also defended their home court (86-78).
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
Davenport (10-5 overall, 2-3 GLIAC), the defending GLIAC regular-season champions, has won three of its last four games, including a 69-65 triumph over eighth-ranked Ferris State on Saturday. Â Head coach Burt Paddock is in his 12th season with the team. Â Junior guard Evan Hines leads the squad in scoring at 13.7 points per game, while junior guard Chris Rollins is averaging 13.1 points per night. Â Junior guard Tafari Beckford is scoring 11 points and pulling down a team-best 6.3 rebounds per contest, while senior forward Robbie Bramhill is contributing 10.4 points per matchup. Â As a team, the Panthers are scoring 76.2 points and allowing 70.1 points per game.
GVSU this week at 11-2 overall and 4-1 in the league. Â The Lakers are ranked 18th in the latest NABC Coaches Poll, which was released on Jan. 7th. Â Head coach Ric Wesley is midway through his 16th
campaign with GVSU.
Junior forward Jake Van Tubbergen is the team's go-to player and is a three-time GLIAC Player of the Week. Â He is averaging 18.3 points and 10.4 rebounds per game, while shooting nearly 53 percent from the floor and 81 percent from the free throw line. Â Senior guard Jeremiah Ferguson (12.5 PPG), junior forward Christian Negron (11.4 PPG) and junior guard Isaac Gassman (10.9 PPG) are all averaging in double figures for the Lakers. Â Senior guard Jayden Hodgson leads the team with 3.8 assists per night. Â As a team, GVSU is scoring 76.1 points per contest and allowing 68.6 points per game.
LAST TIME OUT
Cold-shooting in the first half gave Northern Michigan a 32-22 lead at halftime last Saturday. Â Wayne State notched the first six points of the second half to cut NMU's lead to 32-28 at the 17:22 mark. An
Antonio Marshall jumper at the 7:44 mark made it 47-39 in favor of the Wildcats. Â
WSU cut the margin to four, 49-45, on a layup by
Brailen Neely with 6:16 left in the contest. Â Sam Taylor's triple at the 1:05 mark gave the Wildcats a 55-49 lead. Â Neely was fouled while attempting a three-pointer and connected on all three shots from the charity stripe cutting the home advantage to 57-55 with two seconds to play. Â Neely missed a last-second trey that would have tied the game, but drew only iron and WSU's comeback attempt would run out of time as NMU captured a 58-55 victory. Â Â Neely finished with a team-high 14 points, while James Gordon posted a double-double of 10 points and 12 rebounds. Â
Karim Murray tallied 12 points.
ON TOP
The Warriors lead the GLIAC in opponent field goal percentage (.378) and opponent three-point shooting percentage (.302), while ranking second in three-point percentage (.391) and rebounds per game (41.3). Â WSU ranks fourth in blocks per contest (3.8).
SECOND HALF MISCUES
In the first three losses this season, WSU has led in the second half. Â Wayne State led 81-78 with 1:07 to play versus Ohio Dominican and held onto a 72-71 advantage at the 7:24 mark at Ferris State. Â The Warriors surrendered the lead with 12:48 remaining in the second stanza at Lake Superior State.
DOUBLE-OVERTIME THRILLER
Wayne State and Ohio Dominican started the season in style on Nov. 8th. Â The Warriors fell 87-86 in double overtime. Â It was the first overtime game to begin a season for WSU since the 2001-02 season when the Warriors lost to Northwood in one overtime.
GREER BACK FOR 19TH SEASON
Head coach
David Greer is in his 19th season as the top man on the Warriors' bench. Â 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. Â The win at Hillsdale on Nov. 27, 2019, was his 250th at Wayne State. Â The game vs. Lake Superior State on Jan. 30th will be his 500th game at Wayne State.
DOUBLE-DOUBLES
Karim Murray notched WSU's first double-double of the season at Lewis on Nov. 16th with 20 points and 10 rebounds. Â
Nate Talbot posted WSU's second double-double of the year at Hillsdale with 12 points and 13 rebounds. Â
James Gordon became the third Warrior to accomplish the feat with 14 points and 10 rebounds at Ferris State. Â
Murray did it for a second time this season at Lake Superior on Dec. 7th with 10 points and 10 boards. Â He added to this list with 18 points and 10 rebounds at Ashland on Dec. 14th for his third double-double of the season (one shy of his career high of four set last year) and eighth of his career. Â Gordon was the latest to post a double-double with 10 points and a career-best 12 rebounds at Northern Michigan on Jan. 4th.
NEW BASKETBALL ARENAÂ
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. Â 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.
LOCKER ROOM REPORT
Check WSUAthletics.com every week to watch
David Greer's weekly locker room report. Â He will recap the week's previous games and preview upcoming opponents.
WARRIOR ALL-ACCESS
Every home women's and men's basketball game can be seen live on Warrior All-Access at WSUAthletics.com. Â A 24-hour pass is $5.95, while a monthly re-occurring subscription is $9.95 and a yearly pass is $69.95. Â
Every game is archived in the on-demand section. Â 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). Â Former Warrior standout Mike Lewis will serve as an analyst for home broadcasts during the 2019-20 season. Â Fans can also stream the action online at PatriotDetroit.com.Â
Â