DETROIT -- The Wayne State University men's basketball program (overall, GLIAC) will finish the 2019-20 season by hosting Ashland (overall, GLIAC) on Thursday night. Prior to tip-off, the team will honor
Karim Murray on Senior Night.
STORYLINES
After losing 12 straight to start the 2020 portion of the schedule, Wayne State won three straight before falling 74-68 at Saginaw Valley State on Saturday. The Warriors will look to complete the season sweep of Ashland on Thursday in the season finale.
THE SERIES
Wayne State leads 32-27 (20-10 at home) in the all-time series vs. Ashland that began in 1922. Head coach
David Greer is 19-15 in his time at Wayne State. The Eagles had controlled the series, winning eight of the previous 10 meetings, before WSU won earlier this season in Ohio (69-64) on Dec, 14, 2019.
SCOUTING THE EAGLES
Ashland enters the final game of the regular season at 16-11 overall and 9-10 in league games. The Eagles are battling for one of the final four playoff berths as there are five teams at 10-9 or 9-10 in the league. Head coach John Ellenwood is in his 11th season leading the program. The Eagles dropped nine of 11 before winning eight straight. However, AU lost both games last week (at SVSU and at Northwood). Ashland is led by one of the better big men in the region as senior center Drew Noble is averaging 15.6 points and 6.7 rebounds per game, while shooting 53 percent from the floor. Senior guard Rodrick Caldwell is scoring over 14 points per night, while redshirt junior guard Aaron Thompson is contributing 12.7 points and a team-best 7.5 boards per night. As a team, AU is averaging 72.8 points per game and allowing 67.6 points per contest.
ABOUT LAST WEEK
Wayne State had seven healthy bodies at Northwood and six saw action as WSU won 76-66 on Feb. 20th. The Green & Gold led 41-33 at halftime and started the second half strong and led by 14, 49-35, following a jumper from
Kylin Grant and a free throw by
Brailen Neely at the 18:16 mark. However, the T-Wolves would not go away and pulled within four, 64-60, at the 4:36 mark after Jack Ammerman scored 11 consecutive Northwood points. The WSU advantage shrunk to two, 64-62, with 4:03 remaining in the contest. After Evan Lowden made it a two-point game, two free throws by Neely and a bucket from Grant stretched WSU's lead to six, 70-64, with 85 seconds left in regulation.
Karim Murray finished with a season-best 31 points on 12-of-15 shooting, falling one point shy of his career-high. Neely (16), Grant (11) and
Antonio Marshall (10) also scored in double figures.
The Warriors were never really able to find their footing at Saginaw Valley State on Saturday as the Cardinals won 74-68. WSU trailed 40-32 at halftime and outscored SVSU 36-34 in the second half, but ran out of time as its three-game winning streak came to an end. James Gordon finished with 17 points and a career-high 14 rebounds for his sixth double-double of the season.
Nate Talbot also notched a double-double with 11 points to go with a career-best 14 boards and three rejections.
Brailen Neely (15) and
Karim Murray (12) both finished in double figures.
DOUBLE FIGURE SCORERS
Four Warrior starters (Neely, Marshall, Talbot, Gordon) scored at least 10 points in the win over Parkside on Feb. 15th. It was the first time that Wayne State accomplished that in a victory since the Hillsdale contest on Nov. 27th. The Green & Gold did it again in both games last week. Ironically, WSU had at least four starters in double figures in five previous games, including all five at Lake Superior State, but the Green & Gold lost all five of those games.
CLOSE GAMES
In 17 of the 23 games this season, Wayne State was leading, tied or trailed by less than five points with under five minutes to play. The Warriors are 2-5 in games decided by three points or fewer, including a trio of overtime games. The six games that do not meet those standards were Michigan Tech, Purdue Northwest, Saginaw Valley State, Ferris State, Grand Valley State and Davenport.
GLIAC WEEKLY HONOR
On Feb. 17th, senior guard
Brailen Neely became the first Warrior (man or woman) to earn GLIAC Player of the Week honors this season. He scored 28 points against Purdue Northwest as WSU snapped a 12-game losing streak with a comeback overtime victory. Neely also tallied nine assists, three rebounds and two steals, while draining four three-pointers. The Warriors cruised past Parkside on Feb. 15th as Neely finished with 21 points, eight assists and four rebounds.
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 in December. 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 181 helpers this season, which ranks third all-time. The season record is 232 by Evans in 2004-05 and Neely needs 20 assists to pass Terrance Walker (1993-94) for second place. 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 FINISHES 19TH SEASON
Head coach
David Greer is concluding 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 has called every contest live on WDTK - The Patriot (1400 AM / 101.5 FM) this season. Former Warrior standout Mike Lewis will serve as the analyst for this Thursday's home broadcasts. Fans can also stream the action online at PatriotDetroit.com.