Wayne State Weekly Game Notes

2010-11 RECORDS:
Wayne State 5-1, 2-0 GLIAC
Saginaw Valley 3-3, 0-1 GLIAC

SERIES:  SVSU leads 32-30

LAST MEETING:  SVSU won 68-63 at home on Feb. 4

RADIO: WDTK (1400 AM)

ONLINE AUDIO: wdtkam.com

LIVE STATS: livestats.prestosports.com/waynestate

* GAME 7 STORYLINES

Wayne State is off to a 5-1 start for the second time in four years.

After an eight-day layoff from competitive action, the Warriors began GLIAC play last Thursday with a 60-52 triumph over Lake Erie. WSU followed that with a 75-71 victory over Ashland on Saturday in a Comcast Television contest.

* ALL-TIME SERIES

Saginaw Valley won twice last season snapping a 30-30 tie in the all-time series.

The Warriors have a 2-4 mark in their last six trips to University Center with the four setbacks by a combined 18 points.

* WEEK 3 RECAP

Wayne State extended its homecourt winning streak to seven games, dating back to last season, with a pair of victories at the Matthaei to start league play.

WSU recorded a 60-52 win over GLIAC newcomer Lake Erie College on Dec. 2 in the first meeting between the schools.

It was a see-saw first half with four lead changes and six tied scores. The Warriors went on an 11-4 run over the final six minutes of the first half to take a 32-25 advantage into intermission.

The Storm would pull within five (39-34) at the 14:19 mark, but four straight points from Mike Hollingsworth regained the nine-point advantage (43-34).

WSU held an 18-8 advantage in points in the paint during the second half including shooting 50 percent (12-of-24) from the floor. Meanwhile, Lake Erie was held to 36 percent (11-of-31) shooting.

Bryan Smothers had a game-high 14 points. # Jerry Oden# contributed 13 points, while Hollingsworth chipped in with 12 points. LEC's Ethan Bradshaw scored 11 points but was 3-of-14 from the floor.

The Warrior defense was superb in the first five minutes of the Ashland contest holding the Eagles off the scoreboard until the 14:16 mark. By that point, WSU had opened a 12-0 advantage, which included eight points by Hollingsworth.

AU had runs of 11-4 and 10-2, plus tallied the final four points of the opening half for a 33-28 intermission lead. A 9-0 Warrior run early in the second half set up a tight finish which saw five lead changes.

A three-pointer by Hollingsworth with 4:05 left gave the Warriors the lead for good and for the first time since the 9:45 mark. After an AU turnover, Dale Brundidge made two foul shots which started a stretch of eight consecutive made free throws by WSU to seal the win. In fact, Wayne State made 23-of-24 free throws (95.8 percent) in the second half and 30-of-31 (96.8 percent) for the game.

Hollingsworth scored a career-high and a game-best 20 points. Smothers added 16 points, while Ike Udanoh grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds.

* ON THE BENCH

David Greer, just the ninth head coach in school history, is in his 10th season at WSU with a 132-122 record. He is the fifth-longest tenured coach at WSU.

Frankie Smith is in his fourth year with the Cardinals and has a 40-46 record at SVSU.

* WSU-SVSU SERIES NOTES

• The Warriors trail 32-30 in the all-time series

• Wayne State lost both meetings a year ago

• WSU has won two of its last five games at SVSU

* SCOUTING SAGINAW VALLEY

The Cardinals are 3-3 after a GLIAC opening loss (85-78 ot) at home to Lake Superior and a 76-57 setback at Miami (Ohio) on Tuesday.

Chris Webb has led SVSU in scoring three games and is averaging a team-best 14.3 points per game.

Michael Fugate is second in scoring (11.5 ppg), while dishing out a team-high 25 assists.

Fugate leads the Cardinals with 31 rebounds as four players are averaging at least four boards per contest.

Webb has made eight triples, while Dan Genther has made seven three-pointers.

* ON THE AIR

Russ McNamara will call all the action Thursday night from SVSU's James E. O'Neill, Jr. Arena beginning with the Starters Grill pre-game show at 5:45 p.m.