Wayne State Men's Basketball Weekly Game Notes

2010-11 RECORDS:
#25-Wayne State 11-3, 7-1 GLIAC
Tiffin 3-13, 1-8 GLIAC
Ohio Dominican 4-10, 1-7 GLIAC

SERIES:
WSU leads Tiffin 9-0
WSU leads Ohio Dominican 1-0

LAST MEETINGS:
WSU won 91-81 at Tiffin on Dec. 18, 2010
WSU won 81-69 at home vs. ODU on Dec. 16, 2010

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VIDEO: Warriors All-Access via wsuathletics.com

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* GAMES 15-16 STORYLINES

Wayne State, ranked 25th in the country, is tied-for-second in the GLIAC South Division with Findlay, 1/2 game behind Hillsdale, heading into the halfway point of the conference schedule this week.

WSU is ranked in the NABC top 25 for the first time since Feb. 22, 1999, when the Tartars were voted sixth.  Wayne State's highest ranking, third, came on January 18 and again on January 25 in 1999.

The Tartars spent 11 consecutive weeks ranked during the 1998-99 campaign, including a top-10 ranking for 10 straight weeks.

* ALL-TIME SERIES

The Warriors have a 9-0 all-time record vs. Tiffin including a 4-0 mark at the Matthaei. WSU defeated the Panthers in the lone meeting last month.

* WEEK 8 RECAP

Wayne State recorded a 66-52 triumph at No. 4-Hillsdale on Jan. 13.

After an early bucket by the Chargers, WSU rattled off six consecutive points. The Warriors trailed 9-8 following an HC bucket at the 13:42 mark. Two free throws by Bryan Smothers preceded another Mike Hollingsworth hoop. The hosts knotted the game at 12 on a triple. Hillsdale was held scoreless for three minutes as WSU tallied six points to gain a 23-16 lead.

Wayne State held a 32-23 lead at intermission.

Hillsdale started the second half outscoring the Warriors 14-6 over the first 5:30 to pull within one. WSU responded with an 8-4 spurt over the next 4:47 and then held HC to only two points in a span of 8:10 to pull away for a 52-43 advantage at the 4:51 mark.

Ian Larkin scored a team-high 14 points, one shy of his career-high, to lead five Warriors in double figures. Smothers chipped in with 12 points, while Ike Udanoh and Hollingsworth each tallied 11 points.

WSU suffered its first conference loss of the year, 73-71, at eighth-ranked Findlay on Jan. 15.

The 27th-ranked Warriors grabbed an early 11-5 lead as five different Green and Gold players scored.

The Oilers had a 9-0 run to go up 30-24. When Findlay took a 26-24 lead, it was the hosts first since 2-0. A key shot was a triple by UF's Nathan Hyde just before the first half buzzer, which gave the hosts a 38-33 advantage at intermission.

Findlay increased its lead to double digits by outscoring WSU 13-8 over the first six minutes of the second half. An 8-2 Warrior run cut the deficit to four, and following a pair of UF free throws, Hollingsworth scored four points in less than 30 seconds to make it a two-point contest.

Back-to-back buckets by Udanoh and Hollingsworth knotted the game at 57. UF had a 7-0 spurt, but WSU answered with an 8-2 run. After Smothers made both foul shots in a double bonus situation, UF's Kyle Caiola split a pair from the charity stripe pushing the Oiler to lead to 73-71. After a timeout, Smothers long two-point try bounced off the front of the rim.

Hollingsworth scored a team-high 23 points.

* ON THE BENCH

David Greer, just the ninth head coach in 93 years of WSU basketball, is in his 10th season at WSU with a 138-124 record. He is the fifth-longest tenured coach at WSU.

John Hill is in his second season at Tiffin and has compiled a record of 5-38.

Ohio Dominican's Artie Taylor is in his fourth season with a 48-53 mark.

* SCOUTING TIFFIN

The Dragons have lost four straight, by a total of 16 points, since a 76-73 home court win over Northern Michigan on Jan. 2.

TU is 0-5 in road games this year and has lost 18 consecutive GLIAC road contests since a 71-64 triumph at Northwood on Jan. 31, 2009.

Joe Graessle leads Tiffin in scoring (13.8 ppg), three-pointers made (47), and assists (48).

Karl Finley is second in scoring (13.3) and assists (47), and first in steals (17), while Travis Spahr is second in rebounding (117) and third in scoring (11.0).

Rafael Cuellar leads the squad in field goal percentage (57.1/56-of-98) and rebounding (119).

Brandon Harris and Finley are 1-2 in blocked shots with 29 and 20, respectively.

WSU-TU SERIES NOTES

• WSU leads 9-0 in the all-time series

• Wayne State has a 4-0 mark at the Matthaei

• The Warriors have won the previous four meetings in Detroit by an average of 16 points

* SCOUTING OHIO DOMINICAN

The Panthers snapped a seven-game GLIAC losing streak with a 72-64 win at Lake Erie on Jan. 8.

Morgan Jones (12.0 ppg) and Aaron Gibbs (11.3) are both averaging in double figures.

Gibbs leads the squad in field goal percentage (53.8/71-132) and rebounding (6.6 rpg).

Jones has team-high totals of 43 assists and 21 steals, while tying Zak Kapron for the team lead with 29 free throws made.

Jake Mochoskay and Kip Kelley are tied for the team lead with 26 triples made.

John Trew leads ODU with 20 blocked shots.

WSU-ODU SERIES NOTES

• WSU leads 1-0 in the all-time series

• Wayne State has never played at ODU's Alumni Hall

• The Warriors won the only previous meeting, 81-69, in Detroit last month