Post-Game Podcasts - Head Coach David Greer - Ike Udanoh - Jerry Oden

Feb. 3, 2011

Detroit, Mich – On a night when the Wayne State men's basketball team (15-4, 11-2 GLIAC) struggled to find its grove, the inside play of seniors Ike Udanoh (Detroit, Mich./Warren Woods Tower) and Jerry Oden (Detroit, Mich./Cass Tech) carried the 33rd-ranked Warriors to a 77-69 home victory over Northern Michigan University on Thursday.

Udanoh finished with a career-high 24 points and nine rebounds, while Oden tallied a season-high 21 points and had six rebounds. The duo allowed the Warriors to outscore the Wildcats, 44-22, in the paint.

Despite committing 15 uncharacteristic turnovers, the home team dished out 22 assists on 28 made field goals. Six of the nine WSU players had at least one assist.

Neither team would yield an inch in the first 30 minutes of the contest as the score was tied seven times and changed hands on nine different occasions.

The Warriors eventually started to pull away with just over 10 minutes remaining.

A made jumper from Udanoh with 10:24 remaining pushed the Warriors ahead, 52-51, and the hosts would never trail again as the basket catapulted a 13-2 run over the next 4:04 of the contest. Wayne State's lead was never less than six the rest of the way.

The run was capped off by an old-fashioned three-point play from Mike Hollingsworth (Utica, Mich./Utica) with 6:20 to go. Hollingsworth had 11 points, seven rebounds and five assists for the game.

After scoring 12 points, Bryan Smothers (Pontiac, Mich./Pontiac Northern) only needs 13 points to break the 1,000 career-point plateau. Smothers also collected five rebounds and six assists.

The Warriors looked to take advantage of an early 24-16 lead following a jumper from Hollingsworth with 9:32 remaining in the first half, but the Wildcats' three-point shooting propelled them an 18-5 run over the next 7:13 of the half.

NMU was 4-of-7 from behind the arc during the stretch, but was only 5-of-16 for the first 20 minutes and 9-of-23 for the game.

Smothers closed the half by burying back-to-back triples on consecutive possessions, giving WSU a 35-34 lead at the break.

Wayne State continues its three-game homestand with a visit from Michigan Tech on Saturday. Tip-off is set for 1:00 p.m.