Wayne State Men's Basketball Weekly Game Notes

2010-11 RECORDS:
#33-Wayne State 14-4, 10-2 GLIAC
Northern Michigan 7-12, 2-10 GLIAC
Michigan Tech 11-8, 6-6 GLIAC
Wisconsin-Parkside 7-13, 4-9 GLVC

SERIES:
WSU trails Northern Michigan 33-31
WSU leads Michigan Tech 49-26
WSU trails Wisconsin-Parkside 8-4

LAST MEETINGS:
WSU won 65-48 at home vs. NMU on Dec. 17, 2009
WSU won 67-58 at home vs. MTU on Dec. 19, 2009
UWP def. WSU, 87-72, on Dec. 28, 2007

RADIO: WDTK (1400 AM)

VIDEO: Warriors All-Access via wsuathletics.com

ONLINE AUDIO: wdtkam.com

LIVE STATS: livestats.prestosports.com/waynestate

* GAMES 19-20-21 STORYLINES

Wayne State is tied-for-second in the GLIAC, 1/2 game behind Findlay.

The Warriors will have a three-game homestand, in a five-day span, beginning with Northern Michigan on Feb. 3. Michigan Tech visits the Matthaei on Feb. 5, while WSU will play its final non-conference game on Feb. 7 as Wisconsin-Parkside travels to Motown.

* ALL-TIME SERIES

WSU trails the Wildcats, 33-31, in the all-time series despite winning the last three meetings.

The Warriors have won two straight and seven of the last 10 to take a 49-26 advantage in the all-time series vs. the Huskies.

The Rangers won the last meeting, just over three years ago, ending a two-game WSU win streak.

* WEEK 10 RECAP

Wayne State split a pair of South Division road games losing 57-56 at Ashland, before rebounding for a 77-47 triumph at Lake Erie.

WSU squandered a 14-point second half lead in the upset loss to the Eagles.

Following back-to-back turnovers from the Warriors, AU's Ronnie Steward hit the game-winning basket when he drove the lane and scored with 11.2 seconds left. Bryan Smothers had two attempts to answer, but both shots neglected to fall.

With the exception of WSU's Mike Hollingsworth and Ashland's Kale Richardson, both teams struggled to get anything going offensively. The visitors shot 36.8 percent from the field to the hosts 46.5 percent.

Hollingsworth led with game-high totals in points (25) and rebounds (12), while Richardson carried the Eagles with 24 points and 10 boards.

WSU recorded its best field goal shooting percentage in at least a decade in the win at LEC.

The Warriors never had a lead larger than one in the first 17 minutes of the contest and even trailed by nine (19-10) just past the mid-point of the first half.

Following a Storm lay-up at the 7:23 mark which gave the hosts a 21-15 lead, the WSU defense stepped up and held Lake Erie without a point the rest of the half. Meanwhile, the Warriors rattled off 17 consecutive points to take a 32-21 lead at intermission.

Smothers tied a career-high with five triples, all in the first half, as he tallied 19 points in the opening 20 minutes.

LEC's scoreless drought almost reached 10 minutes until a pair of free throws at the 17:56 mark.

* 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 141-125 record. He is the fifth-longest tenured coach at WSU.

Doug Lewis is in his first season at Northern Michigan and has a 7-12 record with the Wildcats.

Michigan Tech's Kevin Luke has a 294-186 record in his 17th year with the Huskies.

Luke Reigel is in his eighth season with the Rangers and has a 92-126 record.

* SCOUTING NORTHERN MICHIGAN

The Wildcats ended a seven-game losing streak with an 85-82 win over Northwood last Saturday.

Jared Benson leads NMU in scoring (15.3 points per game), rebounds (127) and blocked shots (23), as well as field goal percentage (61%) on 101-166.

DeAndre Taylor is second in scoring (14.2 ppg) but leads in steals with 37.

Martin Gross has made a team-high 30 three-pointers, while Matt Everson has tallied a team-best 68 assists.

Benson has led the Wildcats in scoring three of the last four games.

Northern Michigan is 1-6 in road games this season with the lone victory coming Dec. 30 at Ohio Dominican (82-72).

WSU-NMU SERIES NOTES

• Wayne State has won the last three meetings, after the Wildcats had a three-game series winning streak

• WSU is 2-4 at home vs. the Wildcats under David Greer

• The Warriors are 12-11 at home against NMU since 1974

* SCOUTING MICHIGAN TECH

The Huskies snapped a five-game losing skein with a 93-82 overtime triumph over Hillsdale last Saturday in Houghton.

Mike Hojnacki leads three players in double figures at 16.6 points per game. He also has a team-high 33 offensive rebounds heading into Thursday's game at Findlay.

Ali Haidar (15.9 ppg) has team-best totals of 121 rebounds and 61 percent (113-186) from the floor.

Alex Culy (12.3 ppg) leads MTU with 56 triples.

Don Fowler has team-high marks of 81 assists and 23 steals.

WSU-MTU SERIES NOTES

• WSU has won the last four meetings in Detroit

• The Warriors are 21-5 at home vs. MTU since 1970

• The squads have not played an overtime game since Feb. 16, 1984

• David Greer has a 7-6 all-time mark against the Huskies