Feb. 5, 2011

Post-Game Podcasts - Bryan Smothers on scoring 1,000th career point

Detroit, Mich. – The 33rd-ranked Wayne State men's basketball team (16-4, 12-2 GLIAC) shot 60.7 percent from the floor and easily ran away with an 84-61 win over Michigan Tech (11-10, 6-8 GLIAC) at the Matthaei on Saturday afternoon.

The contest, which honored the 1965 team who won the Presidents' Athletic Conference Championship, saw senior Bryan Smothers (Pontiac, Mich./Pontiac Northern) become the 16th player in school history to break the 1,000 career points mark, after he tallied 21 points on 9-of-11 shooting, and added five assists.

Smothers eclipsed the mark with 2:27 left in the first half on a jumper. He sits at 1,008 points for his career.

It was all Warriors in the first 20 minutes as they outshot the Huskies 66.7 percent to 39.3 percent to take a 45-27 halftime lead.

Michigan Tech would have its turn in the second half, but only for the first 8:36. The Huskies used a 16-8 run to cut the deficit to 53-43 with 11:24 to go. During the stretch, the Warriors were 4-of-12 from the field, while MTU was 7-for-13.

Following a timeout, WSU took control.

A jumper and a three-point basket from Smothers, sandwiched between dunks from Mike Hollingsworth (Utica, Mich./Utica) and Ian Larkin (Detroit, Mich./Renaissance), allowed the Warriors to post the games next nine points.

The Huskies stopped the bleeding on a lay-up from Mike Hojnacki, but Ike Udanoh (Detroit, Mich./Warren Woods Towers) answered with a put-back dunk following his own miss.

A triple from Bryan Coleman (Southfield, Mich./Lathrup) gave WSU a 67-47 advantage with 7:35 left. The Huskies responded with back-to-back buckets from Alex Culy and Matt Easters, respectively.

The Warriors would hold MTU scoreless over the next 3:37 of the contest and push their lead to 77-51 with 2:49 to go. WSU's lead was never less than 20 the rest of the way.

Hollingsworth had 19 points and six rebounds, while Coleman scored 12 points on 4-of-5 shooting from behind the arc. He also added six boards. Culy led the Huskies with 14 points and Ali Haidar added 11 points and five rebounds.

Despite committing 14 turnovers, the Warriors dished out 15 assists. WSU out-rebounded MTU 39-21.

Wayne State ends its three-game homestand with a visit from Great Lakes Valley Conference foe Wisconsin-Parkside on Monday. The game is set for 7:30 p.m. and will feature the annual "Pink Zone" sponsored by both the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) and the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC). The WBCA Pink Zone® initiative is a global, unified effort for the WBCA nation of coaches to assist in raising breast cancer awareness on the court, across campuses, in communities and beyond.