WAYNE STATE MEN'S BASKETBALL WEEKLY GAME NOTES

2012-13 RECORDS:

#37-Wayne State 8-2 overall, 7-0 GLIAC

Northwood 4-8 overall, 3-5 GLIAC

Saginaw Valley 6-4 overall, 4-3 GLIAC

SERIES:

Wayne State leads Northwood 36-25

Wayne State and Saginaw Valley are tied at 32-32

LAST MEETINGS:
WSU defeated Northwood 84-77 in GLIAC quarterfinal game at WSU on Feb. 29, 2012

WSU won 79-43 over SVSU in Detroit on Dec. 8, 2011

WEEK 7 STORYLINES

Wayne State remained one of the hottest teams in the country by recording a pair of home court wins last week giving the Warriors eight “W's” in their last nine contests.

WSU went 7-0 vs. the GLIAC South Division with only a Feb. 27 game at Walsh as the remaining non-North Division tilt.  The Warriors begin North Division play this week by hosting Northwood and Saginaw Valley.

ALL-TIME SERIES

The Warriors hold a 36-25 lead in the Northwood series that began in 1975.  WSU won last year's post-season meeting after the Timberwolves had won five of six.  David Greer is 9-8 against Northwood including 6-3 at the Matthaei, where WSU has a 21-10 advantage.

Wayne State has won the last two meetings vs. the Cardinals and four of the last six to even the all-time series at 32-32 which dates back to 1976.  The Warriors are 17-13 all-time at home vs. SVSU with Greer recording a 5-2 mark at the Matthaei against the Cardinals.
    
LAST WEEK

WSU began 2013 with a pair of home court victories over South Division foes Hillsdale (71-57) and #24-Findlay (65-61 OT).

The Warriors raced out to a 6-0 lead in the first 100 seconds on back-to-back lay-ups by Gerald Williams-Taylor and a jumper by Cole Prophet.  WSU never led by fewer than three (9-6) the rest of the game following a triple by HC's Brandon Pritzl at the 14:25 mark.

Following Pritzl's shot, Wayne State answered with a 12-5 run over the next four minutes.

Wayne State led 41-19 at intermission after limiting Hillsdale to 13 percent (3-of-24) from the floor in the first stanza.

Mike Hollingsworth led WSU with 16 points and 10 rebounds for his fourth career double-double and first of the season.  The Warriors had just eight turnovers while forcing the Chargers into 16 miscues leading to a 17-3 advantage in points off turnovers.

In the win over Findlay, the Warriors tied the game at 55 following an offensive rebound and lay-up by Williams-Taylor with just under 30 seconds remaining in regulation.  UF's Brad Piehl had a jumper go off the mark in the final few seconds.

UF's Jack Smith, who had a game-high 17 points, scored to start the extra session.  A Williams-Taylor basket on the ensuing possession tied the game then Chene Phillips came up with a steal and fast-break lay-up, which gave the Warriors the lead for good.

Hollingsworth had 15 points, while Prophet added 13 and Ian Larkin chipped in with 12.  Hollingsworth and Larkin tied for game-high rebounding honors with nine.

SCOUTING NORTHWOOD

The Timberwolves enter Thursday's contest with a 3-5 league mark, but won twice at home last weekend defeating Tiffin (80-53) and Ohio Dominican (77-60).

Senior guard Andrew VanDierenDonck leads the team in scoring (12.6 points per game), three-pointers made (21) and steals (13).

Senior forward Wes Wilcox is second in scoring at 11.9 ppg, and is followed by sophomore forward Will Bowles (11.8 ppg) and senior guard Booker Stoudmire (10.2 ppg).

Bowles leads the team in rebounds (7.7 rpg),  blocked shots (16) and field goal percentage (63.4/59-of-93), while senior guard Cameron Joyce has a team-high 67 assists (5.6 apg).

NU has attempted nearly 100 more triples than WSU.

SCOUTING SAGINAW VALLEY

The Cardinals enter Thursday's home game with Lake Superior having won three of their last four contests.

Senior guard Chris Webb leads SVSU in scoring at 17.6 ppg, which ranks fourth in the GLIAC.

Brett Beland, a senior guard, is second on the squad in scoring at 12.7 ppg.  He has made a team-high 22 triples.

Senior forward Rob Clark leads the Cardinals in both rebounding (8.2 rpg) and steals (19).

Redshirt freshman forward Kellen Smith has a squad-best 48 assists.  Both Smith (54.1%/20-37) and Clark (50.8%/30-59) are shooting over 50 percent from the floor.

Senior forward Jay Thames has started all 10 games and is averaging 4.3 ppg and 4.1 rpg.

IN THE RANKINGS

The Warriors are ranked 10th nationally in the most recent Massey Ratings, which were released on Jan. 7.

Northwood is ranked 156th while Saginaw Valley is at 100th.

WSU's non-league foes Bellarmine (3rd), Lewis (29th) and Drury (21st) are all ranked in the top 30.

The only GLIAC team ranked higher than WSU is Michigan Tech at No. 6.

In the NABC poll released on Jan. 8, Michigan Tech, Findlay and Wayne State were receiving votes.

ON THE WAYNE STATE BENCH

David Greer is in his 12th season as the WSU men's basketball head coach.  Greer has a 175-140 record with the Warriors and is the fifth-longest tenured head coach in WSU men's basketball history.

Greer needs four wins to tie Newman Ertell (1929-48) for third place in wins at WSU with 179.

He needs two league victories to equal the WSU all-time mark of 119 set by Ron Hammye (1988-2001).

ON THE OPPOSING BENCH

Northwood's Jeff Rekeweg is in his third season as head men's basketball coach for the Timberwolves.  His record at NU stands at 32-35.

Randy Baruth is in his first year as head coach at Saginaw Valley.  This is his first collegiate head coaching job after working on the staffs at Northern State, North Dakota State, Colorado State and the University of Utah.