Wayne State Men's Basketball Game Notes

2012-13 RECORDS:
#30-Wayne State 14-5 overall, 13-3 GLIAC
Michigan Tech 15-6 overall, 12-5 GLIAC
Northern Michigan 5-16 overall, 4-13 GLIAC

SERIES:
Wayne State leads Michigan Tech 52-26
Wayne State leads Northern Michigan 34-33

LAST MEETING:
WSU won 70-59 at Michigan Tech on Jan. 17, 2013
WSU won 65-59 at Northern Michigan on Jan. 19, 2013

WEEK 12 STORYLINES

Wayne State, who has clinched a GLIAC tournament berth, looks to rebound as it begins a three-game homestand against Michigan Tech and NMU.

Last week, the Warriors sufered back-to-back losses for the first time in more than a year.

ALL-TIME SERIES

Wayne State has won five in a row and 10 of the last 13 meetings with the Huskies to take a 52-26 lead in the all-time series.  The Warriors are 32-6 at home vs. MTU dating back to 1927.

WSU has won the last six meetings vs. the Wildcats to grab a 34-33 lead in the all-time series.  The Warriors are 23-13 at home vs. NMU.

LAST WEEK

The Warriors suffered only their second setback in the last 11 contests falling 74-63 at Northwood on Feb. 7.

WSU fell behind 8-0 in the first three minutes as the WSU offense had trouble getting untracked.  Four points by Ian Larkin, three by Gerald Williams-Taylor along with a free throw by Chene Phillips in less than a two-minute span made it a 10-8 contest.

A 10-2 run by the Timberwolves put the hosts up 20-10 before the game was eight minutes old.  A jumper by Larkin at the 5:50 mark pulled Wayne State within three at 24-21, but Northwood ended the first half on an 11-5 run to open up a 35-26 advantage at intermission.

Larkin led four Warriors in double figures with 14 points.  It was his ninth consecutive game in double digits.  Williams-Taylor and Phillips each chipped in with 13 points, while Bryan Coleman added 11 points.  Cole Prophet contributed eight points and six assists with no turnovers.

Will Bowles tallied game-high totals of 17 points and 10 rebounds to lead five players in double figures for Northwood.

Wayne State, playing its fourth consecutive game without leading scorer Mike Hollingsworth, dropped a 79-74 decision at Saginaw Valley on Saturday evening.

WSU has suffered back-to-back losses for the first time since a five-game losing skein from Dec. 29, 2011-Jan. 12, 2012.

The Warriors tallied 12 points in the first four minutes of the contest building up a seven-point advantage as Larkin recorded six points.  SVSU ended the first half on an 11-6 run to pull within eight (36-28) at intermission.

The Cardinals won all four segments (between media timeouts) of the second half as freshman guard Damon Bozeman connected on four triples in the final 20 minutes and finished with a game-high 35 points.

WSU scored just six points (two field goals and two free throws) in the final 4:10.  Larkin led three Warriors in double figures with a career-best 28 points in only 22 minutes.  Prophet contributed 17 points.

SCOUTING MICHIGAN TECH

The Huskies enter Thursday's contest with a two-game winning streak having defeated Ferris State (64-55) and Grand Valley (69-51) last week in Houghton.

Senior forward Ali Haidar leads the GLIAC in scoring (24.6 points per game) and rebounding (9.9 rpg), and the team in blocked shots (20).

Junior guard Austin Armga is second in scoring at 12.8 ppg, and is followed by sophomore guard Ben Stelzer (11.3 ppg) and sophomore forward Phil Romback (7.9 ppg).

Stelzer has a team-high 54 triples, while also leading the squad with 23 steals.  Junior guard Alex Culy has a team-best 66 assists.

MTU leads the GLIAC in overall field goal percentage (50.5) and is second in scoring defense (61.3 ppg).

SCOUTING NORTHERN MICHIGAN

NMU enters Thursday's game at Saginaw Valley having lost eight of its last nine contests with the lone win coming on Feb. 2 at home vs. Michigan Tech.

Junior forward Matthew Craggs leads Northern in scoring (14.2 ppg), three-pointers made (27) and blocked shots (10).  Scooter Johnson, a junior forward, is second on the squad in scoring at 9.1 ppg.

Sophomore guard Quinten Calloway leads the Wildcats with 57 assists, while sophomore forward Kendall Jackson leads NMU in rebounding (6.2 rpg) and steals (21) along with a team-high 54.2 field goal percentage (64-of-118).

Northern Michigan is last in the GLIAC in scoring (60.6 ppg), while ranking 11th in field goal percentage (43.2) and 15th in free throw percentage (69.0).

IN THE RANKINGS

Wayne State is ranked 23rd nationally in the most recent Massey Ratings, which were released on Feb. 12.  Michigan Tech is 22nd, while Northern Michigan is 230.

All three of WSU's non-league foes are ranked in the top 25 - Drury (9th), Bellarmine (12th) and Lewis (24th).

Nine of the top 32 squads nationally are from the Midwest Region - Indianapolis (19), Wisconsin-Parkside (20), Grand Valley (30) & Southern Indiana (33).

ON THE WAYNE STATE BENCH

David Greer is in his 12th season as the WSU men's basketball head coach.  Greer has a 181-143 record with the Warriors and is the fifth-longest tenured head coach in WSU men's basketball history.

Greer moved past Newman Ertell (1929-48) for third place in career wins with the triumph over Grand Valley.

He trails the legendary Joel Mason (1948-66) by five wins (186-181) for second place all-time at WSU.

ON THE OPPOSING BENCH

Kevin Luke is in his 19th year at Michigan Tech.  His overall record stands at 331-207.

Northern Michigan's Doug Lewis has compiled a 23-50 mark in his third year with the Wildcats.  Including seven seasons at Central State, Lewis' career record is 148-111.