Men's Basketball | 1/7/2015 4:00:00 PM

DETROIT -- A tough stretch of games continues for the Wayne State University men's basketball team (2-7, 2-4 GLIAC) as the Warriors travel to Hillsdale (7-3, 5-1 GLIAC) on Thursday and Saginaw Valley State (9-2, 6-0 GLIAC) on Saturday.

STORYLINES
Head coach David Greer is two wins shy of 200 victories in his 14 seasons at Wayne State. This is the final week for crossover play between the North and South Division. The North is leading with a 35-13 mark this season against the South.

THE SERIES
WSU leads the all-time series with Hillsdale 45-36, but the Chargers have won three of the last four meetings.  WSU is 15-23 on the road in the series. The last time the Warriors won at Hillsdale was on Jan. 13, 2011. Coach Greer is 11-14 against the Chargers. The series with SVSU is tied at 34 wins for each side. WSU has won four of the last six meetings and is 14-19 on the road. Coach Greer is 12-8 against the Cardinals.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
Hillsdale enters the week at 7-3 overall and 5-1 in the league. The Chargers have won consecutive games over Walsh and Malone. Junior forward Kyle Cooper earned his second GLIAC North Division Player of the Week after averaging 24.5 points and 13.5 rebounds per game while shooting 65 percent from the field. He has eight 20-point games to his credit this season and currently leads the GLIAC in both scoring average and rebounding average. Redshirt freshman Stedman Lowry is averaging 12.4 points per game. Head coach John Tharp is in his eighth season with the Chargers. As a team, Hillsdale ranks first in free throw percentage (.758), fourth in field-goal percentage (.472) and fifth in points allowed (65.5 PPG). 

One of the hottest teams in the country, SVSU enters the week at 9-2 overall with a 6-0 league record. The Cardinals have won eight straight games by an average 15.5 points per game. Sophomore forward C.J. Turnage leads the team at 16.0 points and 6.5 rebounds per game. Sophomore guard Garrett Hall is scoring 13.5 points per contest while junior guard Kellen Smith ranks third in the league at 6.0 assists per game. Head coach Randy Baruth is in his third season with the program. As a team SVSU is the best shooting team in the conference at 48.6 percent and ranks third in scoring at 76.4 points per game.

IN THE POLLS
The Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) announced its 2014-15 Preseason Poll on Oct. 29th as voted on by local media members. The Wayne State University men's basketball team was predicted to finish third in the South Division with 90 points. Sophomore guard Clark Bishop was voted to the All-GLIAC Second Team as voted on by the league's head coaches. 

2013-14 RECAP
Last season, the Wayne State University men's basketball program knew it would be an uphill battle all-year long in the always tough GLIAC. That battle became more difficult when the Warriors lost Mike Hollingsworth to injury prior to the start of the season.  He was just the fifth player in WSU history with at least 990 points, 300 rebounds, 145 assists, 80 steals and 60 triples.

However, typical of David Greer coached teams, WSU fought its way to 12 wins including notable victories at Grand Valley State in overtime and a four-point win over No.16 Lake Superior State at home to end the season.

WSU missed the GLIAC Tournament for the first time since 2008 and will need to replace seven seniors who made a significant impact last season and in their careers.

LAST TIME OUT
The maturing WSU men's basketball team looked to build off a solid performance against Grand Valley State on Friday when a surging Ferris State (10-2, 6-0 GLIAC) team visited the Matthaei on Sunday afternoon. The Bulldogs held off a few WSU runs to secure their 10th straight victory with an 85-69 win over the Warriors. Gavin Toma led the Warriors with 16 points while Clark Bishop and Daniel Ball each contributed 12 points. Marcus Moore pulled down a career-high and game-high eight rebounds. Drew Lehman led all scorers with 22 points as three other Bulldogs finished in double digits.

THE BEAT GOES ON
David Greer is in his 14th season at the helm of the Warrior basketball program during the 2014-15 academic year.  He is the fourth-longest tenured coach in program history and is just two wins shy of 200 victories with Wayne State. Greer, who has directed the Warriors to a 198-168 record, was voted the 2012-13 GLIAC Coach of the Year by his peers. Greer coached his 300th WSU (non-exhibition) game vs. Northwood on Feb. 11, 2012, and his 200th GLIAC game vs. Grand Valley State on Feb. 18, 2012.  Coach Greer passed Joel Mason for second place in victories with his 187th win in the victory over Ohio Dominican on Dec. 7, 2013.

NEELY INDUCTED INTO EMU HALL OF FAME
Current and longtime assistant coach Lorenzo Neely was inducted in the E-Club Athletic Hall of Fame. The Eastern Michigan University E-Club Alumni Chapter, the official varsity athletic letterwinners club, announced Neely as well as six other former standouts who were enshrined at the Hall of Fame ceremony on Friday, Oct. 24. Neely is entering his 11th season with the WSU men's basketball program, all spent with head coach David Greer, and has been a collegiate coach for the past 16 years. He finished his Huron career with 1,528 points, 433 free throws, 317 rebounds, and his 521 assists rank second in EMU's all-time record book. Neely served as an assistant men's basketball coach at EMU for two seasons including an NCAA Tournament appearance in 1998.

COMCAST/XFINITY
Beginning on Jan. 17th every men's and women's basketball home game will be broadcast live throughout the state of Michigan on Comcast CN900.  Sean Baligian, Ryan Ermanni, Rod Beard and Joe Abramson will bring you the action.

WDTK - THE PATRIOT
Russ McNamara will call all of the men's action this season on WDTK - The Patriot (92.7 FM / 1400 AM). Fans can also listen online at WDTKAM.com. WSU Hall of Famer Cliff Russell will return to provide his insights for each home game.

ALL-NEW MATTHAEI
The Matthaei has received a face lift over the course of the past decade. In January of 2014, a new scoreboard and videoboard were installed which features live action and replays. During the offseason, the Warriors added a new parquet floor and the sub-floor (circa 1965) was replaced. And finally a new basketball office expansion was completed in the fall on the northwest corner of the Matthaei. The new expansion includes six coaches offices, a theater-style film room and a reception area.

NEXT UP
The Warriors' three-game road trip concludes at Tiffin on January 15th before returning home against Ohio Dominican on the 17th. Six of the next seven games for WSU will be played on the road.