Men's Basketball | 12/10/2015 9:00:00 AM

DETROIT -- After trimming margins of defeat from 31 to seven to two, the Wayne State University men's basketball team (0-5, 0-2 GLIAC) dropped a pair of road contests last week Northwood (94-80) and Lake Superior State (76-61).  WSU will vie for its first victory of the season as Northern Michigan (2-3, 1-1 GLIAC) and Michigan Tech (2-3, 1-1 GLIAC) visit the Matthaei on Thursday and Sunday, respectively, to open the home portion of the GLIAC schedule.

ALL-TIME SERIES
WSU leads the all-time series 37-34 over NMU including nine wins in the last 10 meetings.  The Warriors had won eight straight until the Wildcats won 74-66 on Feb. 15, 2014, in Marquette, Mich.  In conference matchups, NMU holds a 23-21 advantage, but WSU is 25-13 all-time in Detroit in the series.  Greer is 12-7 in his WSU career against NMU including a 5-4 mark at home.

The Green & Gold holds the series advantage, 52-30, over Michigan Tech (33-21 in GLIAC games).  The Huskies have won the last four contests after the Warriors won five straight from Dec. 3, 2009 to Jan. 17, 2013.  WSU is 32-8 at home in the series and Coach Greer is 10-10 overall (5-3 at home) vs. MTU.  Last season, the Huskies won 72-61 despite being outscored 35-33 in the second half as Marcus Moore scored 18 points to lead WSU.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
Northern Michigan enters the week at 2-3 overall and 1-1 in the GLIAC after losing to Walsh and topping Malone at home last weekend.  Head coach Bill Sall is in his third season with the Wildcats and has a 16-43 record at NMU.  Naba Echols is NMU's leading scorer at 15 points per game, while Jordan Perez is averaging 10.6 per contest. Alex Mustert tops the roster with 5.4 rebounds per game, while Terry Nash is dishing out 3.2 assists per match.  As a team, NMU is scoring 67.6 points per night and giving up 64 points.  The Wildcats are shooting 44 percent from the floor, 62 percent from the free throw line and 35 percent from behind the arc.

Michigan Tech is 2-3 overall and a 1-1 mark after one week of league play in the books.  MTU topped Malone, 86-72, at home before Walsh bested the Huskies, 83-71, on Dec. 5th.  Kevin Luke is in his 22nd season at the helm and is the winningest coach in program history at 383-231.  Kyle Monroe leads the team in scoring and rebounds at 18.6 points and 8.4 rebounds per game.  Bryan Heath is scoring 17.8 points per contest, while Luke Heller is at 10.8 points per game.  As a team, MTU is scoring 72.2 points per game, while allowing 73.8 points per night to its opponents.  The Huskies are shooting 46 percent from the floor, 72 percent from the charity stripe and 38 percent from three.

LAST TIME OUT
Wayne State was tied three times in the second half with Lake Superior State on Saturday before a late 17-2 run by the Lakers dealt the Warriors a 76-61 setback.  The Warriors began the second half on an 8-2 run and knotted the game at 34 on a pair of foul shots by Ronald Booth.  A lay-up by Joel Ndondo gave WSU its only lead of the game (38-37).  Wayne State was able to tie the game twice more (40-40 and 47-47).  Booth had his second consecutive 20-plus point effort tallying 24 points, including 11-of-12 from the foul line.  Marcus Moore and Michael Lewis each contributed eight points with Chuck Key, Moore and Lewis tying for the team-high in rebounding with six boards each.

GREER NEARING MILESTONE
Head coach David Greer won his 200th game last season at Wayne State and is 11 victories shy of matching Ron Hammye's (1988-01) program record of 212 wins.

IN THE POLLS
The GLIAC released its preseason coaches poll on Oct. 28 and Wayne State was predicted to finish fourth in the South Division.  Junior Clark Bishop was voted to the All-GLIAC South Division Second Team in balloting conducted by the league's head coaches.  The Warriors totaled 99 points, behind Ashland, Findlay and Walsh.

NDODNO DEVELOPING
When Joel Ndodno came to Wayne State in 2012, he was seen as a bit of a project after only playing two years of high school basketball in North Carolina after being born in the Democratic Republic of Congo.  It would seem that project is going well as Ndondo has started all five games this season and has been highly efficient in his minutes played.  In 17 minutes against Kentucky Wesleyan, he scored a team-high 10 points, pulled down three boards and blocked a shot.  In just 12 minutes at Lewis, he scored eight points and tallied two boards, a block and a steal.  Ndondo scored seven points in nine minutes at Lake Superior State.  He is shooting 56 percent (14-25) from the floor this season.  

NCAA STATISTICAL RANKINGS
In the weekly statistical report from the NCAA, WSU ranks fifth in the GLIAC and 19th in the nation with 68 turnovers in five games.  In addition, the Warriors rank second in the league and 25th nationally with 14.4 offensive rebounds per game.  The Warriors have committed 115 fouls, which ranks sixth in the conference and 41st in the country.   Michael Lewis ranks 23rd nationally (first in the GLIAC) with his 92.9 free throw percentage (13-for-14).

THE BEAT GOES ON
David Greer is in his 15th season at the helm of the Warrior basketball program during the 2015-16 academic year.   He is the third-longest tenured coach in program history and collected his 200th win as Wayne State topped Tiffin on Feb. 5, 2015.  Greer, who has directed the Warriors to a 201-186 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.

COMCAST/XFINITY
Beginning on Dec. 10th every men's and women's basketball home games with the exception of the Dec. 13th Michigan Tech contests will be broadcast live throughout the state of Michigan on Comcast CN 900.  Sean Baligian, Rod Beard and Joe Abramson will call the action.

UP NEXT
Wayne State will be on a 19-day break over the holidays and return to the court in 2016 at Grand Valley State on Jan. 2 before playing at Ferris State the following day.