Men's Basketball | 2/17/2016 3:30:00 PM

DETROIT -- The Wayne State University men's basketball team (7-15, 7-12 GLIAC) plays its final road game of the season on Thursday at Malone (6-18, 3-16 GLIAC) and returns home to the Matthaei on Saturday to host Walsh (12-11, 10-9 GLIAC).  In addition, Saturday is the Hall of Fame game where the six newest inductees will be introduced to the crowd.  The Warriors are still fighting for a postseason berth but do not control their own destiny.   Wayne State has played the 11th toughest schedule in the country through games of Feb. 15th as WSU's past opponents have recorded a .561 winning percentage. 

THE SERIES
Wayne State trails 2-4 in the all-time series against Malone.  The teams first played in 1977 in the Akron Classic.  The last five meetings have been as GLIAC counterparts. WSU is 1-1 at Malone in the series.  The Pioneers won the first meeting this season in overtime (86-85) on Jan. 28th.  The four previous meetings have all been decided by five points or less.

Wayne State trails the all-time series 2-3 against Walsh.  The Warriors won the season's first meeting at WU (83-76).  WSU is 1-1 at home vs. the Cavaliers.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
Former Malone head coach Tim Walker resigned in August leading to Casey Kaufman being named the interim head coach after serving three years as an assistant at the College of Wooster.  The interim title was removed on Jan. 25th.  Malone had dropped 13 straight contests before edging WSU in overtime.  The Pioneers have won two games since, including a 17-point win vs. Ohio Dominican on Saturday.   Nate Sheppard is the team's leading scorer (17.8 PPG), while Mitchell Spotleson is the squad's top rebounder (7.4 RPG).  Brian Stone is scoring 14.4 points per night and ranks second in the league with a 70.7 field goal percentage.  Spotleson is averaging 12.9 points per contest, while Christian Graves, Stephen O' Daniel III and Jay Parker are both scoring over 10 points per game.

Walsh enters the final full week of GLIAC play at 12-11 overall and 10-9 in league game, which ranks the Cavaliers third in the South Division.  Walsh has won three of its last five games to improve its postseason hopes.  In his 11th season leading the Cavs, head coach Jeff Young has a 293-80 career record.  Jesse Hardin Jr. is the reigning GLIAC South Division Player of the Week and ranks third in the league in scoring at 19.8 points per contest, while shooting 41.4 percent from behind the arc.  

LAST WEEK'S RECAP
Wayne State traveled to Lake Erie on Feb. 11th and never trailed in a 63-60 win.  The Warriors have won three straight games for the first time this season.  LEC's Trey Howard had a look as time expired to tie the game but solid defense pushed the guard out to 28 feet and his desperation heave missed everything.  A nifty spin move and basket from Michael Lewis at the 3:18 mark of the first half put the Green & Gold on top 33-26.  LEC ended the half on a 5-0 run to cut the halftime deficit to 35-31.  The Warriors shot 60.9 percent (14-of-23) from the floor including 3-of-4 on three-point attempts in the opening 20 minutes.  Wayne State continued to lead by at least five until a corner three-pointer from Michael Morris cut the gap to four (61-57).  Trey Howard split a pair of free throws on the ensuing possession, then LEC pulled within one on a driving layup with 20 seconds left.  Ronald Booth hit two free throws to give WSU a 63-60 lead at the 16 second mark, which would be the final score.

Wayne State fell 63-48 at No. 21 Ashland on Feb. 13th.  WSU shot 21 percent in the first half and the offense would not find much more traction in the second 20 minutes.  The loss snapped WSU's first three-game winning streak of the season.  Both defenses controlled the tempo in the first half and Ashland led 3-2 after two AU free throws from Marsalis Hamilton at the 16:29 mark.  An 8-0 run by the Eagles pushed the Warrior deficit to 10 (21-11) with 2:55 to play.  Clark Bishop knocked down his second three-pointer of the half with 37 seconds left to keep WSU close at 25-17 but a late Wendell Davis lay-up extended the home lead back to 10 (27-17).  The Warriors started the second half on a 10-5 run to cut their deficit to five (32-27) at the 15-minute mark.  Ashland, however, would respond with a 16-1 run to take a 48-31 advantage at the 10:25 mark.  Wayne State was unable to get its offense going and Ashland would cruise to a 63-48 victory.

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.  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.

NCAA STATISTICAL RANKINGS
The Green & Gold rank 32nd nationally (second in the GLIAC) with 13.5 offensive rebounds per game, 48th (fifth in the GLIAC) in scoring defense (70.7 PPG), 59th (sixth in the GLIAC) in fewest turnovers (282), 81st in (fifth in the GLIAC) rebounding margin (+3.1) and 85th  (fourth in the GLIAC) in blocks per game (3.5 BPG).  Ronald Booth ranks 88th nationally (ninth in the GLIAC) with his 83.9 free throw percentage.  

UDANOH EARNS PLAYER OF THE WEEK HONOR
Former Wayne State University basketball standout Ike Udanoh, currently with Bisons Loimaa, was selected as the Finnish League's Player of the Week, for the period ending Jan. 8th.  He had a double-double of 30 points and 15 rebounds, while his team beat Lapua (#9, 6-14) 89-78.  Udanoh was a three-year letterwinner (2009-12) for WSU after transferring from Long Island.  He finished 17th in career scoring with 996 points, seventh in field goal percentage (55.1 - min. 150 made), ninth in blocked shots (63) and 12th in rebounds (584).

REBOUNDING ADVANTAGE
WSU has won the rebounding battle in 13 of the 22 games this season, including six of the last eight games where WSU out-rebounded its opponents 305 to 263. WSU has notched five games where the rebounding margin was at least plus 10 including a season-high +14 advantage over Tiffin on Jan. 14th.

LOOKING AHEAD
The 2016-17 season will be an important one for the men's basketball program after three developmental seasons.  The Warriors will have 11 upperclassmen on the roster including Michael Lewis, Clark Bishop and Joel Ndondo as seniors.  As it stands, WSU will return 99 percent of its scoring from this season.

DOUBLE-DOUBLES
Joel Ndondo collected the first WSU double-double of the season at Ferris State with career-highs in points (14) and rebounds (10) on Jan. 3rd.  Michael Lewis collected his second and third career double-doubles in January.  He totaled 15 points and a season-high 11 rebounds vs. Tiffin on Jan. 14th and 19 points and 10 boards at Ohio Dominican on Jan. 16th.

COMCAST/XFINITY
Every men's basketball home game in 2016 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
WSU will conclude its season at home on Feb. 25th against Findlay at 7:30 p.m. in a game that can be seen on Comcast 900.  It will also be Senior Night and the program will recognize graduate student Darius Stevens.