Men's Basketball | 2/15/2017 8:39:00 AM

DETROIT --  It would appear that the Wayne State University men's basketball program (14-8, 11-7 GLIAC) are getting hot at the right time and will look to continue that momentum as the Warriors travel to Northwood (5-22, 3-15 GLIAC) on Thursday and Lake Superior State (14-8, 11-7 GLIAC) on Saturday.  WSU can secure its first GLIAC Tournament berth since 2012-13 and are still in the hunt to host a home playoff game on Feb. 28th.

STORYLINES
Wayne State won both games of its Upper Peninsula trip last week for the first time since 2012-13, while moving closer to securing a spot in the GLIAC Tournament.  The Warriors will continue their four-game road trip at Northwood on Thursday (8 p.m.) and at Lake Superior State on Saturday (3 p.m.).

THE SERIES
The Warriors lead the all-time series vs. Northwood with a 40-28 mark.  The teams began playing in 1975 and spilt the first eight meetings.  Wayne State won eight straight meetings in the early 90s.  The Warriors have taken three of the last four meetings, including this season's first contest, 89-66, on Jan. 26th.  WSU is 14-17 in Midland and head coach David Greer is 13-11 vs. the Timberwolves.

WSU leads the all-time series 44-26 against Lake Superior State.  The teams began playing in 1969 and the Lakers won five of the first seven meetings.  LSSU is 5-2 during the last seven matchups with the Warriors.  However, the Warriors cruised to an 83-59 victory earlier this season on Jan. 28th.  Wayne State is 18-16 at LSSU in the series and Coach Greer is 12-10 in his time with the Green & Gold.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
Northwood is in the bottom spot of the GLIAC North Division at 5-22 overall and 3-15 in league play.  NU has dropped five straight and has its sights set on its first victory since a one-point win over Saginaw Valley State on Jan. 28th.  Head coach Jeff Rekeweg is in his seventh season leading the team.   Junior Matt Crowl is scoring a team-high 11.7 points per game, while junior Nick Spitzley is averaging 10.9 points per contest.  Crowl is also the team's best rebounder at 6.1 boards per game.  As a team, Northwood is scoring 70.0 points per game and allowing 81.4 points.

Lake Superior State is one of the best offensive teams in the GLIAC in terms of points per game (86.9) and enters this week's schedule with a 14-8 overall record, including an 11-7 mark in league contests.  The Lakers have are tied with the Warriors in the North Division and have won four of their last five games under 10th-year head coach Steve Hettinga.  Junior guard Akaemji Williams is scoring 21.5 points per night, which ranks third in the league and he leads the conference with an impressive 8.0 assists per game.  Junior center Michael Nicholson is averaging 11.9 points per night, while sophomore guard Carson Manger (11.5 PPG) and sophomore guard Blake Marquardt (10.4) are both  scoring at least 10 points per contest on average.  The weakness of the LSSU team appears to be on defense, where the Lakers are allowing the third-most points per game in the league at 79.5.

LAST TIME VS. LAKE SUPERIOR STATE
Wayne State hosted Lake Superior State on Jan. 28th in a battle for sole possession of the fourth spot in the GLIAC North Division standings and the Warriors controlled nearly the entire contest, winning 83-59.  The Lakers came into the game boasting the top scoring offense in the GLIAC, averaging over 90 points per night but the Warriors held the visitors to a 39.3 shooting percentage and 59 points.  Back-to-back lay-ups from Marcus Moore and Chuck Key gave the Green & Gold a 27-26 advantage at the 2:29 mark.  The momentum stayed with the home squad heading into the locker rooms for intermission as Moore banked in a 45-foot buzzer-beater to end the period and stake the Warriors to a 32-36 lead.  Key started the second half with two quick buckets to extend the lead to 10.  George Spencer connected from behind the arc and Key followed with another jumper to keep WSU ahead by double-digits.  Michael Lewis muscled his way to the rim for a tough basket to stretch the lead to 56-39 and force Lake Superior State to take a timeout.  The hot shooting continued as Moore knocked down a jumper and Spencer followed with another long two-point basket, giving WSU a 60-43 advantage at the 9:45 mark.  A trey from Moore put the lead at 20 where it would linger for the remainder of the contest as the Warriors cruised to an 83-59 victory.  Key connected on 10 of his 18 shots to lead WSU with 23 points, while Moore tallied 18.  Ronald Booth contributed 17 points and Spencer finished with 14.

COACHING MILESTONE
With the win on Dec. 3rd over Hillsdale, David Greer became the winningest coach in the 99 years of Wayne State men's basketball.  He passed his predecessor Ron Hammye's mark of 212 victories, which he collected in his 13 seasons (1988-01). 

WINNING STREAKS
The longest winning-streak in program history is 17 games done on two occasions in 1955-56 and 1994. Other streaks of note include 14, 12, and the nine-game winning streak for this year's team is one of four in program history and the longest since 1998-99.

NCAA STATISTICAL RANKINGS
In the latest NCAA stats release (Feb. 12th), WSU ranks 15th in scoring defense (66.0 PPG), 19th in fewest turnovers (259) and 42nd in opponent field goal percentage (.420) and turnovers per game (11.8).

ELITE DEFENSE?
Wayne State is allowing 66.0 points per game this season, which is the best mark in the league and 19th best in program history (lowest since 2011-12 / 63.3 PPG).  Opponents are shooting .420 against WSU this season, which is the best defensive performance since the 2008-09 team limited opponents to a .418 shooting percentage. 

WHO WILL LEAD THE WARRIORS?
Three Warriors are averaging more than 10 points a night.  Ronald Booth leads WSU in scoring at 15.0 points per night, while Chuck Key is averaging 14.6 points per contest and Marcus Moore is contributing 12.9 points per game.

20-POINT WINS
WSU has collected six 20-point victories this season, including the first two games against this week's opponents earlier this season.  The Warriors won by 23 over Northwood and 24 against Lake Superior State.

REBOUNDING ADVANTAGE
WSU has steadily improved its rebounding efforts all season long.  The Warriors have won the rebounding advantage in 13 of the 22 games this season, including four of the last six.  The largest being a 42-23 rebounding advantage at Northern Michigan on Feb. 11.  Wayne State ranks fifth in the GLIAC with 37.8 rebounds per game and second in terms of offensive rebounds per game at 12.3.  The Green & Gold rank fourth in rebounding margin at plus 4.6 per contest.  That rebounding margin ranks 13th in program history and is the best since the 2001-02 season posted a plus 5.6 mark.

COMCAST/XFINITY
Every home men's basketball game in 2017 will be aired live throughout the state of Michigan on Comcast CN 900.  The crew of Sean Baligian, Rod Beard, Joe Abramson and Tony Ortiz will call the action. 

LIVE ON WDTK
Kevin Brechmacher will call every contest live on the radio on WDTK - The Patriot (1400 AM / 101.5 FM).  Fans can also stream the action online newstalk1400.us.  Joining Kevin for home games will be WSU alum Kendall LeSure, who played at Wayne State from 2000-04 and scored 1,068 points during his career.