DETROIT -- The Wayne State University men's basketball program (8-6, 6-3 GLIAC) will start a four game home stand on Thursday night against Michigan Tech (7-9, 4-5 GLIAC) before welcoming Northern Michigan (9-7, 6-3 GLIAC) on Saturday afternoon.

STORYLINES
Wayne State is 5-2 in its last seven games with both losses coming on the road by a combined eight points.  The Warriors are tied-for-fourth in the GLIAC at 6-3 with Northern Michigan.  This will be the 87th meeting between the two schools, most of any Warrior opponent (Ferris State-85, Hillsdale-84 and Grand Valley State-81).

THE SERIES
Wayne State has a 54-32 lead in the all-time series against the Huskies.  The Warriors are 33-9 at home against MTU, but just 1-3 in the last four meetings at the Matthaei.  The three setbacks were by a combined 13 points.  Michigan Tech won the last meeting, 92-84, in the opening round of the 2017 GLIAC Tournament in Houghton.

WSU has a 39-35 edge in the all-time series with the Wildcats after winning 11 of the last 13 meetings.  The Warriors are 26-14 at home against Northern Michigan.  Wayne State had won four straight in Detroit until last year's 75-71 setback, a game in which there were nine lead changes in the second half.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
Michigan Tech has lost six consecutive games since a five-game winning streak.  Kyle Monroe is leading the GLIAC at 24.4 points per game, while Bryan Heath is at 12.4 PPG.  Monroe (33) and Heath (32) are 1-2 on the squad in three-pointers made.  Monroe also leads the team in rebounding (8.1) and steals per game (1.3).  Tommy Lucca is at 4.4 assists per contest.

Northern Michigan has lost three consecutive contests heading into Thursday's game at Davenport.  Naba Echols (17.5 PPG) and Isaiah Johnson (16.9 PPG) are two of the top five scorers in the GLIAC.  Johnson leads the squad with 99 rebounds, while Echols has a team-high 41 assists.   Johnson and Eddie Tornes have each made 28 triples, while Myles Howard has a team-best 30 blocks.

LAST TIME OUT
A 13-4 run by Northwood gave the Timberwolves a 63-50 lead with just over seven minutes remaining.  Ronald Booth scored six of WSU's next eight points to trim the margin to seven (65-58).  Trailing 67-58, the Warriors scored the next five points to make it 67-63 with just under a minute remaining.  NU made two of four foul shots over back-to-back possessions for a 69-63 advantage.  A layup by Chuck Key preceded two made free throws by NU's Nate Georgeton.  Booth (WSU) and Georgeton (NU) each made two foul shots within a second of each other making the score 73-67 Northwood with four seconds left.  Booth made a triple with 2.1 seconds left, and Marcus Moore came up with a loose ball on the inbouds pass at half-court and was fouled.  Moore missed his first two foul shots before sinking the third.

STARTING FIVE
Wayne State has introduced the same starting five in all 14 games this season.  The quintet have all scored in double-digits on three occasions - Kentucky Wesleyan, the league-opening win over Grand Valley State, and the loss at Ferris State.  Four of the five accomplished the feat at Purdue Northwest, at Davenport and in both games last week with a reserve (Karim Murray) scoring double digits in the SVSU contest.

DEFENSE WINNING GAMES
Wayne State ranks second in the GLIAC in scoring defense, allowing 67.1 points per game.  The Warriors have allowed more than 73 points in a game just once this season.  After limiting Ferris State to 33 points in the first 21:30 minutes, the Bulldogs exploded for 53 points over the final 18:30 minutes on Jan. 4.

MAKING FREE THROWS COUNT
Ronald Booth went 10-of-10 at the foul line last Saturday at Northwood equaling the school mark for most made free throws without a miss.  Ironically, five of the six marks were set away from the Matthaei:  James Davis (12/30/2003 at Grand Canyon; Bryan Smothers 2/5/2009 vs. Saginaw Valley; Bryan Wright 12/5/2009 at Northern Michigan; Ike Udanoh 11/26/2011 at Drury; and Clark Bishop 2/21/15 at Walsh).

NCAA STATISTICAL RANKINGS
In the latest NCAA stat release, Wayne State ranks 10th in three-point defense (30.2%), 21st in fewest turnovers (166), 25th in scoring defense (67.1 PPG), and 46th in turnovers per game (11.9).
WSU has played five teams that already have double-digit win totals (Bellarmine at 14-1, Ferris State at 18-1, Ashland and Lake Superior at 14-3, and Alderson Broaddus at 12-5).  Just two of WSU's losses are against teams currently under .500 (Lewis is at 7-10 and NU is at 5-11).  To date, WSU has played the 55th toughest schedule (out of 312 schools) with an opponents winning percentage of .561 (87-68).

RELYING ON THE STARTERS
All five WSU starters have scored at least 118 points this season, while the bench has combined for 108 points.

800 CLUB
A trio of Warriors have surpassed the 800-point plateau this season, with senior Ronald Booth leading the way.  Booth is 18th in career scoring with 997 career points and needs three points to become the 18th player in WSU history with 1,000 points, and the fourth under Coach Greer joining Bryan Smothers (1,175), Kendall LeSure (1,068) and Ian Larkin (1,022).

Senior Chuck Key has 892 points, while classmate Marcus Moore has 853 career points.

HISTORICAL VICTORY
Earlier this season, the men's basketball program won its 800th game (76-73 over GVSU) as Wayne State University (1956-present).  In the 100 years of basketball, WSU has won 1,221 games (first 60 as Detroit Junior College [1918-23], 120 as College of the City of Detroit/CCD [1924-34], and 235 as Wayne University [1934-56]).

MOST IMPROVED TEAMS
Wayne State was one of the most improved teams in the country last season, adding nine wins from its 2015-16 total and subtracting eight losses.  WSU has a 8-6 mark this year with Thursday's game being number 15 out of 25.

COMCAST/XFINITY
Every home men's basketball game in 2018 will be aired live throughout the state of Michigan on Comcast/CN 900.  Sean Baligian (play-by-play), Rod Beard (analyst) and Joe Abramson (sideline) will call the action.

LIVE ON WDTK
Kevin Brechmacher will call every contest live on WDTK - The Patriot (1400 AM / 101.5 FM).  Fans can also stream the action online at PatriotDetroit.com.  WSU alum Kendall LeSure, who played at Wayne State from 2000-04, joins Brechmacher for home games.