Men's Basketball 2/14/2018 10:00:00 AM Cameron Weidenthaler, Assistant Media Relations Director

Men's Basketball Carries Winning Streak to SVSU, Hosts Northwood

With two weeks left in the regular season, the Warriors aim to secure a home playoff game.

DETROIT -- The Wayne State University men's basketball team (13-8 overall, 11-5 GLIAC) will enter the second to last week of the regular season tied-for-third in the league standings. The Warriors will travel to Saginaw Valley State (10-14 overall, 7-9 GLIAC) on Thursday night before hosting Northwood (9-15 overall, 5-11 GLIAC) on Saturday afternoon. WSU will honor its five seniors prior to tip-off and recognize the 2018 Hall of Fame Class at halftime.

STORYLINES
Winners of five straight, Wayne State will travel to Saginaw Valley State on Thursday night before wrapping up the regular-season home slate against Northwood on Saturday afternoon on Senior Day. With four games to play, WSU is tied for the third seed in the GLIAC standings and has its sights set on a home playoff game on Feb. 28th. The top four seeds will host the first round of the GLIAC Tournament at the end of the month.

THE SERIES
Wayne State trails 36-37 in the all-time series against Saginaw Valley State. The Warriors won the season's first meeting in Detroit, 74-57. Coach Greer is 14-11 vs. SVSU and WSU has a 14-21 record all-time on the road against the Cards. In the last meeting, a 10-2 run by Wayne State pushed the lead to 11 (47-36) with 13:32 left. The Cardinals would get no closer than six (48-42) the rest of the way. The Warriors then scored 17 of the next 21 points to lead 65-46 with 5:14 remaining.

The Green & Gold have a 41-29 edge in the all-time series with Northwood, including wins in four of the last six meetings. Coach Greer has compiled a 14-12 record vs. the Timberwolves during his tenure at WSU. Wayne State dropped the first meeting this season on Jan. 13th, 73-71. At the end of that matchup, Ronald Booth made a triple with 2.1 seconds left, and Marcus Moore came up with a loose ball on the inbound pass at half-court and was fouled with the referees putting 0.3 seconds on the clock and Wayne State trailing 73-70. Moore missed his first two foul shots before sinking the third.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
SVSU is 7-9 in league play and is tied-for-seventh, but the Cardinals still have work to do to stay in that spot. The current GLIAC South Division Player of the Week, senior guard Mike Wells, Jr. is coming off a 44-point game in a victory over Michigan Tech, while freshman guard DJ Hoskins is scoring 11.0 PPG. Hoskins has team-high totals of 47 steals and 40 triples. Sophomore forward Fred John, Jr. is the team leader in rebounds at 4.8 RPG, with sophomore guard Malik Garner dishing out a team-high 3.9 assists per night. Eight players average at least 17 minutes per contest.

Northwood has lost four straight after playing the toughest part of its schedule (at Ferris State and Lake Superior State and hosting Northern Michigan and Michigan Tech). NU is still alive for a playoff berth but would almost need to win out to have a chance to play on. Sophomore guard Trey McBride is averaging a team-best 11.4 PPG and has a team-high 41 steals. Sophomore forward Bruno Solomun leads the squad at 5.5 rebounds per contest, while Nick Spitzley has made a team-high 45 triples. Sophomore forward David Jelinek is one of the more efficient shooters in the league at .592 percent.

LAST TIME OUT
Wayne State collected its first wire-to-wire victory of the season on Sunday against Purdue Northwest, 79-61. Four players finished in double figures, led by Ronald Booth's 16 points. Chuck Key scored 14 points, going 4-of-5 free the free throw line. George Spencer scored 12 points and contributed seven boards and four assists, while Marcus Moore had 10 points, four rebounds and three assists. Wayne State shot 54.2 percent (32-of-59) from the floor, and made nine of its 16 triple attempts (56.3 percent).

STARTING FIVE
Wayne State has introduced the same starting five in all 21 games this season. The quintet have all scored in double-digits on four occasions - Kentucky Wesleyan, the league-opening win over Grand Valley State, the loss at Ferris State and against Northern Michigan. Four of the five accomplished the feat on eight occasions, including each of the last four contests. The five Warriors have scored 1,269 of the 1,433 total points WSU has scored this season, or 88.5 percent.

SENIOR DAY
The five Wayne State seniors (Ronald Booth, Chuck Key, Marcus Moore, Nick Mutebi and George Spencer) have combined to play in 408 games, make 249 starts and have amassed 3,725 points over 10,399 minutes.

GOING DANCING
Thanks to previous action, Wayne State had already secured a GLIAC postseason berth heading into Sunday's contest vs. Purdue Northwest. The Warriors are tied-for-third in the league (No. 1 in the GLIAC South), and can finish no worse than seventh. WSU's magic number to win a South Division title is three and to clinch a home court opening round game is four. A "magic number" represents the total of WSU wins plus losses by the rival teams after.

DEFENSE WINNING GAMES
Wayne State is second in the GLIAC and 20th nationally in scoring defense, allowing 66.9 points per game. During the five-game winning streak, the Warriors have not allowed more than 68 points and an average of 61 points per game. WSU has been especially stingy against the three-pointer, as opponents are shooting just 31.1 percent, which is the 12th best three-point defense in Division II.

TAKING ADVANTAGE OF FREEBIES
During the five-game winning streak, the Warriors are shooting 85 percent from the free throw line (63-for-74). George Spencer has made 34 of his last 35 attempts dating back to the Jan. 11th game vs. Saginaw Valley State, including a 7-for-7 performance against Davenport to help him match his career-high of 23 points. Ronald Booth has made 33 of his last 35 attempts from the charity stripe. Booth ranks second in the league with a .849 free throw percentage, while Spencer would rank fourth at .833 but does not qualify due to per game minimums.

NCAA STATISTICAL RANKINGS
In the latest NCAA stat release, Wayne State ranks 12th in defending the three-pointer (.311), 16th in fewest turnovers (246), 20th in scoring defense (66.9 PPG) and 43rd in free-throw percentage (.752).

900 CLUB
A trio of Warriors have surpassed the 900-point plateau this season, with senior Ronald Booth leading the way. Booth is 17th in career scoring with 1,102 career points and became the 18th player in WSU history with 1,000 points in January. He is the fourth under Coach Greer joining Bryan Smothers (1,175), Kendall LeSure (1,068) and Ian Larkin (1,022) to accomplish the feat. Senior Chuck Key ranks 23rd all-time with 990 points, while classmate Marcus Moore has 937 career points.

ACTIVE CAREER LEADERS
A couple of Warriors are in the top 80 in terms of active career leaders within Division II. Marcus Moore ranks 36th in steals (138) and 37th in assists (349), while Ronald Booth is 74th with his 15.3 points per game average.

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.

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 Michael Lewis who played from 2012-17, joins Brechmacher for Saturday's broadcast.

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Players Mentioned

#23 Ian Larkin: F; 6' 5"; Redshirt Sophomore

#11 Bryan Smothers: G; 5' 10"; Senior

#20 Michael Lewis: F; 6' 3"; Graduate Student

#3 Ronald Booth: G; 5' 7"; Senior

#23 Chuck Key: F; 6' 6"; Senior

#4 Marcus Moore: G; 6' 2"; Senior

#33 Nick Mutebi: F; 6' 3"; Senior

#1 George Spencer: G; 6' 4"; Senior

Players Mentioned

#23 Ian Larkin
: 6' 5"; Redshirt Sophomore
: F

#11 Bryan Smothers
: 5' 10"; Senior
: G

#20 Michael Lewis
: 6' 3"; Graduate Student
: F

#3 Ronald Booth
: 5' 7"; Senior
: G

#23 Chuck Key
: 6' 6"; Senior
: F

#4 Marcus Moore
: 6' 2"; Senior
: G

#33 Nick Mutebi
: 6' 3"; Senior
: F

#1 George Spencer
: 6' 4"; Senior
: G