STORYLINES
Wayne State has won two straight games for just the second time this season after wins over Parkside and Purdue Northwest last week.  The first time was to begin 2019 with impressive victories over Northern Michigan (73-51) and Michigan Tech (67-54).  The Warriors need to stay in the win column to have any chance of stealing a playoff spot. 

THE SERIES
Wayne State trails 36-39 in the all-time series versus Saginaw Valley State.  The Cardinals won the season's first meeting, 101-97, in overtime on Jan. 19th.  SVSU has won six of the last eight meetings and WSU is 14-22 at O'Neill Arena.  David Greer is 14-13 against the Cards in his time with the Green & Gold, including a 5-8 mark on the road.
 

The Warriors lead 42-30 in the series against Northwood, but the Timberwolves bested the Warriors by three points on Jan. 17th inside the Matthaei.  WSU has won three of the last five contests and are 15-18 at Riepma Arena.  Greer is 15-13 and 4-8 on the road in his time coaching in the series.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
Saginaw Valley State is 8-17 overall and 4-13 in the league, while fighting for one of the final three GLIAC Tournament berths.  Head coach Randy Baruth is in his seventh season with the team.  Freshman guard Myles Belyeu is one of the more prolific scorers in the league at 18.6 points per outing.  Sophomore guard Darnell Hoskins, Jr. (15.7 PPG), sophomore guard James Toohey (11.0) and junior forward Fred John.  Jr. (10.2) are all averaging at least 10 points per game.  John is the team's leading rebounder at 6.9 boards per night, while Belyeu is pulling down 6.2 rebounds per game.  Hoskins is the team's top passer with 3.1 assists per contest.  As a team, SVSU is averaging 73.6 points per game and allowing 76.5.

Northwood is 8-17 overall and 8-9 in the GLIAC, which has them tied with GVSU for the seventh spot in the league standings.  Head coach Jeff Rekeweg is in his ninth season with the program.  Three T-Wolves are scoring in double figures led by senior guard Alec Marty at 14 points per game.  Junior guard Trey McBride is averaging 13.5 points per game and freshman Ja'Kavien Lewis is contributing 12.8 points and a GLIAC-best 5.9 assists per contest.  Junior forward David Jelinek leads the team in rebounding at 6.6 boards per night and ranks third in the league  in field goal percentage (60%).  As a team, NU is scoring 75.3 points per game and allowing 78.5.

OVERCOMING A HALFTIME DEFICIT
Wayne State's 71-70 win over Parkside on Thursday was the first time this season that the Warriors overcame a halftime deficit.  WSU trailed 36-34 at the break and outscored the Rangers 37-34 in the second half to win by one.  Prior to that, the Warriors were 0-13 when trailing at halftime.

LAST TIME OUT
The Wayne State offense was impressive against Purdue Northwest on Saturday, winning 90-74, for its sixth league win of the season.  It was the third time this season the Warriors tallied at least 90 points.  Latin Davis had a game-high 27 points, while Javon Henderson notched a double with 22 points and a game-best 12 rebounds.  Darian Owens-White contributed 12 points, six steals and five assists, with Karim Murray chipping in with 16 points.

POSTSEASON IMPLICATIONS
With two wins on the weekend, the Warriors moved into a tie-for-ninth with Michigan Tech at 6-11 in conference play.  WSU and MTU trail Grand Valley State and Northwood by two games. 

HENDERSON'S CONTRIBUTION
Javon Henderson has grown into a standout player during his final collegiate campaign.  He posted four double-doubles in January, the first four of his career.  He totaled 61 points, 49 rebounds, nine steals and four blocks in his first 10 games.  Over the last 12 games, he is averaging 19.3 points per game (232 total points), 9.4 boards per contest (113 total rebounds), 2.1 blocks per night (25 total blocks) and 1.8 steals per outing (21 total steals).
 

He notched a 31-point and 14-rebound performance at Purdue Northwest (Jan. 10th) and followed that with 15 points and 13 rebounds at Parkside (Jan. 12th).  He posted a pair of double-doubles in late January, first at Central State, where he tallied 21 points, 15 rebounds and six blocks.  He followed with 11 points, 10 rebounds, six blocks and four steals vs. Ashland on Jan. 26th.  He scored a WSU individual season-high of 36 points vs. Davenport (Feb. 2nd).  He finished with his fifth double-double of the season vs. PNW with 22 points and 12 rebounds to go with three steals and a blocked shot.

CLOSE CALLS
Wayne State snapped a four-game losing streak on Jan. 23 at Central State.  During the dry spell, the Warriors played three overtime games and another came down to the final possession.  WSU lost the four games by a total of 14 points.  The trend continued on Jan. 26th, as the Warriors fell on a last-second jumper against Ashland.  Wayne State has lost seven games by four points or less this season, including the three aforementioned overtime contests.

TOUGH SCHEDULE
Wayne State has played nine (#1 Bellarmine,  #2 Lewis, #2 Ashland, #4 Davenport, #5 Northern Michigan, #7 Davenport, #8 Ohio Dominican, #9 Grand Valley State and #10 Ferris State) of the top 10 teams in the Midwest region (at the time of the meeting).  However, WSU's remaining schedule ranks 232nd (.464 winning percentage) and 85th in terms of cumulative opposition (.543 winning percentage).

NATIONAL RANKINGS
Darian Owens-White ranks third nationally in three-point field goal percentage (.488) and 31st in minutes per game (36:30).  Latin Davis, Jr. ranks 28th in minutes per game (36:33).  Javon Henderson ranks 43rd with 3.05 offensive rebounds per game.

SHARP SHOOTER
Sophomore Darian Owens-White is quickly becoming one of the most lethal long-range shooters in the league, nation and program history.  He has made 48.8 percent of his three-point attempts this season.  He currently leads the league and is third nationally in three-point field goal percentage (.488), and is third in program history in career three-point percentage (.446 / 66-of-148).  Additionally, his 66 made triples is tied-for-24th.

HEAD COACH LONGEVITY
Head coach David Greer is in his 18th season as the top man on the Warriors' bench.  He equals the school record for years as head men's basketball coach in 2018-19, joining Newman Ertell (1929-48) and Joel Mason (1948-66) at 18 years on the WSU bench. 

LIVE ON WDTK
Kevin Brechmacher will call every contest live on WDTK - The Patriot (1400 AM / 101.5 FM).  Former Warrior standouts Ian Larkin and Mike Lewis will serve as analysts during home broadcasts during the 2018-19 season.  Fans can also stream the action online at PatriotDetroit.com.