STORYLINES
After a disappointing quarterfinal loss in the GLIAC Tournament, Wayne State gets a second chance to play in the postseason.  The Warriors earned an at-large bid as the fourth seed in the NCAA Midwest Regional.  The regular-season league champions will meet the tournament champions (Ashland) on Saturday, March 13th in Evansville, Ind. at 7:00 PM (Eastern).  The winner of that game will meet top-seeded Truman State on Sunday at 7:00 PM (Eastern) with the title game set for Tuesday at 8:00 PM.

THE SERIES
The Warriors have a 34-28 advantage over Ashland in the all-time series.  WSU won both meetings this year in exciting fashion.  In the season's first matchup in Detroit, Wayne State trailed 50-45 with 4:29 to play, but would hold the Eagles scoreless the rest of the way and win 58-50, to move into a tie-for-first within the division.  In what seemed like a copy & paste from the first meeting, the Warriors won the second meeting 64-60 and ended the game on a 12-0 run, holding the Eagles scoreless for the final 3:05.  This will be the first-ever neutral-site contest and the first time the teams have met in the postseason.  Coach Greer is 21-16 vs. Ashland in his 20 seasons with the Warriors. 

SCOUTING THE EAGLES 
Perhaps the hottest team in the region, Ashland is 14-8 overall and has won five in a row, including three in Hammond, Ind. to secure the GLIAC Tournament trophy.  The Eagles topped Ferris State (100-85), Saginaw Valley State (83-57) and Michigan Tech (85-77).  Head coach John Ellenwood is in his 12th season leading the Eagles.  The MVP of the league tournament, sophomore guard Brandon Haraway is leading the team in scoring with 18.2 points per game, while collecting 5.5 boards per contest.  Redshirt senior guard Bo Furcron is averaging 13.0 points per night.  Aaron Thompson is the team's top rebounder at 8.5 rebounds per contest and scored 32 points vs. MTU on March 7th.  As a team, AU is scoring 70.9 points per game, while allowing 65.7 points per night.  The Eagles are shooting 45 percent from the floor, 39 percent from behind the arc and 73 percent at the charity stripe.

GLIAC TOURNAMENT RECAP
Wayne State lost 76-74 on March 4th to Saginaw Valley State in a GLIAC Quarterfinal contest.  The Cardinals led for 38 of the 40 minutes as WSU held onto a 54-53 advantage with just over seven minutes to play, but SVSU did enough down the stretch to pull off the upset to avenge two Warrior wins on Feb. 19-20 in Detroit.  Brailen Neely paced the WSU offense with 28 points, while Darian Owens-White had 19 and Avery Lewis finished with a double-double of 13 points and 11 rebounds.

DANCING IN MARCH!
The Green & Gold will be playing in the NCAA Tournament for the 14th time in program history, and the first since 2013.  Head coach David Greer has guided Wayne State to the national tournament on five occasions (2004, 2005, 2011, 2013 and 2021).  The last time WSU won a game in the NCAAs was in 2005 when the Warriors topped Southern Illinois-Edwardsville, 56-55, in Findlay, Ohio.

GLIAC CHAMPS!
The Green & Gold won its eighth GLIAC championship and its first outright GLIAC regular-season title since the 1998-99 season.  Following that 1998-99 season, WSU topped Saginaw Valley State, Gannon and Michigan Tech to win the tournament title.

POSTSEASON AWARDS
Wayne State head coach David Greer was voted GLIAC Coach of the Year as announced by the league on March 6th.  In addition, Darian Owens-White and Brailen Neely were selected to the All-GLIAC First Team.  Avery Lewis was honored with All-GLIAC Second Team honors as well as being a part of the All-Defensive Team.  It was the first time WSU had two First Team selections since Mike Hollingsworth and Bryan Smothers collected the awards following the 2010-11 season.

20-POINT SCORERS
Three Warriors finished with 20 or more points vs. Saginaw Valley State on Feb. 20th led by Darian Owens-White with 26 points.  Avery Lewis finished with a career-best 23 points and seven rebounds.  Brailen Neely went 7-of-8 from the floor on his way to 21 points.  

It was the first time since Jan. 10, 2005, that WSU State had three 20-point scorers.  In a 107-63 win over Marygrove, Herb Goliday and Morris Hall had 26 points each, and Tariq Mills had 20 points and 15 rebounds.

CLEANING THE GLASS
The Warriors have excelled rebounding the basketball so far this season.  WSU leads the league in total rebounds per game (36.7) and ranks second in rebounding margin per game (+3.2).  In addition, Wayne State has won the rebounding battle in 12 of the 18 games.  

On Feb. 20th vs. SVSU, the Warriors out-rebounded the Cardinals 43-24 (+19).  That is the largest rebounding margin of the season.

SUCCESS AT THE LINE
The Warriors went 25-of-26 (.962) against Davenport on January 16th from the charity stripe.  That percentage is the second-best single-game performance at the free throw line with at least 15 made over the last 20 seasons.  WSU finished 20-of-22 (.909) at the line on February 6th vs. Purdue Northwest.

In addition, Darian Owens-White previously made 60 straight free throws, which was a program record, before he missed his first attempt vs. Ferris State on Feb. 27th.  He is shooting .940 at the free throw line, which is the best mark in the conference and would be a program record.  The next best mark for a season is by Bryan Smothers in 2009-10 at .904 (85-of-94).

RAY'S SPARK
Freshman Ray Williams, Jr. has started the last 11 games, the first starts of his collegiate career.  Over that time Wayne State is 8-3 and Williams is averaging 7.0 points and 5.3 rebounds per game.

SPREADING IT AROUND
In the win over Davenport on January 16th, all five starters scored in double figures.  It was the first time that had happened since December 7, 2019.  The Warriors accomplished the feat again on February 6th against the Pride.

GLIAC PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
Junior Darian Owens-White was named GLIAC South Division Player of the Week on January 19th and February 8th.  

Senior Brailen Neely collected the award on February 22nd after he helped Wayne State go 3-0 with a win at Ashland plus a sweep of Saginaw Valley State.  He totaled 57 points (19.0 PPG), 18 assists (6.0 APG) and 17 rebounds (5.7 RPG) in the three victories. Neely shot 59 percent from the floor on 20-of-34, 46 percent from behind the arc (5-of-11) and did not miss a free throw in 12 attempts.  He had a pair of 20-point performances, including 23 points in the game one win over SVSU.  The next day, Neely went 7-for-8 from the floor to finish with 21 points.  

MATTHAEI MOMENTUM
Wayne State was 8-1 this season inside the Matthaei, which is +6 in the amount of home court wins from last season.  Below are home records for the last six campaigns, prior to this year:

2019-20:  2-9
2018-19:  6-7
2017-18:  10-5
2016-17:  9-3
2015-16:  4-9
2014-15:  4-8

BENCH SCORING
It was a welcome sight to see WSU's bench carrying the weight in the season-opening win with 28 points, which is 10 more than the Warriors received in any game last year from non-starters.  

The Green & Gold followed that with 17 points off the bench during the January 16th contest vs. the Panthers.

The bench contributed 18 points in the January 22nd three-point setback at Northwood.

On average, the Warriors are getting 9.9 points per game from their bench this season compared to 5.5 points per contest during the 2019-20 season.

NCAA STAT RANKINGS
The Warriors rank in the top 50 nationally in several statistical categories.  WSU is 15th in free throw percentage (.783), 30th in scoring defense (68.7), 42nd in opponent's field goal percentage (.427), 45th in defensive rebounds per game (27.00), 46th in fewest turnovers per game (11.9), 50th in both winning percentage (.667) and free throws made (270).

Darian Owens-White ranks seventh nationally in free throw percentage (.940), 22nd in minutes per game (36:47), 25th in total field goal attempts (278), 39th in free throws made (78).  Brailen Neely ranks 18th in steals (39), 21st in steals per game (2.17), 11th in minutes per game (37:32), 24th in assists (94) and 25th in assists per game (5.2).

LIVE ON WDTK
Kevin Brechmacher will call every Wayne State post-season contest live on WDTK - The Patriot (1400 AM / 101.5 FM).  Fans can also stream the action online at PatriotDetroit.com.