STORYLINES
Wayne State will finish the season with a pair of home games against Grand Valley State on Thursday night and Davenport on Saturday afternoon. The Warriors will honor
Brailen Neely and
LJ DeWolf prior to tip-off on Saturday's contest.
THE SERIES
Wayne State trails 52-36 in the all-time series against Grand Valley State, which includes a 21-24 mark in home games for the Warriors. The Lakers won 70-63 earlier this season in Allendale. GVSU has won four of the last six meetings.
The series between Davenport and Wayne State was even at 4-4 coming into this season, but the Panthers won the year's first match-up, 71-59, in Grand Rapids. The Warriors won both meetings last season in Detroit.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
Grand Valley State is 16-9 overall with a 10-8 league record. After losing four straight, the Lakers won at Davenport 71-67, and at home vs. Northwood, 82-58. Head coach Ric Wesley is in his 18th season with the program. Jake Van Tubbergen is scoring 17.3 points per game and pulling down 10.3 rebounds per night, and is a four-time GLIAC Player of the Week selection. Christian Negron is averaging 11.9 points and 8.1 rebounds per game. Jordan Harris is scoring 11.0 points per contest, while Isaac Gassman is at 10.4 points per night. As a team, GVSU is averaging 77.3 points per game and allowing 70.4. The Lakers are shooting 47 percent from the floor, 36 percent from long range and just over 72 percent at the free throw line.
Davenport is 12-13 overall with an 8-10 GLIAC record. The Panthers have secured the eighth and final playoff spot after back-to-back wins over Northwood on Monday and Tuesday. DU will continues its whirlwind at SVSU on Thursday before heading to Detroit. Head coach Burt Paddock is in his 14th season at the helm. Chris Rollins leads the team in scoring at 14.7 points per night and is the team's top passer with 81 assists (3.24 APG). Jarrin Randall is averaging 14.2 points per night, while Marcedus Leech, Jr. is pouring in 12.4 points per game. Jarius Stevens in adding 11 points per contest. Jakub Dombek is the team's top rebounder at 6.9 boards per night. As a team, DU is scoring 76.0 points and allowing 76.1 points per game, while shooting 47 percent from the floor, 37 percent from behind the arc and 70 percent at the charity stripe.
LAST TIME OUT
A slow start at Michigan Tech led to a 41-16 halftime deficit. The Warriors out-scored the Huskies 41-34 in the second half, but lost 82-57 in the final road game of the season. MTU connected on 11-of-23 three-point attempts (48 percent) compared to WSU's 5-of-21 performance (24 percent).
Brailen Neely scored a team-high 22 points, while
Antonio Marshall matched his season best with 18 points.
FIVE IN DOUBLE FIGURES
All five starters scored in double figures in the win over Parkside on Jan. 20th. It is the first time WSU had five score at least 10 points since Feb. 6, 2021. Prior to that WSU had done it against Davenport on Jan, 16, 2021.
A HELPING HAND
Brailen Neely is moving up the charts within the program's record book in several statistical categories. He is five assists shy of matching Darrell Evans for third place at 377 assists. Grady Wicker had 405 career helpers and Art Johnson is the program's all-time assists leader at 434.
Neely is third in assists per game (5.9), trailing Evans (6.1) and Terrance Walker (6.4). He ranks 12th in career steals with 116, and needs four in his final two games to tie Dale Brundidge for 11th. Neely ranks second in minutes per game at 37.7, trailing only Hall of Fame member Kris Krzyminski, who averaged 38.9 minutes per contest in his two seasons at WSU.
WAYNE STATE FIELDHOUSE
Wayne State opened its brand new basketball fieldhouse against Michigan in an exhibition contest on Nov. 5th in front of a sold out crowd. The night featured several special moments including a pre-game ceremony that featured basketball alumni (Bob Holmes and
Shareta Brown) and coaches (Ron Hammye, David Greer and
Carrie Lohr), University president Dr. M. Roy Wilson, and Detroit Pistons Vice Chair Arn Tellem. Halftime featured a performance from Spyder Turner.
FIRST HALF WARRIORS
WSU has led at halftime in 10 games this season, including a 28-27 lead at Northern Michigan on Feb. 17th, but the Warriors are 3-7 in those contests. In addition, Wayne State has led in 17 of the 20 games this season. Furthermore, the Green & Gold have given up four double-digit leads.
ROAD WOES
The Warriors went 0-11 on the road this season. The last road victory was a 64-60 triumph at Ashland on Feb. 16, 2021.
1,000-POINT DUO
Brailen Neely entered this season with 993 career points combined between his time at Oakland and now as a Warrior. With 21 points at Ashland on Nov. 12, he surpassed the 1,000 career-point plateau.
With a jumper at the 3:30 mark of the first half at Northwood on Feb. 7th, Neely surpassed the 1,000-point mark, while wearing the Green & Gold. He is the 21st player in program history to do so.
In addition,
Darian Owens-White is approaching the milestone for WSU games and needs 15 points to join the club.
GLIAC CHAMPS
The Green & Gold won its eighth GLIAC championship last year 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.
LIVE ON WDTK
Kevin Brechmacher will call every Wayne State contest live on WDTK - The Patriot (1400 AM / 101.5 FM). Fans can also stream the action online at PatriotDetroit.com. Chuck Key will serve as the analyst for Thursday's broadcast, with Andy Dold joining Brechmacher on Saturday.
FAN POLICY
Capacity will be capped at 50 percent for home WSU basketball games moving forward. Masks must be worn indoors and social distancing must be followed whenever possible. In addition, proof of appropriate vaccination will be required.
WARRIOR ALL-ACCESS
Every regular season home game, will be available to stream pay-per-view via Warrior All-Access at WSUAthletics.com. Season ticket holders will have free access to the broadcasts.
