DETROIT -- The Wayne State University men's basketball team (4-2 overall) will take its four-game winning streak on the road to begin GLIAC play this week. The Warriors will travel to Northern Michigan on Thursday for a 7:30 p.m. tip before taking on Michigan Tech on Saturday with a 3 p.m. start.
STORYLINES
Entering GLIAC play with an overall record of 4-2, Wayne State has won four games in a row for the first time since February of 2021. The Warriors are in search of a fifth straight win, a feat they haven't accomplished since February of 2018.
Northern Michigan has already played 10 games (5-5), two more than the next-closest team in the league. All five of the Wildcats' losses have come by seven points or less and they are in the midst of a season-long eight-game homestand.
Michigan Tech has been in action for just six games with one win to show for it, an 83-75 home victory over Missouri-St. Louis on Nov. 18. With that being said, three of those five losses for the Huskies have been with a deficit of six or smaller.
THE SERIES
Wayne State and Northern Michigan have split 82 all-time meetings, 41-41. However, the Warriors are just 13-23 when playing on the Wildcats' floor and have lost three straight in Marquette.
WSU and Michigan Tech have met 95 times in their series, tied with Ferris State for the Warriors' most common opponent. Wayne State has gone 18-25 at MTU without a win in Houghton since 2017 (0-5).
SCOUTING THE WILDCATS
Coached by Matt Majkrzak (fifth season), the 2023 GLIAC Coach of the Year, Northern Michigan is paced by six scorers averaging double figures. That sextet includes Dylan Kuehl (16.7 PPG - 4th in GLIAC), Max Weisbrod (15.3 - T-7th in GLIAC), Sam Schultz (12.1), Carson Smith (11.5), Brian Parzych (11.4) and Riley Brooks (10.6). Schultz is bringing down an even 10 rebounds per game, which leads the league and ranks 15th in all of Division II. The 6-7 big man has accounted for four double-doubles, which is good for seventh in the country. Assist wise, Weisbrod leads NMU with 4.0 per contest.
SCOUTING THE HUSKIES
Michigan Tech is led by third-year head coach and the 2021 GLIAC Coach of the Year Josh Buettner. This season, Buettner and his Huskies currently boast the top scorer in the conference and fifth best in the nation in Marcus Tomashek's 24.5 points per game. Pete Calcaterra is the other Husky averaging at least 10 points a contest with an average of 11.0. Calcaterra is responsible for 6.8 boards per outing, while Josh Terrian dishes out 3.0 assists a game.
LAST TIME OUT - AT TIFFIN
Wayne State started a perfect 8-of-8 from the field, all of which were made inside the arc, and was ahead by three at that point, 16-13. During that stretch, five different Warriors found the scoring column paced by
Tamario Adley with eight points.
WSU didn't miss a field goal attempt until its first three-point shot of the day from
Carmelo Harris at the 11:59 mark. The visitors converted on their first nine two-point attempts, were 9-of-10 overall at that point and held a five-point advantage, 18-13.
Tiffin then rattled off six points in a row to go ahead for the first time at 19-18. Wayne State took the lead back right away though 20-19 thanks to a pair of free throws off the hand of
Hutch Ward. The Warriors would then push their advantage to three on a trio of occasions, the final coming at 26-23 following a
Rob Lee, Jr. lay-up.
The home team countered with 10 of the next 12 points for its biggest edge of the half at five, 33-28. With under a minute to play before the break, Harris cashed his second trey of the half to knot the score for a second time at 35-35. However, the Dragons' Brandon Swaby answered with a triple of his own to give Tiffin the lead before the intermission, 38-35.
Wayne State started the second half just the way it wanted with a 15-2 run for its biggest lead of the contest, 50-40 at the 14:23 point. In that span, six Warriors scored at least a point and they were a combined 6-of-9 from the floor, while Tiffin was 0-for-6.
For the next 12+ minutes, the scoring was much more balanced as TU edged WSU by just five, 21-16, and cut the margin to three twice (50-47, 64-61). Then, with 1:18 to go, Tiffin's Carius Key hit a three-pointer to make it a two-point game, 66-64.
Wayne State was able to put the game on ice out-scoring Tiffin by three, 8-5, the rest of the way for the five-point triumph. All eight of those points came at the free throw line where the Warriors were 8-of-10 and didn't attempt a single field goal in that stretch.
GLIAC DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Ray Williams, Jr. was named GLIAC Defensive Player of the Week for the second time in as many weeks on Monday. Saturday at Tiffin, Williams finished with 14 points (5-of-8 FG), seven rebounds, two blocks, one steal and an assist in a game-high 38 minutes.
LEADING THE WARRIORS
Wayne State's offense carries six players averaging at least seven points per game. They are
Carmelo Harris (15.3 PPG),
Ray Williams, Jr. (11.7 PPG),
Colin Golson, Jr. (11.5 PPG),
Tamario Adley (11.0 PPG),
Matt Coffey (10.6 PPG) and
Jordan Briggs (7.0 PPG). Williams, Jr. is bringing down a team-high 8.5 rebounds per contest, while Harris and Adley are on top of the assist department with 2.5 per outing. Adley (.690 field goal percentage) and Coffey (.618) rank second and fifth, respectively, in the GLIAC for efficiency.
LIVE ON WDTK
All men's basketball contests (both home and away) will air live on WDTK - The Patriot (1400 AM / 101.5 FM). Fans can also listen to the audio online at PatriotDetroit.com. This is the 22nd consecutive season WSU basketball has been aired on 1400 AM.
Kevin Brechmacher is in his eighth season calling the WSU men's games on WDTK. He will be joined on the broadcast of home games by either Chuck Key (2014-18), Marcus Moore (2014-18) or Andy Dold (1998-2002), all former Warriors.
In addition, every men's basketball GLIAC contest will be televised on FloSports (flohoops.com) per the GLIAC agreement with FloSports. In addition, all home non-conference games for the men will also be on FloHoops.
