Men's Basketball 2/8/2023 3:33:00 PM Cooper Weidenthaler, Sports Communications Specialist

Men's Basketball Travels to Ferris State and Lake Superior To Complete Four-Game Road Swing

WSU has six regular-season games remaining.

STORYLINES
Wayne State continues its four-game road trip this week with contests at Ferris State on Thursday in Big Rapids (7:30 p.m. tip) and Lake Superior State on Saturday in Sault Ste. Marie (3 p.m. tip). Currently sitting at seventh place in the GLIAC standings, the Warriors are looking to get back into the win column after dropping five games in a row.

Six games remain in WSU's regular-season schedule, four of which are against opponents in the top five of the league standings, with the top eight squads making the conference tournament. The top four seeds will each host a quarterfinal showdown.

THE SERIES
Wayne State and Ferris State have met 94 times in the all-time series with the Bulldogs holding a 12-game edge, 53-41. The Warriors have dropped their last eight games in Big Rapids and are looking for their first victory on the Bulldogs' home floor since the GLIAC Championship game in 2011. In that game, current WSU head coach Bryan Smothers finished with 11 points, nine assists and only one turnover in 39 minutes in Wayne State's 73-71 triumph.

Wayne State leads the all-time series with Lake Superior State by 13, 47-34. However, LSSU has taken 13 of the last 18 meetings between the two teams, including eight of the last nine at Bud Cooper Gymnasium.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
Ferris State has picked up 13 of its 18 wins at home (13-1 record) and has been victorious in seven of its last eight contests overall.

FSU presents a balanced attack with eight different scorers recording at least seven points per game, including three double-digit scorers at the top in Solomon Oraegbu (16.1 PPG, fifth in the GLIAC), Ben Davidson (13.7 PPG), and Ethan Erickson (12.9 PPG). Ferris State's top rebounder is Mykel Bingham with 6.1 per contest, which is good for fifth in the conference.

This year marks the 10th season for Andy Bronkema, the 2018 National Coach of the Year, as the head coach at FSU. He has an overall record of 217-82 (.726 winning percentage) and a GLIAC mark of 135-57 (.703).

Lake Superior State brings a trio of scorers averaging at least 10 points per game including Caden Ebeling (15.6 PPG - seventh in the GLIAC), Kemon Bassett (13.9 PPG) and Xander Okerlund (10.2 PPG).

Rebounding wise, leading the way for LSSU are Bassett (5.7 RPG - eighth in the league), Okerlund (5.2 RPG - 13th in the league) and Ebeling (5.1 RPG - tied-for-14th in the league).

Lake Superior State is coached by the all-time winningest coach in program history in Steve Hettinga. In his 16 seasons at the helm, the two-time GLIAC Coach of the Year (2013-14, and 2014-15) has compiled an overall record of 263-182 (.591 winning percentage) and a conference mark of 189-132 (.589).

LAST GAME RECAP
Wayne State raced out to a 27-10 lead at Northern Michigan before the Wildcats answered with a strong run of their own to down the Warriors.

WSU had an eight-point advantage (12-4) following a lay-up by Avery Lewis five minutes into the contest. After a bucket by Wildcat Sam Schultz cut the Warrior advantage to six (16-10), Wayne State rattled off 11 consecutive points that began with a Lewis lay-up followed by three straight triples from Carmelo Harris.

Northern Michigan responded with a 10-0 run prior to an Antonio Marshall shot from beyond the arc which made it 30-20 in favor of WSU with 5:21 left before intermission.

Two free throws by Lewis extended the lead to 12 (32-20), but the Wildcats ended the half on a 12-4 spurt to reduce their deficit to four (36-32) at halftime.

NMU began the second half with four straight points to knot the game at 36-36. The Warriors tallied the next four points on back-to-back lay-ups by Lewis in just over a 30-second span prior to the first media timeout.

Wayne State maintained a lead until two Sam Privet foul shots with 11:27 remaining gave the hosts a 44-43 lead, but Marshall answered with a triple with just under nine minutes left. An old-fashioned three-point play by Lewis snapped a 46-46 draw. However, a Carson Smith three with just under six minutes remaining put the Wildcats in front for good at 51-49.

WSU went for 1-for-7 from the floor (3-of-4 from the charity stripe) over the next five minutes as the Warriors never got closer than three points the rest of the game.

WARRIOR UPDATE
Wayne State continues to be lead by a trio of scorers averaging at least 10 points per game including Antonio Marshall (14.7 PPG, 16.3 PPG in GLIAC play), Avery Lewis (14.1 PPG, 14.8 PPG in GLIAC play) and Carmelo Harris (13.4 PPG, 11.6 PPG in GLIAC play).

Lewis is the team's top rebounder with 6.7 boards per contest, which leads the conference.

Defensively, the Warriors leader for both blocks and steals is Marshall with 12 blocks and 30 steals, respectively.

Efficiency wise, Lewis is the leader in field goal percentage (49.0 percent), Marshall for three-point field goal percentage (36.9) and Harris for free throw percentage (85.4).

NATIONAL RANKINGS
Wayne State is 36th nationally in fewest turnovers per game (11.6), 52nd in scoring defense (67.5 PPG) and 76th in turnover margin with a GLIAC-leading +1.6 (WSU at 11.6, opponents at 13.2 turnovers per game).

INTRODUCING COACH SMOTHERS
Wayne State officially began a new era in the men's basketball program in November as 2020 Hall of Fame inductee Bryan Smothers became just the second former WSU student-athlete to lead the program (joining Newman Ertell who lettered from 1921-25, then became head coach in 1929 for the College of the City of Detroit).

Smothers is the 11th head coach (including interim) since Detroit Junior College began playing basketball in January of 1918.

The 2022-23 campaign is the 105th season of Wayne State basketball (no games were played in 1943-44 due to World War II).

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.

WARRIOR ALL-ACCESS
Every regular-season home game will be streamed via Warrior All-Access at WSUAthletics.com.

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Players Mentioned

#11 Carmelo Harris: G; 5' 11"; Freshman

#33 Avery Lewis: F; 6' 6"; Redshirt Senior

#1 Antonio Marshall: G; 6' 4"; Redshirt Senior

Players Mentioned

#11 Carmelo Harris
: 5' 11"; Freshman
: G

#33 Avery Lewis
: 6' 6"; Redshirt Senior
: F

#1 Antonio Marshall
: 6' 4"; Redshirt Senior
: G

Players Mentioned

#11 Carmelo Harris

#33 Avery Lewis

#1 Antonio Marshall

Players Mentioned

#11 Carmelo Harris

#33 Avery Lewis

#1 Antonio Marshall