DETROIT -- The Wayne State University men's basketball team (7-8 overall, 1-5 GLIAC) is back home this week to host Saginaw Valley State (9-5 overall, 2-3 GLIAC) on Saturday at 3 p.m. inside the WSU Fieldhouse.

STORYLINES
Wayne State has dropped three contests in a row for the first time this season, but gets to come home for a three-game home stand following an off day on Thursday.  Saginaw Valley State is coming off a 97-64 home exhibition victory over Delta (Junior) College on Tuesday.  Eight of the Cardinals nine victories have come at home.

THE SERIES
Wayne State trails the all-time series with Saginaw Valley State by nine, 38-47, but is three games above the .500 mark at home against the Cardinals at 22-19.  SVSU has been on the right side in five straight meetings between the two teams, 10 of the last 12 and 14 of the previous 18.  Of those 18 previous meetings, all four of the Warriors' wins came in Detroit, the location for Saturday's affair.

SCOUTING THE CARDINALS
Saginaw Valley State is led by 12th-year head coach Randy Baruth.  This season, Baruth and his Cardinals have been taking care of business on both ends of the court as they rank third in the GLIAC for both scoring offense (80.3 PPG) and scoring defense (69.3) [stats include game vs. Delta that is not recognized by the NCAA].  SVSU is also third in field goal percentage (.479) and second in field goal percentage defense (.411).  Saginaw Valley State is also one of the top teams in the country when it comes to blocking shots.  The Cardinals are 18th in Division II for blocks per game (4.8) and freshman forward Kevonne Taylor is 23rd in total blocks (28).

Individually, two of the conference's top five scorers for points per game come from Saginaw Valley State.  Junior guard Freddie McIntosh is fourth (16.3 PPG) and redshirt junior guard Toodles Seal is right behind him in fifth (16.3 PPG).  Seal is also the squad's leading rebounder (6.0 RPG - ninth in the GLIAC), while redshirt sophomore guard Curtis Jackson is slotted second in the league for assists per game (4.6 APG).

LAST TIME OUT - AT GRAND VALLEY STATE
Neither team scored for the first 75 seconds until Laker William Dunn connected from beyond the arc.  Trailing 4-0, sophomore guard Carmelo Harris made two foul shots and a triple in a 40-second span.  Junior Colin Golson, Jr. converted a lay-up to conclude the 7-0 run.

GVSU tallied five straight points until two free throws by Harris knotted the game at 9-9.  Another 5-0 spurt by Grand Valley State gave the hosts its largest lead of the half at 14-9.  Freshman Hutch Ward drained a triple and WSU regained the lead on a three pointer by senior Kaimen Lennox.

A foul shot by freshman Jordan Briggs and a dunk by sophomore Matt Coffey gave Wayne State an 18-14 advantage.  After three points by the Lakers, Coffey connected on a jumper, Harris hit a trey, and freshman Rob Lee, Jr. scored five straight points on a lay-up and a triple which extended the visitors lead to 11 (28-17), its largest of the half.

A jumper by Harris ended a 6-0 spurt by the Lakers.  GVSU pulled within 34-31, before the Warriors responded with six consecutive points for a 40-31 lead.  The nine-point margin was whittled down to five at intermission as Grand Valley State scored five of the final six points of the opening half.

Harris led all scorers with 12 points at halftime.

Grand Valley State scored the first five points after intermission to tie the game at 41-41 as Wayne State went scoreless for the first 2:40 until a lay-up by Harris.  His bucket ended a field goal drought of over seven minutes by the Warriors (4:50 left in the first half until 2:40 into the second half).

The contest was tied three more times (43-43, 45-45, and 48-48) with the last occurrence coming with 14:00 remaining.

A triple by sophomore Kareem Aburashed stopped a 7-0 run by GVSU and pulled WSU within four at 55-51.  Aburashed's long-range shot ended a scoreless period of nearly 3:30.  All told, the Lakers had a 15-6 run over nearly a nine minute stretch after the 48-48 deadlock.

Wayne State responded with a 9-2 run as Harris hit a jumper, Aburashed drained another triple, Harris made two foul shots and Lee, Jr. grabbed an offensive rebound and scored to cut the WSU deficit to two (65-63) with 1:56 remaining.

After each team missed a triple try on its ensuing possession, GVSU's Trevor Smith connected from three-point range to extend the hosts lead to five.  With 46 seconds to play, Briggs split a pair from the charity stripe, before Laker Ethan Alderink made two foul shots.  WSU kept battling and Harris was fouled on a three-point attempt and made all three free throws to pull the Warriors within three (70-67) with seven seconds left.  GVSU's Mason Docks made two foul shots a second later, but Lee, Jr. answered with a triple.  However, Docks made two more foul shots to finish the scoring.

LEADING THE WARRIORS
Wayne State's leading scorer with the ninth-best mark in the GLIAC when it comes to points per game is Carmelo Harris at 14.2 points per contest.  Harris is one of four Warriors putting up at least 8.9 points per outing, along with Ray Williams, Jr. (10.3 PPG), Matt Coffey (9.1) and Colin Golson, Jr. (8.9).  Williams, Jr. is bringing down a team-high 6.3 rebounds per contest (tied-for-fifth in the GLIAC) while Golson, Jr. (5.5) also averages at least five per game.  Assist wise, Adley is on top of the squad with 2.6 per performance and Harris has an average of 2.2.  Offensive efficiency wise, Wayne State boasts the league leader at each of the three major categories.  Coffey is first in field goal percentage (.667), Kareem Aburashed is on top for three-point field goal percentage (.591) and Harris ranks first in free throw percentage (.912).

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.