Men's Basketball 2/29/2024 10:33:00 AM Cooper Weidenthaler, Sports Communications Specialist

Men's Basketball Travels to SVSU with GLIAC Tournament Berth on the Line

If the Warriors win, they're in the GLIAC Tournament.

DETROIT -- One game left in the Wayne State University men's basketball team's 2023-24 regular season, and it's for a trip to the GLIAC Tournament. If the Warriors win at Saginaw Valley State on Saturday, they'll play in the quarterfinal round of the league tournament on Wednesday, March 6. If they don't come out on top, their season is over.

WSU has won two games in a row and four of its last six since dropping four straight prior to that. The Warriors will have to win away from Detroit to extend their season, but have gone just 2-10 on someone else's court so far this season.

Saginaw Valley State is on a season-worst four-game losing streak and has been on the wrong end of the scoreboard in six of its last seven. Like the Warriors, the Cardinals have been much better at home where they own a record of 10-5 as opposed to 3-8 away from campus.

THE SERIES
Saginaw Valley State leads the all-time series with Wayne State by eight, 47-39. The Warriors snapped a five-game skid to the Cardinals winning 79-58 inside the Fieldhouse on Jan. 20. WSU's last five wins against SVSU have come in Detroit with the last victory in University Center coming on Jan. 18, 2014 (0-7 since).

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 offense as they rank third in the GLIAC for scoring offense (79.0 PPG), but are ninth of 10 in scoring defense (74.4). SVSU is also third in offensive field goal percentage (.437). Saginaw Valley State is one of the top teams in the country when it comes to blocking shots. The Cardinals are 28th in Division II for blocks per game (4.3) and freshman forward Kevonne Taylor is 10th in total blocks (56).

Individually, two of the conference's top five scorers for points per game come from Saginaw Valley State. Redshirt junior guard Toodles Seal is second (18.3) and senior guard Tre Garrett is fourth (17.1). Seal is also the squad's leading rebounder (6.0 RPG - seventh in the GLIAC), while redshirt sophomore guard Curtis Jackson is slotted fourth in the league for assists per game (3.8 APG).

LAST TIME OUT - VS. NORTHERN MICHIGAN
The first 36 total points scored and nine-plus minutes of game time saw a combined four ties and five lead changes.

Once it was deadlocked for a final time at 18-18, Wayne State rattled off seven-straight points to go up 25-18 with just under 10 minutes to go. Tamario Adley was responsible for four points during that stretch while Kareem Aburashed added three.

From there until the end of the first half, the Warriors pushed their advantage to as large as 10 on five different occasions including 32-22, 34-24, 36-26, 39-29 and 41-31. Following the final instance, the Wildcats scored six of the next seven points to claw back within five, 42-37, at the 1:04 mark.

Jordan Briggs then cashed the second of his two triples to extend his team's lead back to eight (45-37) heading into the intermission.

Following some back-and-forth play to begin the second half, Wayne State held a six-point advantage (50-44) before using an 11-3 spurt to gain its steepest lead of the day at 14 (61-47). That same margin would happen again at 63-49 before Northern Michigan began to chip away a bit.

With that being said, the Warriors always had an answer as the Wildcats failed to score more than five points in a row from there until the end of the game. NMU scored 31 points to WSU's 21 for the final 10+ minutes as the home team put the game on ice with 13 makes in 18 attempts at the free throw line.

Wayne State out-rebounded Northern Michigan 36-29 and shot 55.8 percent (29-of-52) to the Wildcats' 45.3 percent (29-of-64). NMU made 10 three-pointers (10-of-21) to WSU's five (5-of-14), while the home team had a strong advantage at the charity stripe (21-of-29 to 12-of-15). Wayne State assisted on five field goals to six turnovers, while Northern Michigan turned in a ratio of 12-to-2. The Warriors out-scored the Wildcats 42-34 in paint scoring and 23-7 in bench points, while the visitors controlled points off turnovers 8-4 and second-chance scoring 12-7.

Colin Golson, Jr. secured his fourth career double-double (all this season) thanks to 27 points (game and career high) and 13 rebounds (tied personal best). Also scoring in double figures for Wayne State were Briggs with 17, Rob Lee, Jr. with 11 (12th-straight game with 10 or more) and Carmelo Harris with 10. Also on offense, Adley was on top of the assist department with two. Defensively, Ray Williams, Jr. and Chris Mutebi each notched a block, while Lee, Jr. and Briggs tallied one steal apiece.

GLIAC OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Colin Golson, Jr. was named GLIAC Offensive Player of the Week for the first time in his career on Monday. The honor came after Golson averaged a double-double with 20 points and 10.5 rebounds per game in a pair of much-needed Wayne State victories. The redshirt junior opened the week with 13 points and eight boards in 22 minutes during the 75-61 win over Michigan Tech on Thursday. He then followed that with a game-high and personal-best 27 points and 13 rebounds (tied career high) in the 84-80 victory against league-leading Northern Michigan on Saturday. In that win over the Wildcats, Golson went 10-of-14 from the field and 7-for-8 at the free throw line.

LEADING THE WARRIORS
Wayne State's leading scorer is Carmelo Harris at 13.1 points per contest thanks to 15 games of at least 12 points including eight straight from Nov. 18 to Dec. 17. Harris is one of five Warriors notching at least 8.7 points per outing, along with Colin Golson, Jr. (9.8), Ray Williams, Jr. (9.7 PPG), Rob Lee, Jr. (9.0) and Tamario Adley (8.7 PPG). Williams, Jr. and Golson, Jr. are neck and neck when it comes to the rebounding crown averaging 5.8 and 5.7, respectively. Assist wise, Adley is on top of the squad with 3.1 per performance (10th in the GLIAC). Offensive efficiency wise, Lee, Jr. is third in three-point percentage (.474) and Harris ranks first in free throw percentage (.884).

DOUBLE OVERTIME AFFAIRS
Prior to the Feb. 15 double overtime setback at Lake Superior, WSU's previous two-overtime game was Nov. 8, 2019, at home vs. Ohio Dominican. The Panthers won that game 87-86.

ALL FIVE STARTERS IN DOUBLE FIGURES
All five WSU starters scored in double figures in the Feb. 15 double overtime loss at LSSU. It was the second time this season, all five Warrior starters were in double figures. The first was Nov. 21st in an 84-73 WSU home court victory over Lake Erie.

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Players Mentioned

#4 Kareem Aburashed: C; 6' 10"; Sophomore

#5 Tamario Adley: G; 6' 2"; Sophomore

#2 Jordan Briggs: G; 5' 11"; Freshman

#1 Colin Golson, Jr.: F; 6' 5"; Redshirt Junior

#11 Carmelo Harris: G; 5' 10"; Sophomore

#24 Rob Lee, Jr.: G; 6' 3"; Freshman

#10 Chris Mutebi: G; 6' 3"; Sophomore

#23 Ray Williams, Jr.: G/F; 6' 4"; Senior

Players Mentioned

#4 Kareem Aburashed
: 6' 10"; Sophomore
: C

#5 Tamario Adley
: 6' 2"; Sophomore
: G

#2 Jordan Briggs
: 5' 11"; Freshman
: G

#1 Colin Golson, Jr.
: 6' 5"; Redshirt Junior
: F

#11 Carmelo Harris
: 5' 10"; Sophomore
: G

#24 Rob Lee, Jr.
: 6' 3"; Freshman
: G

#10 Chris Mutebi
: 6' 3"; Sophomore
: G

#23 Ray Williams, Jr.
: 6' 4"; Senior
: G/F