DETROIT -- The beginning of the all important league schedule is here for the Wayne State University men's basketball team (2-2 overall, 0-0 GLIAC). The Warriors will be at Purdue Northwest on Tuesday night before hosting Ferris State on Saturday afternoon.
STORYLINES
After splitting its first four games of the 2025-26 season, the Wayne State University men's basketball team is set to begin GLIAC play. The Warriors will travel to Purdue Northwest (2-3 overall, 0-0 GLIAC) on Tuesday for a 7 p.m. (CT) tip in Hammond, Ind. before hosting Ferris State (1-3 overall, 0-0 GLIAC) the following Saturday at 3 p.m. inside the FIeldhouse.
SERIES HISTORY
Wayne State has been victorious in 11 of the 16 all-time meetings against Purdue Northwest, but has a 2-5 mark when playing on the Pride's court. In their most recent trip to PNW, the Warriors snapped a five-game skid when playing in Hammond, with a 73-69 win on Jan. 30.
Ferris State leads the all-time series against Wayne State 59-42 and has won 19 of the last 22 meetings (since February 2014) with those three WSU victories (90-89 in 2018, 70-68 in 2021 and 83-75 in 2025) coming in Detroit, the site of Saturday's affair.
SCOUTING PURDUE NORTHWEST
First-year head coach Jordan Ashton has taken over for Boomer Roberts, who capped his seventh season at the helm in 2024-25. Ashton came to Purdue Northwest following two campaigns as the top man at William Woods University where he was 41-19, including a 29-3 record during the 2024-25 season. He was named American Midwest Conference (AMC) Coach of the Year after leading the Owls to their first-ever AMC Regular-Season Championship and AMC Tournament Title.
So far this season, the Pride have utilized a balanced scoring attack as six different players are scoring at least nine points per game or close to it. Those six are Kyle Ross (15.2 PPG), Kwat Abdelkarim (10.8), Aaiden Ashton (10.6), Garrett Clark (9.6), Davontae Hall (9.2) and Kevin Taylor (8.8). Ross is nearly averaging a double-double with 9.6 rebounds per outing, while Hall is on top of the assist department with 2.8 per effort.
SCOUTING FERRIS STATE
Ferris State has also commenced a new era under the leadership of interim head coach Alex Fodness. Fodness was bestowed the title in September following the departure of recently hired Bobby Pietrack. Previously, the Bulldogs were coached by 12-year man Andy Bronkema who was 278-105 overall. FSU is at PNW on Thursday before traveling to Detroit on Saturday.
Ferris State boasts six scorers tallying at least eight points per game. They are Tyler Hamilton (13.3 PPG), Donovan Brown-Boyd (12.3), Chang Hoth (10.5), Hussein Elmaraghy (9.3), Mykel Bingham (8.5) and Jordan Jasper (8.0). Brown-Boyd is grabbing seven boards per contest, while Hamilton is averaging 3.5 assists per outing.
LAST GAME RECAP
The first five-plus minutes were back-and-forth with seven lead changes. WSU took its last lead at 11-10 at the 15:04 mark on a bucket by senior
Carlos Paul III. The host Oilers tallied the next eight points before a triple by junior
Jotham Nweke ended the spurt.
The Warriors trailed 21-16 at the 11:46 media timeout, but over the next 6:27, Findlay out-scored Wayne State 22-11 to grab a 43-27 lead. Over the final five minutes before intermission, UF had a 10-6 scoring advantage to lead 53-33 after 20 minutes.
Wayne State had a 12-6 scoring advantage over the first five minutes after halftime, and after a banked in triple by UF's Steele Meister, WSU tallied 14 of the next 21 points to cut its deficit to 10 at 69-59 at the mid-point of the second half.
The Warriors pulled within eight at 77-69 on a bucket by Nweke. Findlay's last 10 points came from the charity stripe to secure the victory.
Wayne State shot 44 percent (28-of-63) from the floor, while UF was 33-of-60 (55 percent). WSU connected on 7-of-18 triple tries (39 percent), with the Oilers converting 14-of-27 (52 percent) from beyond the arc. The Warriors were 18-of-21 (86 percent) from the charity stripe, while Findlay made 15-of-18 (83 percent) from the foul line. The rebounding was nearly even with UF edging WSU 34-33. Both teams finished with 15 turnovers.
Redshirt freshman
JaKobie Boose tallied a career-high 18 points (previous best was four points), while junior guard
Jordan Briggs scored a game-best 20 points. Paul chipped in with 18 points and eight rebounds. Nweke also had eight boards.
APPROACHING 1,300 PROGRAM WINS
The first sport to compete for Detroit Junior College (precursor to CCD, Wayne and Wayne State), the men's basketball program has won 1,299 contests in this the 109th year of basketball (108th season since no competition due to World War II during the 1943-44 academic year.
The program has made 14 NCAA Tournament appearances, including in 1956 when the Tartars defeated Ray Meyer's DePaul squad before falling in the Sweet Sixteen to Adolph Rupp's Kentucky team in Iowa City.
Four former WSU basketball players have played for the Harlem Globetrotters in Johnny Kline, George Brown, Charlie Primas and Ernie Wagner.
