DETROIT -- The Wayne State University men's basketball team (10-10 overall, 6-6 GLIAC) will return home to face two of the league standings' top four teams in Michigan Tech (15-5 overall, 10-2 GLIAC) on Thursday night before Northern Michigan (14-6 overall, 8-4 GLIAC) on Saturday afternoon.

STORYLINES
Wayne State (10-10, 6-6) returns home to the Fieldhouse after a 1-1 road trip.  The Warriors ended a four-game losing streak on Purdue Northwest's court, taking care of the Pride 73-69 on Jan. 30.  However, WSU then suffered a setback at Parkside two days later, 80-63.  It was Wayne State's third straight weekend earning a split in conference play.

Eying a GLIAC regular-season championship, No. 30-ranked Michigan Tech comes to Motown at 15-5 overall and 10-2 in the GLIAC, tied with Lake Superior State at the top. All five of the Huskies losses have come in true road games (3-5), most recently 82-72 at the hands of No. 14 LSSU on Jan. 23.

Northern Michigan (14-6, 8-4) has gone .500 in its last eight contests, just two of which were away from home (0-2).  The Wildcats were sitting pretty at 10-2, 4-0 prior to that eight-game stretch.

THE SERIES
Wayne State has a 16-win advantage in the all-time series with Michigan Tech, 57-41.  The Warriors have a 36-12 mark at home vs. the Huskies and have been on the right side of the scoreboard for three of the previous four in Detroit.

Wayne State's impressive 82-67 triumph at Northern Michigan on Jan. 16 put the Warriors ahead by one in the all-time ledger, 43-42.  WSU is 28-17 at home vs. the Wildcats, and has won 15 of the last 24 meetings overall dating back to 2008.

SCOUTING THE HUSKIES
Michigan Tech continues to be paced by one of the top scorers in all of Division II in junior Marcus Tomashek, a four-time recipient of GLIAC Offensive Player of the Week honors this season.  Among the nation's best, the Trevor Hudgins Award Top-25 Watch List member ranks third in points per game (25.5), fourth in total points (484), sixth in free throw attempts (169), ninth in field goal attempts (339), 11th in free throws made (122), 17th in field goals made (154), and 43rd in triples made per game (2.84).  He's one of two Huskies averaging in double figures along with true freshman Ty Fernholz (10.7 PPG).  Pete Calcaterra spearheads the effort on the glass (4.9 RPG) while Tomashek also runs the show assist wise (3.3 APG).

SCOUTING THE WILDCATS
Unlike Michigan Tech, Northern Michigan brings a much more balanced attack offensively.  Four Wildcats score at least 8.7 points per contest including Dylan Kuehl (15.4), Julien Smith (11.8), Sam Privet (10.2) and Gerald Gittens, Jr. (8.7).  Fifth on that list is Brian Parzych (6.9 PPG), who hasn't played in NMU's last five games, his last outing coming against Wayne State on Jan. 16.  Kuehl is Northern's top rebounder (6.4 RPG, seventh in GLIAC), while both Parzych and Derek Merwick dish out 2.4 assists per performance.

LAST TIME OUT - AT PARKSIDE - FEB. 1
The game featured zero lead changes and one tie (3-3) after UWP's Josiah Palmer drained a triple just 12 seconds into the contest and WSU's Carmelo Harris connected from beyond the arc just over 20 seconds later.  The host Rangers then scored the next six points before Rob Lee, Jr. made a triple to cut the deficit to three (9-6).  After a lay-up by Parkside, Harris again connected from downtown making it a two-point game (11-9) less than four minutes into the contest.

UWP went on an 11-0 spurt as the Warriors were held scoreless until a Carlos Paul III lay-up which snapped the five-plus minute drought.  WSU trailed by double digits until three consecutive buckets by Paul trimmed the margin to six (31-25) with just over four minutes remaining before halftime.  Tamario Adley continued the Warrior rally with a lay-up and Paul made one-of-two from the charity stripe to conclude the 9-0 run by Wayne State.

Parkside scored the final four points of the first half to lead by seven (37-30) at intermission.

WSU went scoreless for nearly four minutes to start the second half until Adam Ayrault connected from beyond the arc to cut the deficit to six (39-33).  UWP's Ethan Ivan drained a triple on the ensuing possession, prior to a jumper by Adley.

Following a lay-up by Paul with just under 14 minutes left which made it a seven-point contest (44-37), the Rangers extended their advantage to double digits with five consecutive points.  Adley responded with a shot from three-point range making it 49-40, but the hosts tallied seven of the next eight points for a 15-point margin (56-41) at the mid-point of the second half.
Wayne State was within nine (63-54) after a free throw by Harris with 5:41 left, but UWP's Jack Rose scored the next five points, and Ivan contributed a hook shot for a 16-point lead (70-54).  WSU was never able to get closer than 13 over the final 3:30.

Wayne State shot 46 percent (25-of-54) from the field, while UWP was 32-of-57 (56 percent).  WSU made 6-of-16 (38 percent) triple tries, with the Rangers connecting on 9-of-26 (35 percent) from beyond the arc.  Both teams made seven free throws - Warriors 7-of-14 (50 percent), Parkside 7-8 (88 percent).  UWP had a 31-27 edge in rebounding, and led for 39:16 of the game.

Tamario Adley scored a team-best 16 points and led the squad with nine rebounds.  Carlos Paul III chipped in with 15 points on 7-of-7 shooting, while Carmelo Harris connected on three triples in scoring 14 points.  Jordan Briggs had a team-high three assists.

FREE THROW PHENOMS
Wayne State junior Carmelo Harris continues to make free throws with a historic efficiency.  This season, Harris ranks third in the GLIAC and 43rd nationally in free throw percentage at 86.9 percent (53-of-61).  Career wise, the Flint native is shooting 87.8 percent (165-of-188), which is first in program history (minimum 70 made) and 12th among all active Division II players.  When factoring in all current NCAA basketball players from Divisions I, II and III, Harris' career clip is good for 45th.  Not to be forgotten though is his high school teammate Rob Lee, Jr., who is fourth in the league for free throw percentage at 85.9 percent (61-of-71).

"THE MAESTRO"
Redshirt senior Ray Williams, Jr. continues to ascend the program's career record book top 50 in several categories.  Entering this week, Williams is second in minutes played (3,441), second in games started (106), third in games played (115), seventh in total rebounds (680, 20th among active players in D2), tied-for-23rd in three-pointers made (79), 31st in field goals made (350), tied-for-31st in steals (81), 36th in points scored (895), and tied for-41st in blocked shots (27).  The Detroit native is one of four players in program history to start at least 100 games along with Raheem Muhammad (111, 1982-86), Tony Goins (102, 1995-99) and Marcus Moore (100, 2014-18).  Williams needs to see time in just six more games to become Wayne State's all-time leader in games played.  Scott Armstrong is currently first with 120 games played (1990-94).

AT THE CHARITY STRIPE
Junior guard Tamario Adley attempted 19 foul shots in the Jan. 23 win over Saginaw Valley State.  It was the fifth most attempts in program history and the most since Ike Udanoh had 20 free throw attempts on January 14, 2012, vs. Findlay.  The most attempts in the last 65 years is 24 by Art Johnson on January 11, 1992, vs. Lake Superior State.  In the Jan. 30 victory at Purdue Northwest, Adley was a perfect 12-of-12 at the charity stripe.  That night he became the first Wayne State men's basketball player in at least 23 years to shoot 100 percent from the foul line with more than 10 makes.