DETROIT — Riding the wave of a season-long three-game winning streak, the Wayne State University men's basketball team (8-6 overall, 5-3 GLIAC) will head back out on the road this week. The Warriors will be at Michigan Tech on Thursday night before a Saturday afternoon date with Northern Michigan, both of which are tied for first in the league standings.
STORYLINES
Playing at home for the first time in nearly a month last week, Wayne State took care of Parkside (82-78) and Roosevelt (78-67) inside the Fieldhouse to extend its season-long winning streak to three.
At 8-6 overall and 5-3 in the GLIAC, the Warriors will look to take that momentum on the road to the homes of the top two teams in the league.
Sixth-ranked Michigan Tech (Thursday - 7:30 p.m.) and No. 13 Northern Michigan (Saturday - 3 p.m.) are both 16-2 overall and 7-1 in conference play. The Huskies have gone 5-1 on their court (lost to Grand Valley State), while the Wildcats have an unblemished home mark of 6-0.
SERIES HISTORY
Wayne State has a 17-win advantage in the all-time series with Michigan Tech, 58-41. However, the Warriors haven't been so fortunate on the Huskies floor where they are 18-27 all-time and have lost seven in a row. WSU's last win in Houghton came on Feb. 9, 2017, with a final score of 68-47 behind 18 points from Chuck Key.
Wayne State and Northern Michigan have faced off 86 times in the all-time ledger with both squads accounting for 43 victories. The Wildcats have been on the right side of the scoreboard for seven of the last nine meetings, including four of the previous five in Marquette. Most recently though, the Warriors got the best of their opponent up north, 82-67, on Jan. 16, 2025, when
Rob Lee, Jr. poured in 40 points.
SCOUTING MICHIGAN TECH
Not many teams defend better than Michigan Tech. The Huskies rank eighth in the country for field goal percentage defense (38.3 percent), 15th in defensive rebounds per game (28.7) and 17th in scoring defense (64.5 points per game). Those three numbers are good for first, second (to Davenport) and second (to Northern Michigan) in the GLIAC, respectively.
Individually, everything MTU accomplishes starts with the reigning GLIAC Player of the Year and First Team All-American senior Marcus Tomashek. Nationally, Tomashek is second in field goals attempted (297), 11th in total points (369), 13th in points per game (21.7), 21st in three-pointers made per game (3.0), 21st in triples made (51), 26th in free throws made (92), 35th in free throws attempted (115), and 39th in field goals made (113).
Tomashek is one of two Huskies averaging double figures, the other being sophomore Ty Fernholz (10.3 PPG). Fernholz is seventh for Division II in three-pointers attempted (144), 16th in triples made (52) and 33rd in treys made per game (2.89).
Reshirt senior Nate Abel brings down 7.3 rebounds per contest, while redshirt sophomore Gabe Smith averages 7.1 RPG and Tomashek dishes out 3.1 assists per outing.
SCOUTING NORTHERN MICHIGAN
Northern Michigan is as good as they come on both sides of the floor. Nationally, the Wildcats are first in rebounding margin (+13.0), second in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.72), fourth in scoring margin (+22.5), fifth in fewest turnovers per game (9.8), sixth in three-pointers made per game (11.1), seventh in scoring defense (61.8 PPG), eighth in three- point percentage (40 percent), 19th in field goal percentage defense (39.5), and 29th in offensive field goal percentage (48.7).
Individually, three players lead the scoring department -- graduate student Dylan Kuehl (19.2 PPG), redshirt sophomore Cal Klesmit (13.7) and grad student Jackson Dudek (12.4). That output for Kuehl is third in the GLIAC, while his 6.2 rebounds per effort are good for ninth. Redshirt freshman Bennett Basich is right behind him for boards with a 6.1 average. Kuehl and Klesmit both put up 2.7 dimes per performance.
SPREAD THE WEALTH
So far through 14 games, Wayne State has had six different players lead the team in scoring. Those six are
Jordan Briggs (seven times),
Carlos Paul III (three),
Jotham Nweke (two),
Adam Ayrault (one),
Devin Belle (one), and
JaKobie Boose (one).
When looking at the season stats as a whole, those six Warriors are all among the team's top eight producers when it comes to points per game. Their season averages include 16.4 for Briggs, 13.4 for Paul III, 10.1 for Nweke, 8.6 for Belle, 7.8 for Boose, and 4.6 for Ayrault. The other two for that group are
Jalen Jenkins (5.2) and
Jon Brantley (4.7).
IRON SHARPENS IRON
While Wayne State's current strength of schedule is good for just 134th (97-84, .536 winning percentage) in the country, the road ahead doesn't look nearly as kind. The Warriors' remaining slate is the nation's toughest of anyone not in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) at seventh (124-64, .660) nationally. Because of that, WSU's composite ranking is No. 24 out of 298 schools with an overall record of 221-148, good for a .599 winning percentage.
WARRIOR SPORTS NETWORK
Every men's basketball contest will air on the Warrior Sports Network with veteran play-by-play broadcaster Kevin Brechmacher calling the action for the 10th consecutive season. He will be joined on the home broadcasts by former WSU basketball student-athletes Andy Dold, Chuck Key and Marcus Moore on a rotating basis. Veteran Detroit broadcaster Tony Ortiz will handle the sideline reporting duties for a majority of the home games on the Warrior Sports Network as well.
