Jan. 11, 2005

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WAYNE STATE UNIVERSITY MEN'S BASKETBALL
(8-5, 3-1 GLIAC)
at Grand Valley (10-3, 4-1) / vs. Ferris State (10-3, 2-3)
Thursday, Jan. 13 / Saturday, Jan. 15

MATCH-UPS AT A GLANCE:
Arena GVSU Fieldhouse (4,100) / Matthaei (2,000)
Tip-off Thursday, Jan. 13, 8 pm / Saturday, Jan. 15, 3 pm
Site Allendale, Mich. / Detroit, Mich.
Series Record GVSU leads 38-23 / FSU leads 33-30
Last Time WSU won 76-69, 1/15/04 / WSU won 75-71, 1/17/04
Radio Broadcast WDTK (1400 AM)
Internet Broadcast www.teamline.cc/teampages.php?teamcode=4820
Radio/InternetPlay-By-Play Matt Williamson
Television Broadcast (Jan. 13) Comcast Local
Television Play-By-Play Dave Zoran
Television Color Analyst George Fuller

THE GAMES
The Warrior men's basketball team will take on a pair of 10-3 GLIAC North Division and Great Lakes Regionally-ranked teams this week as WSU travels to Grand Valley State on Thursday before hosting Ferris State on Saturday afternoon. For the second straight Thursday, the Warriors' game will be televised live on Comcast Local (Channel 8). The replay times for the GVSU game are Jan. 14 at 6:00 am and 4:00 pm as well as noon on Jan. 15.

Wayne State is on a three-game winning streak and has held its opponent under 70 points in all eight wins. The Warriors are also undefeated when leading at the half (7-0) and winning the rebounding battle (6-0).

NCAA mascot J.J. Jumper will be at Saturday's game against the Bulldogs. Meanwhile, a make-up date has been set for WSU's game against Northern Michigan. Originally scheduled for Jan. 8, the Warriors and Wildcats will square off at 7:30 pm on Feb. 21 at the Matthaei.

INTERVIEW POLICIES
Media representatives should contact the Sports Information Office for all player and coach interviews. Players and coaches may be interviewed prior to or directly after practice during the season, but requests must be made through the Sports Information Office ahead of time.

THE COACHES
David Greer owns a 55-43 record in his fourth season at Wayne State and is 72-55 overall in five seasons of coaching.

In his first season of collegiate coaching, Ric Wesley is finding much success with a 10-3 mark. FSU's Bill Sall is 40-40 entering Tuesday's game against Hillsdale.

THE SERIES
WSU's opponents lead both all-time series. The Lakers hold a 38-23 advantage and FSU leads 33-30 in the all-time series versus Wayne State.

IN THE POLLS
The Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) coaches projected the Warriors to finish third in the South Division. Grand Valley earned 21 points to place third in the North Division poll, while the Bulldogs garnered two first-place votes in second place.

The regional and national polls will be released Tuesday evening.

SCOUTING THE LAKERS
North Division-leading GVSU started the season 8-1, but has lost to two regionally-ranked teams in Indianapolis (81-78) and Findlay (76-63) since. In the Lakers' last contest, they defeated Ferris State by three, 62-59.

Redshirt freshman Callistus Eziukwu is the team leader in scoring (13.5 points per game) and rebounding (9.1). He also ranks second in the country in field-goal percentage (77.1) and third in blocked shots (4.8).

SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS
FSU leads the league in team scoring at (85.7), three-point percentage (40.8), assists (19.69) and steals (13.23).

Senior Carlton Epps has led the team in scoring every game but two. He is the top scorer in the GLIAC at 21.2 ppg and has made a team-high 46 three-pointers.

Junior point guard Dennis Springs is fifth in the nation in assists (7.3).

MARYGROVE RECAP
All six active men's basketball players set some sort of career mark as WSU picked up its third straight win with a 107-63 win over Marygrove College in a match-up of Detroit schools at the Matthaei Monday night. The 107 tally was the most points by Wayne State since the 1994-95 season (115 vs. Gannon).

Senior center Tariq Mills opened the game with identical layups and a three-pointer by senior Morris Hall gave the Warriors a 7-2 lead in the first two minutes. Herb Goliday then scored four straight points as WSU led by nine.

Freshman forward Rob Igbawua gave the Warriors a 23-8 advantage on his monster dunk from Darrell Evans with 11:50 remaining in the half.

The Mustangs made just five of their first 22 shots to start the game, and missed their first 12 three-pointers in the first half, as the Warriors opened up a 35-12 margin. Goliday converted a three-point play with 3:46 on the clock as WSU increased its lead to 42-14. WSU led 52-19 at halftime. Wayne State continued to increase its lead with a three by Hall and another three-point play by Goliday to begin the second half.

Igbawua was on the opposite end of a WSU dunk with an assist to Goliday, but Igbawua was able to slam home two more dunks that brought the ruckus crowd to its feet.

Hall totaled 26 points and was 10-of-11 from the foul line. Also with 26 was Goliday who did his damage from the floor, shooting 10-of-13, for his career-high. Mills was one rebound shy of his second career double-double in the first half alone. He finished with career-highs in points (20) and rebounds (15).

Using high-percentage shots, Igbawua was 7-for-9 to score 17 points while pulling down 10 rebounds for his first career double-double. Adrian Schaffer was one rebound short of his first double-double with a career mark of 14 points and nine boards off the bench. Getting the ball to his teammates for open opportunities, Evans dished out a career-high 12 assists.