Complete PDF Notes
Upcoming in Gray Wolves Basketball: A three-game homestand begins this week for Lourdes as the Gray Wolves reach the midway point of Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference action.  Lourdes concludes the first half of the conference slate on Wednesday, hosting Marygrove, before welcoming Aquinas to Tam-o-Shanter on Saturday to begin round two of league play.

Head Coach Andre Smith: In his sixth season both on the Lourdes bench and overall as a men's collegiate head coach, Andre Smith has a 92-82 (.529) record.  He is the only head coach in Lourdes program's history.  Smith was the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference Coach of the Year in 2012-2013.

Series Notes: Lourdes holds a 6-2 all-time advantage against Marygrove in a series that dates back to Jan. 3, 2011.  The Gray Wolves swept both meetings last season, posting a 76-54 victory in Detroit, Mich. before winning 83-73 at Tam-o-Shanter.  Lourdes is 4-0 all-time against the Mustangs at Tam-o-Shanter. Lourdes is 6-3 all-time against Aquinas in a series that dates back to Nov. 30, 2011.  The Saints have won the last two meetings between the two schools though, including a 55-52 overtime triumph earlier this year on Nov. 21 in Grand Rapids, Mich.  Lourdes is 2-0 in the only previous meetings at Tam-o-Shanter.

Earlier This Season: Lourdes led by six with under two minutes to play on Nov. 21 before Aquinas scored the final six points of regulation, including three free throws in the final seconds.  The Saints then pulled out a 55-52 victory in the extra session.  E.J. Blackwell led Lourdes with 19 points while Zach Steinmetz added 18 points and nine boards.  Jake Bullock scored 14 points to pace Aquinas.

Wrapping Up Last Week: Lourdes' three seniors combined for 52 of the team's 62 points on Wednesday as the Gray Wolves defeated Northwestern Ohio 62-50 at Tam-o-Shanter.  E.J. Blackwell led the way with 24 points while Zach Steinmetz added 18 points in the victory.  On Saturday, the Gray Wolves rallied from a 13-point second half deficit, and had a shot to win at the buzzer, but came up short, falling 66-64 on the road at Siena Heights.  Steinmetz tallied a game-high 27 points for the Gray Wolves.

Scouting Marygrove: The Mustangs have dropped 13 regular season games in a row entering play this week after falling 86-69 on the road at Concordia (Mich.) on Saturday afternoon.  Nate Taylor has led Marygrove in scoring since playing his first game Dec. 29, averaging 19.4 points per contest, while grabbing a team-high 11.0 rebounds per game.  Diante Taylor has added 12.8 points per night.  Defensively, Sirafino Davis ranks fourth in NAIA Division II, blocking 2.53 shots per game.

Scouting Aquinas: The Saints have enter the week having won five straight games following a convincing 80-53 victory over Michigan-Dearborn on Saturday afternoon.  Aquinas hosts Siena Heights on Wednesday before visiting Lourdes at week's end.  Zac VanBeek leads the Saints averaging 16.7 points per game, ranking 13th nationally shooting 48.1% from three-point range.  Jake Bullock adds 16.6 points per contest, and is shooting 87.3% from the free throw line, 16th best nationally.  Ryan Schall leads the country with a 6.43 assist-to-turnover ratio.

Steinmetz Produces Season High: Zach Steinmetz poured in 27 points on Saturday night at Siena Heights, not only tallying a season high in scoring for the senior, but also notching the highest output of any Gray Wolf this season.  Steinmetz made all four of his three-point attempts in the game, coming up just three points shy of matching his career-high of 30 points set last season against Indiana Tech and Marygrove.

Abbott Makes First Collegiate Start: Hamish Abbott made the most of his first collegiate start at Siena Heights, scoring 10 point against the Saints on 5-of-8 shooting.  Abbott became the 11th different Gray Wolf to start a game this season, with only T.J. Spencer yet to crack the lineup of the 12 players that have seen action.  Lourdes has not had any one player start more than 15 of the team's 17 contests this season.

Going the Distance: E.J. Blackwell and Zach Steinmetz each played all 40 minutes for the Gray Wolves against Northwestern Ohio last Wednesday.  For Blackwell, it was his fourth such game this season while Steinmetz played from start to finish for the third time.  The contest marked the second one this year in which they both went the distance, the other coming at Aquinas, where they both played all 45 minutes in an overtime game.

Limiting Scoring Yet Again: The Gray Wolves enter the week ranked sixth in NAIA Division II allowing just 65.5 points per game this season after finishing in the top-five nationally in scoring defense each of the last four seasons.  Lourdes finished third in NAIA Division II last season surrendering just 58.7 points per game.  In 2013-2014 Lourdes was fifth (63.10), one year after leading the country in 2012-2013 allowing just 51.3 points per night.

More National Rankings: Defensively, the Gray Wolves are holding the opposition to just 41.6% shooting from the floor, a mark that ranks 25th nationally.  Lourdes ranks 37th in NAIA Division II shooting 71.9% from the free throw line this year and is 40th shooting 36.7% from beyond the arc.

Individually Among the National Leaders: Julian Johnson ranks 25th in assist-to-turnover ratio at 3.09 after handing out 11 helpers and committing just one turnover last week.  He also ranks 47th with 4.2 assists per game. Zach Steinmetz ranks 30th in the country averaging 8.6 rebounds per contest.  

This and That: E.J. Blackwell is 20 points shy of 700 for his career, entering play this week with 680 ... Zach Steinmetz and E.J. Blackwell rank fourth and fifth in the WHAC averaging 17.2 and 16.7 points per game respectively.