HOUGHTON, Mich. – The Michigan Tech men's basketball team travels to Minnesota for a Saturday tilt at Winona State at 2 p.m. before a Sunday contest at Concordia-St. Paul at 4 p.m. to continue the non-conference slate.
Live stats and a live stream of the games can be found at Michigantechhuskies.com/live.
About the Warriors
Winona State is 2-1 to start the season with a game already played this week, besting a similar foe to Michigan Tech this season in Missouri-St. Louis (72-62) on the road Wednesday.
The Warriors went 1-1 last weekend, defeating MIAA affiliate Pittsburg State Friday (75-60) before falling to GAC affiliate Henderson State (74-69) on Saturday.
Winona State averages 72 points per outing, shooting 48.6 percent from the field and 38.3 percent from downtown. The Warriors showcase four players in their starting lineup averaging double-figure scoring, led by Luke Haertle, producing 17.7 points per outing to go with 4.7 rebounds.
Isaiah Thompson is the team's leading rebounder with eight rebounds and 12 points a game. Tyler Mason has hit six 3-pointers this season adding 10.3 points in over 31 minutes per outing.
WSU was predicted to finish 11th in the NSIC Preseason Coaches' Poll, with Connor Drew being appointed the player to watch. Todd Eisner returns for his 10th season after going 21-10 overall and 14-8 in the loop.
About the Golden Bears
Concordia-St. Paul is 2-0 to start the season and will play a non-conference game at St. Cloud State Thursday, before welcoming Michigan Tech to the Gangelhoff Center on Sunday.
In the opening weekend, the Golden Bears went 2-0 at the NSIC/MIAA Challenge hosted in Marshall, Minnesota, besting MIAA foes Nebraska Kearney (95-93) in overtime on Friday before downing then-No. 16 ranked Fort Hays State with a commanding 82-68 decision Saturday.
Senior Marcus Skeete earned NSIC Player of the Week honors following the open weekend sweep, where Skeete averaged an NSIC-leading 12 rebounds to go with 19 points per game. He also went 7-for-10 from long range over the two games. Skeete is fifth in the country in defensive rebounds per game (10.5).
In the same release, Antwan Kimmons was named to the NSIC Shining Five with 25 points and 6.5 rebounds per game. He posted 33 points on 12-for-17 shooting with four rebounds and five assists in Friday's win. Kimmons is averaging 25 points per outing, which ranks first in the NSIC and 14th in the land.
As a team, CSP is producing 88.5 points on 51.7 percent from the field while also grabbing 44.5 rebounds. The Golden Bears rank eighth nationally with 33.5 defensive rebounds per game.
Concordia-St. Paul was tabbed to finish eighth in the NSIC Preseason Coaches' Poll as Matt Fletcher returns for his fifth season leading the Golden Bears.
About the Huskies
Michigan Tech is off to a 2-0 start for the first time in head coach Josh Buettner's career at the helm, opening the season with wins over Missouri-St. Louis (72-57) and Maryville (88-84) at the D2 Midwest Region Tip-Off hosted at the Justagame fieldhouse last weekend.
The Huskies are scoring 80 points through two games while shooting 49.0 percent from the field (51-for-104).
Senior guard Pete Calcaterra put together back-to-back games, scoring over 20 points while leading the team in rebounds, all while coming off the bench. He earned his first GLIAC Offensive Player of the Week honors following the weekend sweep, where he averaged 22 points on 14-for-18 from the field and 16-for-22 from the free throw line, to go with 10 rebounds. The Boyne City, Michigan, native currently ranks first in the league and ninth nationally with nine defensive rebounds a game.
He produced a career-high 23 points in the season opener and followed that performance with 20 points and 11 rebounds for his first double-double of the season, in Saturday's win. He ranks 12th in the land in field goal percentage (77.8) through two games.
Preseason GLIAC Player of the Year Marcus Tomashek recorded his first 30-point game of his junior season on Saturday with 36 points (12-for-18 from the field, five-for-nine from deep) to mark the seventh 30-point game of his career. He also hit the 1,000-point milestone in the season opener and is averaging 24.5 points a game thus far.
Junior forward Dawson Nordgaard posted back-to-back games in double-figure scoring with 12 points and four blocks on Friday and 17 points on Saturday. True freshman Tyl Fernholz averages 10 points per game in 14 minutes of action.
One Last Thing
The Huskies have been good at taking care of the ball, averaging just nine turnovers per game, which ranks 13th nationally and second in the GLIAC.
