HOUGHTON, Mich. – For the fourth time this season, the No. 23 nationally-ranked Michigan Tech men's basketball team will face its rival, the Northern Michigan Wildcats, this time in the NCAA Midwest Regional Quarterfinals on Saturday, at the Recreation & Athletic Center on the campus of Illinois-Springfield, slated for a 1 p.m. tipoff.

Complete action of Saturday's game can be found at Michigantechhuskies.com/live. 

The Huskies are making their 12th trip to the NCAA Tournament and the second under GLIAC Coach of the Year, Josh Buettner.

The Tournament

Missouri S&T earned the No. 1 seed to play host away from their own gymnasium in the eight-team regional. On Saturday, No. 3 Michigan Tech opens the tournament play against No. 6 Northern Michigan at 1 p.m. No. 2 Lake Superior State faces No. 7 Lincoln in the second game of the day at 3:30 p.m. The Host, No. 1 Missouri S&T, clashes with No. 8 Malone at 6 p.m. and No. 4 Missouri-St. Louis plays No. 5 Ferris State in the nightcap at 8:30 p.m.

The winner of the MTU-NMU will meet the winner of LSSU-LU on Sunday at 6 p.m. 

About the Wildcats

Northern Michigan is in the NCAA Tournament for the third consecutive season, as the Wildcats earned an automatic bid following a GLIAC Tournament Championship victory last weekend over Lake Superior State (78-63) in Houghton on Sunday.

The Wildcats are winners of six-straight with an overall record of 22-9, finishing GLIAC play with a ledger of 13-7.

Redshirt junior Jackson Dudek highlighted the Wildcats GLIAC tournament run as he led NMU with 15.7 points on 67.9 percent from the floor (19-28) and 45.5 percent from 3-point land (5-11), adding a team-leading six rebounds throughout the tournament. In total, five Wildcats averaged double-figure points, with the athletic veteran Dylan Kuehl adding 11.7 points and five rebounds. 

Dudek was named the GLIAC Tournament MVP as Brian Parzych also earned All-Tournament team honors with his 10 points per game. 

About the Huskies

Michigan Tech, the 2024-25 GLIAC Regular Season Champions, earned a spot in the NCAA tournament as the No. 3 seed after bowing out of the GLIAC Tournament in the semifinals. The Huskies hold a 23-7 record overall and finished atop the conference with a GLIAC regular season standing of 17-3. The Black & Gold are 8-2 over their last 10 games.

The GLIAC Player of the Year, Marcus Tomashek, leads the Black & Gold with 23.3 points per game, adding 4.2 rebounds and a team-high 2.9 dimes. The Green Bay, Wisconsin, native ranks 11th in the country in points (675) and points per game. Ty Fernholz adds 11.2 points off the bench, shooting 47.5 percent from the field and 47.4 percent from 3-point range.

Redshirt freshman Gabe Smith has started the last nine games for Michigan Tech and averages 6.7 points, 3.6 rebounds and 1.1 steals. 

Michigan Tech earns 9.8 3-pointers per game, which ranks second in the GLIAC and 21st in the country while having the league-best 3-point percentage (37.6), ranking 34th nationally. 

The Huskies average 77.3 points per game and gain a boost off the bench of 28.8 points, ranking 31st in the country. 

One Last Thing

Michigan Tech earned a series sweep over Northern Michigan in the regular season before falling to the Wildcats in the GLIAC Tournament.