HOUGHTON, Mich. – The No. 8 nationally-ranked Michigan Tech men's basketball team takes a three-game win-streak on the road this weekend, traveling to Saginaw Valley State Thursday (7:30 p.m.) before a Saturday tilt at Lake Superior State (3:00 p.m.).
A live stream ($) and live stats of the games can be found at Michigantechhuskies.com/live.
Watch The Huskies
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About the Cardinals
Saginaw Valley State has lost three of its last five games despite having a winning record of 9-5 overall and a 3-3 effort in league play. Last weekend, the Cardinals split in league play with a decisive win over Roosevelt (93-68) on Thursday before falling short of victory at Parkside (87-81) on Saturday.
SVSU ranks first in the GLIAC in blocks per game (4.6), free-throw percentage (76.2) and rebounds per game (40.14).
Kevonne Taylor plays a vital role in the rim protection as a top-10 shot-blocker nationally with 36 total blocks for an average of 2.77 per game—both lead the GLIAC. Taylor and Triston Nichols both average over five rebounds a game to lead the Cardinals.
Marquese Josephs leads the league in field goal percentage (57.3) for 14.9 points and 2.4 assists in 29.1 minutes of action. Xavier Thomas produces a team-high 17 points while chipping in 4.5 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.4 steals per game.
The Cardinals were tabbed to finish eighth in the league's preseason poll under the guidance of Chris Fowler in his first season.
About the Lakers
Lake Superior State has won three of its last five contests for an overall record of 8-7 and a 2-4 GLIAC ledger in a rebuild season following a trip to the Elite Eight a season ago.
The Lakes are tops in the GLIAC in scoring offense (85.7) and turnovers forced per game (16.47). Omar Suleiman leads a trio of Lakers in double-figure scoring with 16.3 points per game. Suleiman has recorded team-highs of 32 points and six 3-pointers made.
Nino Carter-Smith chips in 10.3 points and a team-leading 3.8 assists, adding 1.8 steals per game as Peter Nwoke cleans the glass for the Lakers with 4.9 rebounds to go with 5.4 points per game.
Tyler Jamison produces over two steals per game, ranking second in the league, totaling 25 steals for the season.
Lake Superior State ranked fifth in the preseason coaches' poll under head coach Steve Hettinga in his 19th season at the helm.
About the Huskies
Michigan Tech travels downstate after completing its second GLIAC weekend sweep of the season, dropping then-No. 18 nationally-ranked Northern Michigan 84-75 on Thursday before besting Ferris State 81-72 on Saturday. For the year, the Huskies are 14-2 overall and atop the league with a 5-1 ledger.
Huskies' All-American Marcus Tomashek highlighted the weekend, becoming the fifth player in program history to surpass 2,000 career points on Saturday, earning his second GLIAC Offensive Player of the Week accolade after averaging 30 points, six rebounds and three assists while shooting 40.6 percent from the field (13-32), 43.8 percent from long range (7-16) and a near perfect 27-29 from the free throw line (93.1%).
The Black & Gold hold the best field goal percentage defense in the league (37.5%), ranking fourth nationally with a top-15 scoring d, holding oppositions to 62.5 points per game.
The Huskies' defense has been the storyline all season as the Black & Gold rank top-15 nationally in three-point percentage defense (28.2), scoring defense (62.5) and the fourth-best field goal percentage defense in the country (37.5). Nate Abel and Gabe Smith pace the Huskies in rebounds and steals. Abel averages 6.9 rebounds and 1.63 steals per game as Smith produces 6.7 boards and 1.81 steals per outing.
Offensively, Tomashek (20.4ppg) and Ty Fernholz (10.5) lead the team in double-digit scoring and rank second and third in the league in 3-pointers made.
One Last Thing
Through 16 games, the Huskies have played to an undefeated record on Thursdays (3-0) and Saturdays (9-0).
