HOUGHTON, Mich. – Fresh off its sixth GLIAC weekend sweep of the season, the No. 12 nationally-ranked Michigan Tech men's basketball squad tackles a single game this week, traveling to No. 22 Northern Michigan on Thursday, slated for a 7:30 p.m. tipoff.
TV6 & FOX-UP Coverage
Thursday's contest will be televised locally on FOX-UP with Mark Evans and Dave Ellis calling the action. TV6 and FOX-UP began broadcasting the Tech versus NMU rivalry during the 2013-14 season.
Watch The Huskies
All home and GLIAC games will be streamed on FloCollege. Michigan Tech fans can watch all home and conference games in volleyball, basketball, football and soccer with one subscription. FloCollege provides each subscriber with access to all content and events with the purchase of a monthly or yearly subscription. Subscriptions are offered in two different billing packages - monthly and annual. Discounts are available for students enrolled at GLIAC member and associate member institutions. You must subscribe with a .edu email address to be eligible. FloCollege is available on iOS, Android, Apple TV, Roku, Amazon Fire, and Chromecast.
The Game
The Huskies are eyeing a series sweep over the Wildcats after besting the U.P. rivals 84-75 at the SDC Gymnasium on Jan. 8, led by 35 points from Marcus Tomashek, who went 5-of-10 from trey and 14-of-15 from the free throw line as Ty Fernholz added 11 points off the bench, knocking down three 3-pointers.
About the Wildcats
Northern Michigan hosts the Huskies following a weekend split with a win at Wayne State (82-62) on Thursday before dropping a contest to a tricky Purdue Northwest team (88-76) Saturday. The Wildcats failed to keep pace with MTU and GVSU, dropping to 12-4 in the GLIAC to reside second in the standings, while having an overall ledger of 21-5.
NMU has lost two of its last three, also dropping a 71-68 decision to Lake Superior State at the Vandament Arena on Feb. 7.
The Wildcats rank first in the GLIAC in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.73), effective field goal percentage (0.568), field goal percentage (48.3), rebound margin (11.1), offensive rebounds per game (13.46), scoring defense (64.6), scoring margin (18.0), three-point percentage (39.0) and turnovers per game (9.4).
Dylan Kuehl leads three players in double-figure scoring with 20 points, 6.1 rebounds, 2.7 assists, and 1.3 blocks per game. Cal Klesmit adds 13 points, averaging 2.93 3-pointers per game with a league-best 44.3 percentage from trey. He also leads the team with 80 assists and a team-best 3.1 per game.
Jackson Dudek also reaches double-figure scoring with 12.3 points and 5.1 boards per game.
About the Huskies
Michigan Tech holds the longest win streak in the league following four consecutive wins for an overall record of 22-4 and a GLIAC-best 13-3 ledger. The Black & Gold most recently got the job done by completing series sweeps at Purdue Northwest (63-61) Thursday and Wayne State (77-73) Saturday.
Dawson Nordgaard was the difference maker in Thursday's win with a team-high 20 points on an efficient 8-of-10 shooting while adding 4-of-5 from the free throw line, to go with six rebounds, a career-high four steals and a block.
Nate Abel impressed, shooting a perfect 6-of-6, including 4-of-4 from the 3-point line, adding three rebounds and three assists in Saturday's win despite being one of three starters to foul out.
Abel leads the team in rebounds with 7.2 boards per game, ranking fifth in the league as Gabe Smith adds 6.5 rebounds and a team-high 1.85 steals per game, which sits third in the GLIAC.
Marcus Tomashek combined for 39 points on the weekend and a team-high 23 points while hitting five 3-pointers to go with four rebounds and four assists. The Division II's active career leader in points (2,253) and scoring average (19.8), leads his team with 21.6 points per game, which ranks second in the league and 11 in the country, also adding a team-best 3.0 assists per game. The Green Bay, Wisconsin, native was also named to the Bevo Francis Top 50 Watch List on Sunday.
Ty Fernholz has hit three 3-pointers in back-to-back games, averaging 2.54 3-pointers per game as part of his 9.7 points per game.
One Last Thing
Michigan Tech is 4-1 against the Northern Michigan since the start of last season, with the first meeting in the Vandament Arena seeing
Huskies drop 51 points in the first half, resulting in a 88-65 decision where MTU shot 59.3 percent from the field and 54.2 percent from trey, hitting 13 of 24 3-pointers backed by 55 combined points from Tomashek (33) and Fernholz (22).
