HOUGHTON, Mich. -- The No. 17 nationally-ranked Michigan Tech men's basketball team is back in action at the SDC Gymnasium this week, facing Lake Superior State on Thursday (7:30 p.m.) before a clash with Saginaw Valley State on Saturday (2:00 p.m.) for Alumni Day.

The Games

The Huskies are looking for series sweeps over Lake Superior State and Saginaw Valley State. Michigan Tech secured road wins over Lake Superior State and Saginaw Valley State by a margin of three points combined in the middle of January.

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• Incredible Bank T-shirt tosses

• Domino's Hot Shot Halftime contest

About the Lakers

Lake Superior State is 11-10 overall with a GLIAC standing of 5-7. The Lakers most recently secured two home wins over Roosevelt (98-67) on Thursday before blitzing Parkside (106-65) Saturday.

The Lakers rank first in the GLIAC in assists per game (17.3), bench points per game (31.86), fastbreak points (16.10), scoring offense (85.8), three-point attempts per game (27.9), turnovers forced per game (16.24) and turnover margin (5.0).

Nino Carter-Smith is the floor general for LSSU with 90 assists this season for an average of 4.3 per game. He also holds a team-leading 40 steals, nearing two per game (1.90).

Omar Suleiman leads the team in scoring with 15.7 points, including 2.52 3-pointers per game. Harrison Sorrelle (2.29) and Drew Hess (2.00) also add two or more treys per outing. Sorelle (13.6) and Carter-Smith (10.6) join Suleiman in double-figure scoring.

Tyler Jamison commands the glass for the Lakers with a team-high 4.5 rebounds per game.

About the Cardinals

Saginaw Valley State is 11-9 overall and 5-7 in league play. The Cardinals earned their first GLIAC weekend sweep of the season with wins at home over Parkside (85-77) Thursday and Roosevelt (91-80) Saturday.

The Cardinals pace the league with 4.3 blocks per game while ranking second in the GLIAC in free throw percentage (74.8) and fastbreak points (13.45).

Kevonne Taylor ranks top-10 in the country in blocks (49) and blocks per game (2.58) as the inside presence on defense while adding 6.5 points and 5.2 boards.

Xavier Thomas (17.5), Marquese Josephs (13.8) and Dontez Scott II (11.0) average over half the team's points, as the Cardinals produce 78.7 points per outing.

Triston Nichols (5.3), Byrson Hukeby (5.1) and Taylor (5.2) all average over five boards per game to lead the team.

About the Huskies

Michigan Tech is coming off a weekend setback with a loss at Davenport (72-69) Thursday before dropping a defensive battle at No. 23 Grand Valley State (55-46) Saturday for an overall record of 18-4 and a GLIAC standing of 9-3.

Despite the offensive struggle on Saturday, the Huskies still maintain a top-10 field goal percentage defense (38.7), ranking seventh nationally and a top-15 scoring defense (64.9).

The No. 17 nationally-ranked Huskies saw Marcus Tomashek combine for 32 points in the two losses, marking 14 consecutive games reaching double-figure scoring this season, now at 86 games for his career. The Green Bay, Wisconsin, native leads the Black & Gold in points, averaging 21.5 per game to go with 4.5 rebounds and a team-high three assists.

Ty Fernholz (9.9) and Gabe Smith (9.2) are the Huskies' next top scorers. Nate Abel leads the team in rebounds per game with 7.6, following two games where he had nine boards, respectively. Smith is close behind, securing seven rebounds per outing as the duo also average over a steal a game as well.

One Last Thing

The Huskies turnover woes played a vital role in the winless weekend on the road. However, Michigan Tech is 9-0 when committing fewer turnovers than the opponent this season.