NORTH CANTON, Ohio -- For the third time in program history, the No. 16 nationally-ranked Michigan Tech men's basketball team will play in the Midwest Region Championship, facing No. 9 nationally-ranked Walsh on Tuesday night, slated for a 7:00 p.m. tipoff.
Full coverage of the game and tickets can be found at Michigantechhuskies.com/live.
About the Cavaliers
Walsh, the No. 1 seed and host, is 29-3 on the year, defeating No. 8 seed William Jewell on Saturday (77-70) and No. 5 seed Northern Michigan (86-68) on Sunday, riding a 12-game win-streak to play in the Regional Championship game.
Sunday's win marked the 500th career-win for Walsh head coach Jeff Young, who also earned G-MAC Coach of the Year accolades, in his 23rd season at the helm of the Cavaliers.
Walsh is averaging 81.5 points on 44.4 percent shooting in the tournament while holding the opposition to 69 points on 42.6 percent shooting. They are also commanding the glass, with a rebound margin of seven, pulling down 41 boards per game.
Four players have averaged double-figure scoring in the regional tournament, with Kaleb Schaffer leading the charge with 14ppg. Matthew Biddell (12.5), Kobe Mitchell (12.0) and First Team All-G-MAC selection Quintero Barnett (12.0) have also added double-figure scoring averages for the Cavaliers.
Mitchell (7), Schaffer (6) and Biddell (5) lead the team in 3-pointers made on the weekend from a well-balanced WU offense. Biddell (57.1%) and Mitchell (55.0) are both shooting over 50 percent, ranking best on the squad.
Brayden Gross, the G-MAC Freshman of the Year, is producing a team-best 8.5 rebounds per game, while Jadi Cunningham is dishing out 4.5 assists in the regional run.
About the Huskies
Michigan Tech, the No. 3 seed is now 28-6 this season, one win away from tying the most wins for a season in program history, advanced to the Regional Championship following a Saturday win over No. 6 seed Lake Erie (83-73) before besting No. 2 seed Grand Valley State for the first time this season, by a score of 69-67 off a four-point player by Huskies' All-American Marcus Tomashek with seconds remaining.
The Huskies are putting up 76 points on 45 percent shooting in the regional tournament while commanding the glass with 40.5 boards per game and a +9.0 rebounding margin. Additionally, the Black & Gold are putting up 33 free-throw attempts per game, averaging 24 free-throw makes.
Tomashek and Jesse Napgezek are the lone Huskies averaging double-figure scoring as Tomashek has averaged 28 points, netting the 20th 30-point game of his career, dropping 33 against Lake Erie before scoring a game-high 22 points against No. 22 Grand Valley State.
Napgezek has reached new heights in the postseason, recording career-highs of 20 points and eight rebounds against the Storm while going a combined 24-of-32 from the charity stripe in the two games.
Tomashek is also averaging 5.5 rebounds and a team-leading three assists in the tournament as Gabe Smith and Napgezek are leading the way on the glass with eight and seven rebounds per game, respectively.
One Last Thing
With a win on Tuesday, the Huskies would tie the most wins in program history, matching the 2002-03 team that went 29-3, a team on which head coach Josh Buettner competed. A win would also make the first appearance for Michigan Tech in the Elite Eight.
