MARQUETTE, Mich. - It will be a true test for the Northern Michigan men's basketball team this weekend, as they'll travel to Duluth, Minnesota to take on two of the top teams in the nation. Northern will face No. 3 Minnesota State-Moorhead on Friday at 5 p.m. ET and will then turn its attention to No. 6 Minnesota Duluth on Saturday at 5 p.m. ET. 

The Dragons (4-0) and the Bulldogs (3-0) both find themselves near the top of the NABC national poll. MSU Moorhead is also No. 3 in the D2CSC poll while Duluth slots in at No. 11. The Wildcats are receiving votes in the NABC poll and are No. 15 in the D2CSC poll. 

Both games can be heard on 100.3 The Point, with Casey Ford on the call. 


Follow The Action
Follow @NMU_WBBall and @NMU_Wildcats on X (formerly known as Twitter) for updates leading up to and during the race. 

Friday, November 22 - vs. No. 3/3 Minnesota State-Moorhead (Duluth, MN) at 5 p.m. ET
Watch  |  Live Stats  |  Listen

Saturday, November 23 - at No. 6/11 Minnesota Duluth at 5 p.m. ET
Watch  |  Live Stats  |  Listen


A Word from Matt Majkrzak
"[Last weekend] The ball ended up in the hands of one of our best shooters. I'm right on the line and as soon as he released it I felt like it was going in. And the next thing you know, we win the game…[Looking ahead to this weekend] this Duluth team has a real chance to win a national title with their depth. Moorhead is undefeated and has the same team back from last year. They are both coached at an elite level and are national contenders, so we will know more about us after this weekend."



About the 'Cats
The Wildcats are coming off quite the thrilling weekend, defeating Illinois-Springfield 85-83 on a three-point buzzer beater by Julien Smith to move to 3-0 on the season. 

NMU has spent its first two weekends on neutral grounds in Wisconsin Dells, defeating Maryville and Missouri-St. Louis two weekends ago before rallying to down the Prairie Stars last weekend. The team ranks T-9th nationally in rebound margin (+13.0) and 17th in scoring defense (61.0).   

Balanced, unselfish play has been the calling card for the Green and Gold through three games. In the opener vs. Maryville, all ten 'Cats scored and grabbed a rebound, and nine of the ten recorded an assist. Against UMSL, all ten scored again with each contributing an assist and nine of the ten grabbing a rebound. In last weekend's lone tilt, 8 off 11 scored. 

Early on, all five starters are averaging at least 9.0 points per game: Brian Parzych (13.0), Sam Privet (12.7), Julien Smith (12.3), Dylan Kuehl (10.7), and Gerald Gittens (9.0). Seven scored 6+ points in game one, six scored 8+ in game two, and six scored 9+ in game three. Sam Privet has the high-point thus far, scoring a career-high 22 points (19 in the 2nd half) on 9-11 from the floor and 4-5 from three in last Saturday's win over Springfield. 

Now in his sixth season at the helm, Matt Majkrzak is looking to bring the 'Cats to a third consecutive NCAA Tournament after his teams have earned a spot in the big dance in back-to-back seasons. The last two seasons have been two of the best in program history. In 2022-23, Northern captured its first GLIAC Tournament title since 2000. The Wildcats went 25-8 that year, the most wins in program history, and made it to the Round of 32. Last year, the Green and Gold followed it up with a 22-11 season that saw them win the GLIAC regular season title for the first time since the 1992-93 season with a regular season conference record of 14-4. 

Majkrzak is the reigning GLIAC Coach of the Year. In his 6+ seasons, NMU has gone 89-56 (.614). Last year, Majkrzak and the Wildcats hosted the GLIAC Tournament for the first time since 1992-93. He is only the second leader of the program to be named conference Coach of the Year, joining Dean Ellis in 1993. For a team that dealt with injuries all season long a year ago, Majkrzak continued to make it work for the Green and Gold, plugging and playing different lineups with seemingly no interruptions. The Wildcats also tied the longest winning streak in program history last year at 13 games, originally set in 1984-85. NMU averaged 79.2 points/game and allowed 76.7 last year. 

On the court, NMU fields a 17-player roster. Of those, only six players return to the lineup who saw playing time with the Wildcats a season ago. Losing GLIAC Player of the Year Max Weisbrod to Division I Northern Iowa will be a lot to overcome, but forward Dylan Kuehl and his freakish athleticism will certainly be up to the task. 

Kuehl has been named to the GLIAC Preseason First Team after being a key player for Northern's recent success. He was named to the All-GLIAC First Team and All-Defensive Team in each of his two seasons, as well as earning a spot on the NABC All-District Second Team last year. Through his first two seasons,  Kuehl is averaging 14.3 points/game. He is closing in on the 1,000 career point milestone with 961 points. The Iron Ridge, Wisconsin native is also averaging 6.4 rebounds, 1.8 assists, and 1.1 blocks in his first two seasons while shooting 52.2% from the floor. Last year, he finished first in the GLIAC with 161 made field goals and fourth on the glass with 163 total rebounds.

In the backcourt, NMU added a quartet of guards in Julien Smith (Missouri S&T), Gerald Gittens (Mary), Derek Merwick (Midland), and Biggie Luster (Clarke) in the transfer portal. Smith is amongst the nation's returning scoring leaders as he's mustered 1,623 career points (15.9 ppg) over his four seasons at Missouri S&T while Gittens averaged 13.8 ppg last year at the University of Mary. These guards will join Brian Parzych who is the established veteran in the backcourt. Parzych has averaged 10.6 points/game and over the last two seasons and 3 assists/game over his career, as the three guards that are expected to lead the way in the backcourt. 

Majkrzak will also look to returning bigs Sam Privet and Jackson Dudek, as well as redshirt freshman Peter Lattos to step into a bigger role than they held in 2023-24.

Northern has added four freshmen to the fold in Michael McNabb, Cody Schmitz, Jonny Ingalls, and Isaiah Allen. The four combined for a remarkable 8,216 career points in high school and the class will look fit right in with the veterans around them. 


A Look at Minnesota State-Moorhead
Ranked No. 3 in both the NABC and D2CSC national polls, Three of the Dragons four wins have come by eight points or less. The team is averaging 66.3 points per game while only surrendering 56.5, the third best scoring defense in the nation. The Dragons are ranked 22nd nationally in three-point defense (25.4%) and rebounding margin (+9.8). 

Senior guard Jacob Beeninga is leading the way so far this season at 16.0 points per game. Beeninga led the team last year at 16.5 points per game. Logan Kinsey (11.5) and Jacob Jennissen (11.3) are also in double figures while Jennissen paces the team with 9.3 rebounds per game. 

The two teams met last season, a 83-79 victory for the Dragons in OT. Beeninga scored 35 for MSUM. 


A Look at Minnesota Duluth
The Bulldogs enter the weekend at 3-0, averaging 86.3 points per game while allowing only 58.7. Their 27.7 scoring margin is the fifth best in the country. Duluth is ranked No. 6 in the NABC poll and is 11th in the D2CSC poll. 

With nine players averaging over 4.0 points per game and four in double figures, the Bulldogs present a balanced attack similar to NMU's approach so far this season. Fifth year forward Austin Andrews leads the way with 15.3 points per game while another fifth year forward, Charlie Katona, is at 15.0 points per game and 9.0 rebounds per game. 

Last season, the Bulldogs edged the Wildcats 74-72 in Marquette. Dylan Kuehl scored 22 points for Northern. 


A New Home
The 2024-25 squad will be the first to play in a new home, as Vandament Arena, previously the exclusive home to NMU volleyball, has been renovated and will now be the stomping grounds for both basketball teams in addition to volleyball. The project created a larger court area, four-sided stadium seating for about 1,500, a modernized look, and two state-of-the-art scoreboards. 


GLIAC Preseason Poll
1. Lake Superior State, 98 (9)
2. Ferris State, 88 (1)
3. Northern Michigan, 80 (1)
4. Grand Valley State, 77
5. Wayne State, 57
6T. Michigan Tech, 50
6T. Parkside, 50
8. Saginaw Valley State, 41
9. Purdue Northwest, 32
10. Davenport, 17
11. Roosevelt, 15


Superior Dome Showdown vs. Michigan State
On October 13, the Wildcats played its most notable preseason exhibition in program history when they hosted DI blueblood Michigan State in front of 11,500 fans in the Superior Dome Showdown, the largest indoor event in the history of the Upper Peninsula. In a weekend that was much more than the game on the court that included the retirement of NMU alum Tom Izzo's #10 jersey and icons Bill Raftery and Lisa Byington announcing the game, the Wildcats put up a valiant effort and fell 70-53 to the Spartans. Jackson Dudek led the way with 14 points. More from that event can be found here.