MARQUETTE, Mich. - It what will be the Northern Michigan men's basketball team's fourth on-campus home venue in the last calendar year (PEIF Gym, Berry Events Center, Superior Dome, and now Vandament Arena), the Wildcats will make its debut in its new stomping grounds this Saturday, November 30, when they welcome Concordia University Wisconsin for a non-conference tilt.
After calling several Northern Michigan facilities homecourt over the past 12 months, the much anticipated debut in Vandament Arena has finally arrived. The Wildcats and the Concordia University Wisconsin Falcons (Division III) will take the court on Saturday, November 30, at 3 p.m.
The Wildcats (3-2) are looking to bounce back after coming off of two road defeats to MSU Moorhead and Minnesota Duluth, both who were in the nation's top six teams last week. It will be an exhibition for the Falcons (0-4), who are still searching for its first win this season.
The game can be heard on 100.3 The Point, with Casey Ford on the call.
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Saturday, November 30 - vs. Concordia University Wisconsin at 3 p.m. ET
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About the 'Cats
NMU dropped two road games last weekend, an 82-71 defeat to No. 3 MSU Moorhead and a 79-67 loss at the hands of No. 6 Minnesota Duluth.
Prior, the Wildcats played three neutral site games in Wisconsin Dells over two weekends. NMU defeated Maryville 78-59 in the season opener, bested Missouri-St. Louis 77-63, and then pulled off an exciting 85-83 win over Illinois-Springfield on a three-point buzzer beater by
Julien Smith.
The team currently paces the GLIAC with a 2.80 turnover margin, committing 52 this season while opponents are at 66.
Julien Smith paces the offense with 16.0 points per game, good for 7th in the conference. Smith has scored in double figures in all five games, pouring in a season-best 27 points in NMU's most recent outing vs. Minnesota Duluth.
Dylan Kuehl (12.0) and
Sam Privet (11.6) are also averaging double figures.
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 89-58 (.605). 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 Concordia University Wisconsin
Concordia out of the NACC (D III) are 0-4 on the young season. The Falcons are averaging 70.0 points per game while allowing 79.8. They are shooting 47.4% from the field, 32.0% from three, and 80.0% from the charity stripe.
The offense is paced by former Wildcat Casey Verhagen, averaging 16.3 points per game. Logan Landers has also played a big role for the Falcons, averaging 13.8 points per game and 7.5 rebounds per game.
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.
