MARQUETTE, Mich. - The Northern Michigan men's basketball team defeated the Grand Valley State Lakers 85-72 in the GLIAC Quarterfinals and will now game plan for the semifinal round, as they'll head to Houghton to take on top-seeded Michigan Tech on Saturday, March 8 at 12 p.m.
The game will be the first of two semifinal matchups at the SDC Gym, with No. 2 Lake Superior State and No. 3 Ferris State also battling for a spot in the championship game on Sunday.
The game can be watched on FloHoops or listened to live on 100.3 The Point, with Brice Burge on the call.
Follow The Action
Follow @NMU_MensBBALL and @NMU_Wildcats on X (formerly known as Twitter) for updates leading up to and during the race.
Saturday, March 8 - vs. Michigan Tech at 12 p.m.
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About the 'Cats
Sitting at 20-9 overall, the Wildcats have won four straight games and reached the 20-win plateau for the third straight season. It is the first time in program history with three straight 20+ win seasons.
In the Quarterfinals, NMU jumped out to a 40-23 halftime lead behind strong defensive efforts en route to a 85-72 victory over Grand Valley. The 'Cats held GVSU to just 23 points on 7-28 (25.0%) shooting. Northern had the hand warmers ready to go from the start, shooting a much better 16-27 (59.3%) in the first half to build a 40-23 lead at the break.
Five Wildcats found double figures, led by
Jackson Dudek with 17 points on 7-9 (77.8%) shooting.
Brian Parzych was an all-around hazard to the Lakers, scoring 14 points on 5-6 (83.3%) shooting, which included 4-5 from three. He also added a game-high five assists to go along with three rebounds, two steals, and a block.
Julien Smith added 13 while
Sam Privet and Gerald Gittens each contributed 11 points.
The offense has been led by
Dylan Kuehl all season, as he is the only player in the GLIAC to reach double figures in every conference game in the regular season, averaging 17.6 points over those 20 games. Overall, he is 7th in the conference averaging 16.3 points per game, 5th at 6.8 rebounds per game, and 2nd shooting 50.3% from the field.
Since entering the starting lineup 11 games ago,
Jackson Dudek is averaging 13.5 points per game while shooting 61.0% from the field. Also re-inserted into the lineup ten games ago, Gerald Gittens is averaging 11.1 points per game over the last seven.
For an offense that averaged 79+ points per game in each of the last three seasons, defense has been more of the mode of operation this season. Although the offense is averaging 77.6 points per game over the last 11, they hold 7th out of 11 teams in the conference this season at 74.4 points per game. The scoring defense ranks 4th, allowing only 68.4, good for a top-50 mark nationally. NMU is also tied with Tech allowing a league-low 31.9 opponent rebounds per game.
The Wildcats take care of the ball as well as any team in the country. Committing just 9.8 turnovers per game, Northern ranks 12th nationally. It has been a staple in Majkrzak's resurrection of the program, as NMU has averaged less than 11 turnovers per game in each of his six seasons at the helm.
A Look at Michigan Tech
The top-seeded Huskies are ranked No. 20 in the nation and have won eight straight games, coming off of a 84-65 win over Roosevelt on Wednesday.
Tech averages 77.7 points per game overall, but over 80 on their home court, where they are a perfect 13-0. The offense is led by Marcus Tomashek, who is 12th in the country at 23.1 points per game.
The Huskies got the better of Northern in both meetings this season, 88-65 in Marquette on January 9 and 67-64 in Houghton on February 20.
