MARQUETTE, Mich. – Winners of 12 straight, the Northern Michigan men's basketball team continues its stretch of pivotal conference games this weekend and into early next week. 

The Wildcats will head to Houghton for a top-20 matchup, taking on rival Michigan Tech (12-2, 3-1) on Thursday, Jan. 8, at 7:30 p.m. Northern will then turn its attention to Ferris State, which they will host on Monday, Jan. 12, at 7:30 p.m.

NMU picked up a pair of immense GLIAC wins last weekend, defeating Davenport 101-65 and Grand Valley State 72-60. Now at 13-1 and 4-0 in the conference, the Wildcats have surged into the National Association of Basketball Coaches Top 25 Poll, coming in at No. 

Both Thursday's and Monday's games will be streamed on FloCollege or listened to live on 100.3 The Point, with Casey Ford on the call. Thursday's game vs. the Huskies will also air on Fox-UP, with Dave Ellis on the call.


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Follow @NMU_MensBBALL and @NMU_Wildcats on X (formerly known as Twitter) and @nmu_mbb on Instagram for updates throughout the weekend.


A Word from the Coach
"We have had these runs in the past, and it's been a lot of different guys stepping, with Dylan consistently being the alpha threat. [Michigan Tech] presents a unique challenge and defensively, they are awesome. They have dominated big-time opponents with how hard their schedule has been."



About the Wildcats
Northern has won 12 straight, one shy of the program's all-time winning streak. With that, the Wildcats have garnered national attention and are now ranked No. 18 in the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Top 25 Poll. 

The Wildcats have been one of the most efficient teams in the nation through 14 games, pairing elite defense with efficiency on both ends of the floor. Defensively, NMU is the standard nationally, allowing just 58.0 points per game — the lowest mark in Division II. The Wildcats are also second in the nation with a +13.2 rebounding margin and 1.9 assist/turnover ratio. 

It doesn't stop there for the Green and Gold, as they rank third in scoring margin (+26.6), third in three-point percentage (41.2%), fourth in three-pointers per game (11.5), and 10th in field goal percentage defense (38.4%) and effective field goal percentage (58.1%). 

With so much success on both ends of the floor, Northern has established itself as a premier threat in the GLIAC and the Midwest. 

Leading the way is graduate forward Dylan Kuehl, who is coming off a GLIAC Offensive Player of the Week nod. He Kuehl averaged 29.0 points per game while shooting an ultra-efficient 19-27 (70.4%) from the field and 9-13 (69.2%) from three-point range last weekend. Against Davenport, he poured in 33 points, finishing 10-11 (90.9%), including a perfect 5-5 from beyond the arc. He followed with another standout performance against GVSU, leading NMU with 25 points in a 72-60 victory over Grand Valley State. 

A three-time All-GLIAC First Team selection, he ranks among the conference's most complete players. He currently sits fifth in the GLIAC in scoring (17.9 ppg) while also ranking 11th in rebounds (5.9 rpg), fourth in field goal percentage (54.2%), fifth in assists (3.2 apg), and 11th in blocks (0.8 bpg). Kuehl has accumulated 1,701 career points and 717 career rebounds, ranking sixth and 10th, respectively, on Northern Michigan's all-time leaderboards.

Following Kuehl, Cal Klesmit (15.1 ppg) and Jackson Dudek (12.9 ppg) provide consistent scoring support, with Klesmit shooting 46.9% from three — tops in the league and 14th nationally — and Dudek converting at a 59.1% clip from the floor. Both have been extremely effective as of late. Over the last nine, Klesmit is averaging 18.6 ppg while shooting 38-72 (52.8%) from three. Dudek is 17-25 (68%) from three over his last seven. 

Division I transfer guards Charlie Miller (Northern Iowa) and Bennett Basich (UW-Green Bay) are each averaging 7.2 ppg and can knock down the long ball as well. 


A Look at No. 12 Michigan Tech
The Huskies are 12-2 overall and 3-1 in GLIAC play. They reached No. 5 in the NABC Poll last week before splitting their weekend, which included a 79-75 defeat to Grand Valley State. Despite that, Tech is one of the top teams in the nation, and the statistics back that up. The Huskies rank fourth in field goal percentage defense (37.4%), eighth in scoring defense (60.9%), and 16th in three-pointer percentage defense (28.0%). 

Leading the Huskies is reigning GLIAC Player of the Year Marcus Tomashek, who averages 18.9 ppg to rank second in the conference. He is shooting 32.0% from three and set a program record with 11 triples on Dec. 20 vs. Lynn. Behind Tomashek, Ty Fernholz (10.9 ppg), Gabe Smith (9.7), and Dawson Nordgaard (8.1) all present a scoring threat. Josh Terrian knocked down 11 triples over the last two games to average 18.5 ppg over his last two. 


A Look at Ferris State
The Bulldogs, led by interim head coach Alex Fodness, are 6-5 overall and 3-1 in league play. They are averaging 79.3 ppg while allowing 78.9 per game, but are also one of the top teams at defending the three-point line, ranking second nationally at 24.8%. They will face Michigan Tech on Saturday, before traveling to Marquette. 

Ethan Erickson is averaging 16.4 ppg to lead the way for the Bulldogs. He ranks second in the league, knocking down 2.9 threes per game. Tyler Hamilton is also in double figures at 11.0 ppg.