David Archambeau/For the Gazette Michigan Tech guard Gabe Smith dunks during a game against Purdue Northwest in a game Saturday at the SDC Gym in Houghton.

By DAVER KARNOSKY

dkarnosky@mininggazette.com

HOUGHTON — With wins over Wisconsin-Parkside and Purdue Northwest, the Michigan Tech Huskies men’s basketball team is on a four-game winning streak as the fall semester comes to an end. The Huskies are playing some very good basketball as the semester closes, as they are now 6-3 overall and 2-0 in GLIAC play.

“2-0, when you don’t get another chance at it until Jan. 3, is a terrific start,” said Huskies coach Josh Buettner. “(We) really wanted the guys to focus, we have finals this week, and really treat it like some big games, because in all honesty, they are really big games. But, I thought we competed at a pretty high level. Obviously, there’s still some things you can improve on. All in all, I thought it was a successful weekend considering.”

The Huskies have won just 20 games over their past two seasons, so to have some early success this season is certainly exciting for Buettner and his staff.

“We’ve shown signs over the last two years of playing at a high level,” he said. “We played with good teams. We’ve beaten some good teams. We’re just trying to set the kind of the floor, the standard, in terms of the level we compete with, how we share the ball, and how hard we play. I thought, for the most part, we did that. We kind of said if somebody’s going to beat us, we need to make sure they beat us, not us beating ourselves and things like that.

“Obviously, we need to prove it against some of the better teams in the league, and play the full 40 minutes in tight games. Sometimes, when you get flowing like you do, and you have a big lead, it’s easy to keep going, but I thought the guys were pretty focused and did a nice job.”

One of the most exciting things, from Buettner’s perspective, from the weekend was the balance the Huskies had in their scoring, seeing five players in double figures on Thursday against the Rangers, and six against the Pride on Saturday.

“Dawson (Nordgaard)’s been pretty consistent, in terms of having an inside presence, but we really haven’t shot the three well until we got home,” Buettner said. “We have a very good 3-point shooting team, and it was nice to see that. We should shoot well in our gym. I mean, that’s where we practice, that’s where these guys put thousands of hours in. On the road, you have to survive your rougher shooting nights, but I do think we’re going to shoot more consistently than we were from three earlier in the season.

“When you have an inside game, and you have kind of lights-out shooting from three, that’s going to start opening things up for Marcus (Tomashek) even more.”

Alongside the two juniors in Nordgaard and Tomashek, the Huskies got some big minutes Saturday out of freshman guard Ty Fernholz and sophomore guard Matt Schmainda.

“That’s awesome, for sure,” said Buettner. “Those guys work their butts off. They’re great shooters. And you know what? It’s. You sit here as a coach, then you’re like, ‘Well, this guy needs more shots, and this guy needs,’ and honestly, that’s a good thing, because we’re shooting 60%, so everybody needs more shots. Obviously, it’s important to keep that balance, and keep guys just thinking team-first right now. We’re very unselfish, and guys aren’t worried about who’s getting the credit and whatnot. A lot of that comes from your leadership. Marcus was a great teammate this week when he wasn’t putting up huge numbers. Obviously, Josh (Terrian), he’s one of our main leaders, and that’s a guy that doesn’t care if he even takes a shot in the game, he’s still going to go hard.”

Now, for Buettner and his staff, the trick will be keeping the Huskies focused as they play Northland College and Wisconsin-Green Bay in their final two tune-ups in 2024 before they hit the grind of the GLIAC season in January.

“That’s going to start being the topic of conversation that we’re going to meet with, and talk about, Saturday morning,” said Buettner. “Obviously, we play Saturday night, but this week is, it’s kind of what I told them, ‘Let’s put our best foot forward for these two conference games, and you can take a little bit of a breath. We’re playing a DIII, it really doesn’t affect much for our goals this year. Obviously, you want to play well, and every time you get in front of fans, you want to get better, and play the right way.

“Then, next week, we just have the Green Bay game, which is an exhibition for us, but I know our guys will be fired up for that. So, if you’re asking about being locked in, I know that one, it’s just then we really have to just discuss how we can trust each other to hold each other accountable for that mandatory week off. You have Grand Valley the first game back, and on the road one of the toughest games of the year. Not going to have a lot of practice (ahead of time), and it’s going to be a little bit of ownership by them in terms of coming back in the right mentality and still in shape and still sharp.”

SCOUTING THE LUMBERJACKS

The Northland Lumberjacks are 0-7 this season after falling to St. Mary’s on Wednesday, Nov. 4, 81-66.

Senior forward Jahlani Thornton leads the Lumberjacks in scoring with an average of 11.1 points per game. He also leads the team in rebounding, averaging 6.9 rebounds per game. The other consistent threat the Lumberjacks have is junior guard Damian Cejka, who is averaging 8.6 points per game.

While, on paper, Saturday’s matchup heavily favors the Huskies, they still have to execute.

“You don’t want to set yourself up with a huge Division II game that has huge ramifications coming off the finals week sometimes,” Buettner said. “But, yeah, we’d love for everybody to be sharp and get an opportunity (in this game).”

GAME TIME

The Huskies and Lumberjacks will do battle Saturday at 5 p.m. at the SDC Gym in Houghton.