Photo courtesy of Michigan Tech University Michigan Tech guard Matt Schmainda attempts a layup during a game against Northland on Saturday at the SDC Gym.

By DAVER KARNOSKY

dkarnosky@mininggazette.com

HOUGHTON — With six players finishing in double figures, the Michigan Tech Huskies men’s basketball team cruised to a 106-43 win over the visiting Div. III Northland Lumberjacks Saturday afternoon at the SDC Gym in Houghton.

With the Huskies (7-3 overall) having dealt with finals during the week, having the team come out and play with the same intensity they have in recent weeks was a focus of coach Josh Buettner and his staff. The Huskies looked sluggish early, but Buettner felt that things got better as the game went along.

“You’re coming off the finals, I think the guys were a little bit (tired),” he said. “I kind of told them after (beating St. Cloud State on Wednesday, Nov. 27), ‘Let’s get through those two conference games and then take a deep breath.’ We took a couple extra days of practice off this week. They’re going through finals. They’re coming through the end of the semester. So, it was good to kind of get back in the rhythm of it.”

What Buettner really focused on was the way his team battled defensively.

“I like the way we had pretty good intensity defensively,” he said. “We competed on that end and it was pretty steady. I thought the ball moved. Obviously, there’s a lot of balance. Everybody scored, a lot of guys in double figures, close to double figures, and that can happen when you score a lot of points. But, it felt like we were scoring with ball movement, running our offense, and sharing it more than guys just looking at, ‘Oh, I have an advantage 1-on-1 against a certain player. I’m just going to do that.’

“That was really what I like, because I think we got better offensively just because we moved the ball instead of just trying to do it 1-on-1.”

As the game went along, Buettner loved how his team moved the ball around, so that there were a number of shots, including the bulk of the 16 3-pointers they scored in the game, that came as the product of four or five passes.

“We have some drills in practice that we kind of call offensive advantage drills, where if it’s touched the paint twice, and you kick it out for three, it’s worth six or nine points, instead of just three,” he said. “(It) kind of looked like that drill a little bit. I mean, it was guys turning down OK shots for better shots, and that’s really what we were looking for.”

The Huskies struck just 20 seconds in when senior guard Adam Hobson, who got the start with junior guard Marcus Tomashek sitting out the contest, hit a 3-pointer from the high right side. Almost four minutes later, junior guard Josh Terrian hit one of his own.

The Huskies led 15-5 when junior forward Dawson Nordgaard made his first basket. He finished with eight points in the first half.

By the time the dust settled, sophomore guard Matt Schmainda led all scorers with 14 points. Freshman forward Luke Hazelton had 12. Nordgaard, freshman forward Grant Warren, and sophomore guard Drew Barrie had 11 each. Freshman guard Gabe Smith added 10.

“That’s going to be huge, not having to rely on Marcus to do as much of it,” Buettner said. “There’s going to be plenty of games where we are going to have to lean on him pretty heavily, but the more guys we have…the more balance you have, the better opportunity you have to not let opposing teams focus in on one player, or one action, or a couple players, and things like that.

“It’s a fun way to play when everybody’s getting a touch, and everybody’s getting shots. It helps your defense, too, because it’s easier to play your butt off defensively when you’re getting to touch the ball, and getting a few shots, than it is when you’re just standing in the corner and never touching it.”

The Huskies led 52-15 at halftime, and they never looked back after that.

Buettner loved what he saw from Hazelton, who finished in double figures for the first time in his Michigan Tech career.

“I love Luke’s game,” said Buettner. “There’s a reason we recruited him. He just needs to get physically stronger, or he needs to get quicker. He’s kind of a tweener, and he needs to figure out where he’s going to guard. But, his offensive game is kind of what drew us to him. He’s similar to, obviously, some of the tweener four lefties we have, with a little bit of his offensive game. You see some of that. I was happy for him to make shots, because he’s in the gym, he’s working. I know he probably gets frustrated at times when he’s not getting as much action. It’s good to see a guy like that get rewarded.”

Another player who Buettner wanted to see more of was Warren, who finished just shy of a double-double thanks to his nine rebounds.

“It would have been nice if he got one more board, get that double-double, but Grant’s one that, he’s ready for that break at Christmas,” Buettner said. “I think, obviously, he’s a biomedical engineer. He’s got a tough schedule. In practice, he looked a little worn out, a little tired, and I think kind of how he looked at the start of the game today. Then a couple things went, and he started getting a little bit more of a rhythm. I think a week at home will really help him come back rejuvenated. We’re going to need him down the stretch here in the conference.”

The Huskies poured in another 54 points in the second half, thanks to more 3-pointers from Barrie and senior guard Brad Simonsen, a Houghton native, who finished his day with eight points.

UP NEXT

The Huskies will take their five-game winning streak to Green Bay, Wisconsin, on Wednesday to battle the Wisconsin-Green Bay Phoenix. The Phoenix are 2-10 on the season after falling to California-Santa Barbara on Saturday, 88-67.

Senior guard Anthony Roy leads the team in scoring, averaging 25.7 points per game. Sophomore forward Marcus Hall is the only other player in double figures, averaging 13.2 points per game.

In a weird twist, the game will count for the Phoenix, but is an exhibition for the Huskies.

GAME TIME

The Huskies and Phoenix will tip-off at 12 p.m. Wednesday in Green Bay, Wisconsin.