Michigan Tech guard Marcus Tomashek drives with the ball during a game last season at the SDC Gym in Houghton. (David Archambeau/For the Gazette)

HOUGHTON — With the NCAA D2 Midwest Region Tip-Off coming up on Friday, the Michigan Tech Huskies men’s basketball team is on the verge of starting a crucial season for everyone involved with the program. The Huskies have been through growing pains each of the last two seasons, but with a key group of juniors, the Huskies are in a position to take a big step forward this season.

“This group, they’re now four returning junior starters, the record hasn’t been good either of the last two seasons,” said Huskies coach Josh Buettner. “I think they were actually pretty close to similar. Last year’s team was a much better team, even though the record was the same. We had a really tough non-conference. We had our ups and downs.

“I truly believe at the end of the season in February, we were one of the two or three best teams in the conference. We just happened to probably play the team that was playing the best at the end of the year in the quarters and on the road. That comes with not taking care of things earlier in the season.”

Getting off to a better start is something that Buettner has stressed to his team.

“That’s kind of been a focal point here is we need to be ready to go this weekend,” he said. “We need to play in November.”

The Huskies will have to survive a gauntlet right off the bat with Missouri-St. Louis, Maryville, Winona State, Concordia-St. Paul, Minnesota-Duluth, Minnesota State-Moorhead and St. Cloud State all away from the friendly confines of the SDC Gym before they play their first home match on Dec. 5.

“Honestly, a smarter coach probably would have scheduled a little bit easier (schedule), instead of the first six on the road against very, very good teams, which is just putting you in a position that you never know what kind of start you could get off to here,” Buettner said. “I think we’re playing confident. I think the ball is moving and we’re prepared to go do it. But, good teams on the road are tough. We could play well and still have some struggles, but we could play well and win any of these as well. So, hopefully it’s the latter.”

There is good news and bad news. The bad news is that guard Dan Gherezgher chose to transfer to Northern Kentucky, which does hurt the Huskies’ depth. The good news is they had a large taste of life without Gherezgher last season, and that should help heading into this season.

“That was something that really, really hurt us in terms of developing those roles,” said Buettner. “We had two different styles, and he was a very talented player, but how we had to play with him, and how we had to play without him, were very different. That set back our role development as well, because when he was in there, guys had to play a certain way. Maybe other guys, the roles were going to be different with him, and then when he’s back in there, roles changed again and some of it with him too.

“We never really got that fair shot at what things were going to look like, because he was hurt before it started, and then he was playing injured. Then in February, when he was healthy, I think, was the first time we really got to see what it would look like (with him).”

The other bit of good news is the return of junior guard Marcus Tomashek, who was picked as the Preseason Player of the Year last week. Tomashek averaged 22.9 points per game, shooting 45.6% from the field, and 41.3% from beyond the arc.

“Marcus is a special player,” Buettner said. “He’s gotten stronger coming back. He’s still skinny, but he’s put on some weight, and he’s just playing with confidence. We’ve had some pretty special players here at Michigan Tech, and he’s right up there at the top with any of them in terms of being able to go out there and score the basketball.

“Honestly, he’s really done a nice job of becoming a little bit of a playmaker too. He creates a lot of advantages. He’s going to draw a lot of attention. As much as he scores, he’s still an unselfish player, and he knows there’s going to be games when two or three bodies are going to be on him, and he’s going to have to be a little bit more of a facilitator and pick his spots to really try to take over offensively. There’s going to be games when he’s just going to be dominant offensively. He’s a special player.”

Another key junior is guard Josh Terrian, a defense-first player who can also come up with a timely bucket.

“Josh is one of the highest IQ basketball players we’ve ever had,” said Buettner. “Josh can shoot it, and he’s going to shoot it well this year. His percentage went up between his freshman and sophomore years, and it’s going to hopefully go up again. He just doesn’t care. He makes our offense so much better when he’s out there, whether he’s making shots, taking shots, or not shooting at all. He’s just the ultimate kind of teammate offensively, defensively.

“We had some highs, and we had some, some real lows last year. The lowest game was the one when he was out with the flu. We looked like we had never played basketball before. He’s that important from a leadership, and an IQ, and all the intangible things he brings.”

Two other key juniors are guard Nate Abel and forward Dawson Nordgaard. Abel started 16 games last season and averaged just 5.5 points, but he was a key piece for the Huskies at various points in the season. Nordgaard is still tapping into his potential. The 6-foot-10 forward average 7.9 points, but, more importantly, he created matchup problems over the course of the season as his confidence grew. He will be needed to continue to play that way this season.

Two seniors will also be called up to add to the mix a lot this season.

Guard Adam Hobson lost his starting role last season, and struggled for a bit with his confidence after that happened, but he bounced back strong, and that is all Buettner can ask of him.

“‘Hobbs’ is one of the ultimate Huskies,” Buettner said. “He’ll do anything for the team. His career has just been kind of crazy. He came in and we had this conversation kind of in the season, ‘What did you picture your career to look like coming in?’ Honestly, kind of what his role was last year is what he had pictured it coming in.

“The one thing ‘Hobbs’ kept doing is he kept practicing hard, he kept being a good teammate, he kept leading, and doing all those things. I’m hoping he’s rewarded with a good year.”

Similarly, the Huskies will be asking a lot of guard Pete Calcaterra. As a sophomore, he had a number of big games for the Huskies, but he struggled at points last season, averaging just 6.8 points per game.

“I’ve been telling Pete this since the day he stepped on campus, he’s an X-factor,” said Buettner. “When Pete’s really good, we’re usually really good. He does a lot of things that help winning, and we’re just constantly on him for some of the consistency thing. Hopefully, we’re getting that this year, because we’re going to be a pretty good team if Pete has a good year.”

Among the younger kids who could contribute this year, Buettner is looking for freshman guard Gabe Smith to earn minutes this season. Freshman guard Ty Fernholz could also step in at points this season, along with sophomore guard Matt Schmainda, who got a taste of things last season.

Buettner feels that the Huskies have been through a lot the last two seasons, but they are positioned this season to take a big step forward.

“Honestly, the struggles we’ve been through these last two years, I think most of our guys, they know that they can play with anybody and beat anybody. Hopefully, we can get off to a little better start. It helps with confidence that we don’t have to go through the valleys and then build our confidence back up, and do that stuff. We have good kids, and we have guys that believe in each other, and, hopefully, that’ll lead to some success.”