Preview: Men’s Basketball at Davenport

HOUGHTON, Mich. – After two wins over Saginaw Valley State, Michigan Tech men's basketball is back to business with a pair of games at Davenport University (3-8) Friday at 5 p.m. and Saturday at 1 p.m. The Huskies (8-3) maintain a one game lead in the GLIAC North Division standings with seven games left in the regular season. Fans listen to the game on WMPL AM 920 or by visiting Pasty.net. Streaming links can be found on michigantechhuskies.com.

Junior Owen White leads the team and ranks second in the conference with 20.4 points per game. White has maintained consistency throughout the season and has scored between 16 and 29 points in every outing so far. Last weekend, White posted 37 points in the two-game set against the Cardinals. Fellow junior Eric Carl scored a career high 24 points Friday night and followed up with another 17 points Saturday. Head coach Kevin Luke said Carl was emerging as one of the top guards in the league. The Huskies know they cannot afford to underestimate Davenport this week. One of the Panthers' three wins came on the road against Grand Valley State. Michigan Tech boasts the No. 5 defense among NCAA Division II teams and have allowed their opponents just 61.6 points per game. 

NATIONAL RANKINGS: Michigan Tech men's basketball received votes in the latest NCAA Division II National Association of Basketball Coaches' (NABC) Top 25 poll, announced this week by the National office. It is the first time this season that the Huskies have been represented in the National coaches' poll. MTU is currently the only team in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference to garner National rankings attention.

This week, the Huskies moved up to No. 6 in the Midwest region D2SIDA poll. Wisconsin-Parkside also received regional votes. Colorado School of Mines (10-0) remains the top-ranked team in the country, followed by Northern State (12-0), Northwest Missouri State (14-1), Lincoln Memorial (15-1), and West Texas A&M (7-1). Truman State (12-1) was the No. 11 team in the Midwest region. 

LAST TIME OUT: Carl's career high 24 points helped MTU over SVSU 76-57 Friday afternoon at SDC Gymnasium. The Huskies shot an impressive 62.5-percent from the floor and bounced back from a pair of home defeats against Ferris State the week before.

Saturday, the Huskies used a strong second half to down Saginaw Valley State 65-62. Tech attempted 32 shots from the 3-point arc and connected on 12. They also limited turnovers to 13.

STAT LEADERS:

Points – Owen White, 20.4 PPG

Rebounds – Owen White, 7.4 RPG

Assists – Carter Johnston, 4.5 APG

Blocks – Trent Bell, 0.9 BPG

Steals – Carter Johnston, 1.3 SPG

SCOUTING THE PANTHERS: The Huskies won both matchups of the season series with the Panthers last season. Davenport split last weekend against Lake Superior State. Redshirt senior Jarrin Randall returned to the lineup after more than a year of absence and hit a 3-pointer with just over two minutes left to help the Panthers win 77-75. Chris Rollins led all players with 27 points. Saturday, the Lakers outscored Davenport 40-29 in the second half to win 80-66. Scott Ulaneo finished with his second career double-double with 22 points on 9 of 17 shooting and 10 rebounds.

Davenport scores 68.1 points per game (fifth) and allows 77.0 points to opponents (11^th). Chris Rollins, a point guard from Detroit ranks fifth in the conference with 17.3 points per game. Guard Elijah Belle (Sophomore, Detroit) is efficient from beyond the arc. His 3-point percentage of 48.8-percent ranks fourth in the GLIAC.

Last season, the Panthers finished 19-12 overall, 11-9 in the GLIAC but lost each of their last four games, including the GLIAC quarterfinal at Northwood 82-70. Head coach Burt Paddock has led the team to the post-season in 12 of his 13 seasons at the helm. He is credited with over 300 wins at Davenport.