PREVIEW: Huskies home over Thanksgiving weekend

HOUGHTON, Mich. - Michigan Tech (2-1) is home over Thanksgiving weekend to face Minnesota Duluth and St. Cloud State in non-conference men's basketball at SDC Gymnasium. Senior guard Owen White leads the squad with 20.7 points per game and is shooting 52.2-percent from the field. Junior guard Eric Carl ranks second at 16.0 points per game. Carl has made 54.5-percent of 3-point tries through the first three games. Tyler Robarge is expected to return to the lineup on Saturday.

LAST TIME OUT

- White posted 24 points to help Tech over Minnesota Crookston 83-72 Saturday afternoon at Lysaker Gymnasium. The Huskies rallied for 53-points in the first half and kept the Eagles at bay in the second to open non-conference play with a 2-1 record. Carl finished with 20 points while Trent Bell stoked the defense with seven rebounds and four steals. The Huskies bench contributed 22 points, including Brad Simonsen with 10 and Jalen Carter with eight. 

HEALTH & SAFETY LEVEL TWO
- Michigan Tech is currently at Health & Safety Level Two.
- Face coverings are recommended in the SDC regardless of vaccination status.
- Tech encourages all fans to please continue frequent handwashing (especially before and after meals), hand sanitization, and to receive a COVID-19 vaccine.

SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS

- UMD featured one of the youngest teams in the conference last season and returned their entire starting lineup for 2021-22 after going 6-7 overall. The Bulldogs were picked to finish third in the NSIC North Division and sixth overall.

- The Bulldogs The Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs hosted the St. Cloud State Huskies on opening night of NSIC conference play. The Bulldogs would continue their hot start to the season as they defeated the Huskies 86-69. The Bulldogs 5-0 start is the program's best start to a season in over 20 years.

-Drew Blair is a redshirt junior guard who finished fourth in the NSIC with 18.8 points per game. Blair was also named All-NSIC Second Team for the second time as the team's top scorer and distributor.

- Junior guard Jack Middleton averaged 12.2 points per game and led the NSIC in 3-point percentage (56.9-percent). 

- Sophomore forward Austin Andrews is the reigning NSIC freshman of the year after putting up 13.5 points and 7.2 rebounds in the low post last season.

- In the last meeting with Minnesota Duluth, Tech fell 85-80 in Houghton on November 23, 2019. The Huskies rallied back from double-digit deficits on two occasions, but the Bulldogs held on late to win.

SCOUTING THE ST. CLOUD STATE HUSKIES

-St. Cloud State clinched a trip to the NSIC Tournament last season with a 91-86 win in the final game of the season over Minnesota Duluth.

- The Huskies finished 11 in 2019-20 and 6-6 in 2020-21. With a young core, St. Cloud State returned all five starters, including All-NSIC junior guards Anthony Robers and Caleb Donaldson. Roberts was 2nd in the conference in scoring at 20.6 points per game. He was also sixth in rebounding (8.0 rpg)  and shot an efficient 58-percent from the field.

This will be the first meeting between St. Cloud State and Michigan Tech since the 2009-10 season, though the teams share plenty of history. Since 1954-55, when the series first began, the two Huskies have squared off 53 times with the St. Cloud State Huskies holding a 37-16 advantage. In the teams last meeting in 2009-10, St. Cloud State won by a final score of 75-62, and the two teams have not met since.

FOR THE HUSKIES

Michigan Tech averages 68.7 points and 10.0 three pointers per game. The team is shooting 49.4-percent from the field and 37.5-percent from long range.

- White averages 30.7 minutes per game and 20.7 points. White's minutes were limited to 25 against Minnesota Crookston due to foul trouble after scoring 15 points in the game's opening five minutes. He finished 10-for-18 for 24 points, four rebounds, four rebounds, and one assist.

COACH BUETTNER AT THE HELM

- For 27 seasons, Kevin Luke led the Huskies as head coach. Luke announced his retirement in April after amassing 471 career victories. He is the school's all-time winningest coach. Longtime assistant coach Josh Buettner was named head coach one day later after serving 13 seasons as assistant coach and one as associate head coach. 

- Buettner (a former Husky all-American player) hired Ben Stelzer as an assistant coach. Stelzer is another former all-American for the Huskies (2011-15) and played basketball professionally in Spain before beginning his coaching career.

SECOND YEAR STANDOUTS

Second year freshmen Adam Hobson (guard – Stoughton, Wisconsin) and Brad Simonsen (forward – Houghton, Michigan) have the potential for expanded roles after making positive impressions last season. Hobson appeared in 22 games and scored a season-high 14 points versus Wisconsin-Parkside on February 27. Simonsen appeared in 10 games for Tech and went 4-fo-6 from 3-point range at Davenport on February 13.

FRESHMEN IN THE FOLD

The Huskies will need to fill the positions of graduated seniors Dawson Bilski (All-GLIAC Second Team) and Isaac Appleby (2019-20 GLIAC All-Defensive team). True freshmen Dawson Nordgaard (Forward – DePere, Wisconsin) and Nate Abel (Point Guard – Beaver Dam, Wisconsin) joined the squad this fall.