PREVIEW: Huskies host Parkside in GLIAC Quarterfinals

HOUGHTON, Mich. - No. 2 seed Michigan Tech men's basketball (20-6, 16-4) hosts No. 7 seed Wisconsin Parkside (14-13, 10-9) in the quarterfinals of the GLIAC Tournament Wednesday, March 2 at 7:30 p.m. at SDC Gymnasium. The Huskies won a share of the GLIAC regular season championship, matching records with Ferris State, and posted 20 wins for the ninth time in program history. 

Michigan Tech has won 10 of its last 11 games heading into the postseason. Fans can hear Wednesday's men's and women's basketball games on Mix 93.5 FM WKMJ with the voice of the Huskies, Mitch Lake.

The Huskies swept the regular season series against the Rangers, winning 59-53 in Houghton on January 6 and 90-75 in Kenosha on February 5. The GLIAC semifinals are scheduled for Saturday, March 5 (higher seed hosts).

LAST TIME OUT

• Trailing by 14 points in the second half, Michigan Tech men's basketball completed their comeback, winning 65-56 over Lake Superior State Saturday afternoon at Ronald Cooper Gymnasium.
• With a Ferris State loss, the Huskies tied the Bulldogs in the standings to claim a share of the GLIAC regular season championship.
• After Kyle Clow got in position to receive two Laker offensive fouls, Eric Carl helped spark the Huskies in the second half and finished with 14 points on 5 of 7 shooting. Adam Hobson was effective with a team-high 15 points and six rebounds.
• Tech failed to score for more than five minutes to start the game. Trent Bell broke the drought and helped the Huskies pull back within one, 19-18. Malek Adams and the Lakers cushioned their lead before halftime 28-23.
• LSSU extended the advantage to 14 after the break but the MTU quickly closed to within seven with nine minutes to play.
• A stop on defense and back-to-back triples by Hobson and Carl gave the Huskies their first lead of the game 57-54.
• With a five-point separation into the final two minutes, Tech made enough free throws to close out the regular season with a road victory.

WHITE LEADS THE HUSKIES INTO THE POSTSEASON

• Senior combo guard Owen White (Rhinelander, Wisconsin) leads the Huskies with 17.0 points per game, 5.9 rebounds, and 3.1 assists. White scored a season high 25 points on November 28 against St. Cloud State.
• Last season, White was named NABC All-America, First Team All-Midwest District, GLIAC Player of the Year, GLIAC First Team, GLIAC All-Defensive Team, CoSIDA Academic All-America, and Ken Hamar Team MVP.
• He has earned GLIAC North Division Player of the Week on five occasions, twice this season.
• He has started all 26 games this season, is a member of the 1,000 point club, and has 105 career games played. He ranks 12th on the MTU all time career points chart (1,522 pts).

BELL TOPS THE GLIAC IN STEALS

• Senior forward Trent Bell (Negaunee, Michigan) averages a league high 1.7 steals per game with 26 starts this season. He is tied for seventh for single season steals with 44 this year. His 133 career steals ranks 9th on the Tech men's basketball all-time charts.
• Bell also ranks second in the GLIAC with 8.3 rebounds per game. Bell currently holds the Michigan Tech record for career games played (134). He recently became the 32nd Husky player to reach 1,000 career points. His 723 career rebounds currently ranks ninth on in the Tech record books. 
• Bell has a team best nine double-doubles.

JOHNSTON TOPS THE TEAM IN ASSISTS AGAIN

• Senior guard Carter Johnston (Beaverton, Michigan) averages 4.6 assists per game. His 127 total assists trails only Ferris State's Jimmy Schooler (127) and matches his total last year. In 2020-21, Johnston led the Huskies with 5.5 assists per game.
• He has 319 career assists, which is up to fifth all-time among Huskies. His father, Jeff Johnston is the MTU record holder with 597 career assists.

SCOUTING THE RANGERS

• Wisconsin Parkside won three straight games to finish the regular season, including a 79-74 victory at Northwood last time out on Saturday, February 26.
• Freshman Rasheed Bello recorded a career high 22 points and shot 6-for-11 with 9 of 13 free throws.
• Jamir Simpson also finished with 19 points and seven rebounds. Cameron Myre and Colin O'Rourke posted 10 points apiece.
• Significantly, the Rangers were without the services of redshirt senior guard Tray Croft (Anniston, Alabama). Croft leads the conference averaging 20.5 points per game.
• Croft's point total is around five points better than his 2020-21 campaign, in which he scored double figures in all but three outings.
• Croft's last appearance was February 19 against Lake Superior State. He went 10-for-17 from the field for 27 points, along with five assists, one steal, and four rebounds.
• Last season, the Rangers finished 9-10 overall. They fell 77-72 in the qualifying round of the GLIAC Tournament to No. 10 seed Saginaw Valley State. Head coach Luke Reigl is in his 19th season at the helm.
• The Rangers last won the GLIAC North Division in 2018-19. Their last selection to the NCAA Midwest Region Tournament was in 2016-17. Parkside came to the GLIAC from the GLVC in 2018-19. 
• Tech won the last meeting between the Huskies and Rangers 90-75 at De Simone Gymnasium on February 5. Adam Hobson led the offense with 20 points.
• Veterans White and Bell posted 19 points apiece and Bell added a double-double with a team best 11 rebounds. MTU shot 56-percent overall, including 45.8-percent from beyond the arc.
• Parkside edged the Huskies in rebounds 31-30.

NATIONAL PERSPECTIVE

• Last Monday, the Huskies were ranked No. 6 in the NCAA Midwest Region.
• Tech received national votes in last week's NCAA Division II National Rankings poll for the second straight week. 
• The last time Michigan Tech was ranked inside the nation's top 25 was in 2014.
• The top eight teams in the region qualify for the NCAA Midwest Region tournament. Conference tournament winners gain automatic bids to the tournament.

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 assistant coach. Stelzer is another former all-American for the Huskies (2011-15) and played basketball professionally in Spain before beginning his coaching career.

PRESEASON POLL

• Michigan Tech men's basketball was selected to finish first in the GLIAC North Division this season the league announced Tuesday in its preseason coaches' poll.
• The Huskies begin the regular season as defending North Division Champions with four of five starters returning, including CoSIDA All-American combo guard Owen White.

HUSKIES AT A GLANCE

• With returning All-American combo guard Owen White and four starters back in the fold for 2021-22, Michigan Tech men's basketball hopes to again reach the NCAA Midwest Region tournament, where they fell 65-62 to Truman State in the Championship game last spring.
• The Huskies finished 15-8 overall, including 12-6 in the GLIAC North Division, and took second place in the conference tournament.

LAST YEAR RANKS

• Last year, the Huskies ranked ninth in the conference in scoring (67.9 points), second in defense (63.7 points against), second in 3-point percentage (37.4-percent), and 10th in rebounding (31.3 rebounds). 
• Tech began non-conference play with a pair of games in the Lewis Tournament November 12-13. After facing a trio of Northern Sun opponents (Minnesota Crookston, Minnesota Duluth, and St. Cloud State), the team started GLIAC action at Northwood on December 4.
• The Huskies have three, four-game win streaks this season and a season-high nine-game win streak which ended in overtime to No. 25 ranked Ferris State on February 24.
• Michigan Tech celebrated the careers of six seniors at SDC Gymnasium on Saturday, February 19.