Huskies Men’s Basketball Opens Season at JustAGame Crossover

HOUGHTON, Mich. - Michigan Tech men's basketball opens the 2023-24 campaign in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin, for the JustAGame Crossover on Friday against Missouri S&T and Upper Iowa on Saturday. Both games are slated for a 4 p.m. tipoff. 

About the Miners

Missouri S&T is fresh off of its first winning season since the 1996-97 campaign, finishing with 16-12 overall in 2022-23. S&T adds three freshmen to the 2023-24 roster.

Much of the optimism is based on the returning group that includes three second-team members of the All-GLVC team in Ikenna Okeke, Julien Smith and Lovell Williams, the top three scorers for S&T last season.

The others that earned recognition from the GLVC last year were Kaden Froebe, a member of the all-defensive team who had a team-high 49 steals and Andrew Young, who was named to the all-freshman team after averaging 7.6 points and recording a team-leading 28 blocked shots.

The Miners were tabbed to finish sixth in the GLVC, with Bill Walker entering his fifth season at the helm of Missouri S&T. 

About the Peacocks

Upper Iowa enters a new era of basketball playing in its first season as a member of the GLVC. The Peacocks were tabbed to finish eighth in the league following the 2022-23 campaign which resulted in a tie for the NSIC South division. 

UIU returns NSIC South Division Player of the Year and All-NSIC First Team selection, Jake Hilmer. He was also named to the D2 Conference Commissioners Association's All-Central Region First Team and the National Association of Basketball Coaches All-Central District First Team.

Upper Iowa also welcomes back senior forward Nick Reid, who was awarded Second Team All-NSIC last season after stringing together 14.3 points per game and 8.9 boards per contest (tied for first in NSIC). Reid was effective from downtown as he shot 38.2 percent from behind the arc, knocking down a team-high 68-178.  

The Peacocks added junior transfer Noah King and graduate transfer Christian Haffner. King comes to the program from Kirkwood Community College where he earned Second Team All-American honors and a two-time All-Region selection. He averaged 16.2 points, 4.1 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game.

Brooks McKowen enters his eleventh season as the head coach of Peacock men's basketball. 

About the Huskies 

Michigan Tech turned the corner on the 2022-23 season that saw the Huskies contend for a GLIAC Tournament Championship despite an overall record of 10-20 in Josh Buettner's second season at the helm.

The Huskies return 11 from a season ago and were tabbed to finish fifth in the GLIAC Preseason Coaches' Poll. One key returner for the Black & Gold this season is sophomore guard Dan Gherezgher, who was tabbed Second Team All-GLIAC in his freshman campaign. He was tabbed preseason All-GLIAC First Team.

Michigan Tech will rely on Gherezgher, sophomore guard Marcus Tomashek and junior guard Adam Hobson. The trio started over 20 games last season, all averaging double-figure scoring. 

Gherezgher and Tomashek had multiple games scoring 20 or more points a season ago.

Joining them in the starting lineup last season was Josh Terrain, who started 30 games and Pete Calcaterra who made 11 starts.

The Huskies lone senior is center Tyler Robarge, who is 12 games away from 100 career games at Tech. 

Despite being youthful, the Black & Gold showcase four newcomers to the 2023-24 roster.