THE OPENING TIP
The UMD men's basketball team is set to finish up its non-conference contests by hosting a pair of foes from the Midwest this weekend. First up is Michigan Tech, whom the Bulldogs will meet in Romano on Saturday, Nov. 26 at 1 p.m. UMD will close out the weekend with a Sunday matinee against Northern Michigan on Nov. 27 at 1 p.m.

LAST TIME OUT
St. Cloud State gave the Bulldogs an early test on what NSIC play will look like- and the Bulldogs passed.

It was far from easy. In fact, the Huskies held a lead as high as 14 on a few occasions in the first half. The Bulldogs clawed and clawed until they were back even- then they kept clawing. With five minutes left, UMD held a nine point lead at 77-68. This wouldn't be enough, as St. Cloud would level the score at 85-85 to send the game into overtime.

There, the Bulldogs took control. They'd outscore the Huskies 9-4 on 3-5 (60%) shooting in the overtime frame to take the game 94-89. 

The story of the night was UMD's Drew Blair, who potted a career-high 38 points in the contest. Not only that, but he did it on 12-21 (57.1%) shooting while going 6-13 (46.15%) from three.

RANKINGS ROUNDUP
This Tuesday, ahead of their matchup against St. Cloud, UMD landed at No. 14 in the newest NABC Coaches Poll. The Bulldogs were No. 18 in the D2SIDA Media Poll released the same day. On Monday, UMD slotted at No. 3 in the Central Region in the D2SIDA's Regional Poll. 

SCOUTING REPORT ON MICHIGAN TECH
Last year was Michigan Tech head coach Josh Buettner's first on the job. Whose shoes was he attempting to fill? Oh, nobody's, just Kevin Luke's, the school's longest-tenured and winningest coach of all time. After 27 seasons with the Huskies, Luke posted a 471-302 record (a .609 win percentage) and guided Michigan Tech to a laundry list of GLIAC regular-season and tournament gold. He exited after a COVID-shortened 2020-21 campaign that still saw his team go 15-8 on the year (12-6 in the conference) and right towards the top of the GLIAC regular-season standings, in fact tying with Wayne State (Mich.) in the conference's temporary points system with 68. The Huskies would go on to be just a win short of the conference tournament title

That's a lot to live up to. Buettner isn't a near three-decade vet yet, but he laid an impressive framework for such a career last season. 

In his first campaign with the group, Buettner's Huskies flew out to a 21-7 overall record and a 16-4 mark in conference play that landed the team in a tie for first in the GLIAC. It was a squad mostly headmanned by upperclassmen. Senior guard Owen White led the charge with 17.6 points a night. Third on the team in scoring was senior Trent Bell with 12 PPG, behind him junior Eric Carl with 11.1. Bell also had a team-high average of 8.9 rebounds. Intermixed with these seasoned vets was a freshman acclimating to the college level at a pretty high clip in his own right: Adam Hobson. The guard was second on the team in scoring with 12.4 a game.

So far in Buettner's second stint with Michigan Tech, he has had to grapple with the reality of roster turnover. Both White and Bell graduated after last season. At the same time, Buettner's been able to experience the joys of another force: a new recruiting class.

And this hasn't just been any group, either. In fact, two freshmen in Dan Gherezghner and Marcus Tomashek already find themselves in second and third in average team scoring through five games with 12.2 and 11.8 respectively. 

Leading the charge has been a familiar name: Hobson. Now a sophomore, the guard hasn't lost a step from his freshman campaign. He's now averaging 16 a night on 50.8% shooting from the field, including 43.5% shooting from three. 

It's a young group at the top of the pack for the Huskies, and their have been some early-season growing pains to show for it. The team is just 2-3 heading into their trip to Duluth. Still, it's a youth movement that's already expressing its talent, skills that should only improve as the year goes on. One way or another, the Bulldogs will serve as another point in that progression.


SCOUTING REPORT ON NORTHERN MICHIGAN
The first three seasons of Northern Michigan head coach Matt Majkrzak's tenure behind the Wildcat bench were a seesaw in motion. 

Majkrzak's first year saw Northern Michigan go just 13-17. This was followed with a shortened 2020-21 campaign in which the Wildcats went exactly 8-8. Any year that your team goes .500, whether you play 16 games or a full season slate, the following year immediately builds extra importance. It sets a new trajectory for the program, either upward or on the longly trek downward. 

Remember, seesaw. 

In 2021-22, the Wildcats finished 18-12. Not only that, but the team closed out the year on a nine-game heater that pushed them all the way to the GLIAC Tournament Championship game. They'd lose that contest, but they'd close the season with a lot to be proud of.

Unfortunately for Northern State, this would also spell the close of the team tenures of two key Wildcats from that season in John Kerr and Justin Brookens. Kerr, a forward who averaged 11.8 points and a team-high 7.9 rebounds in his Wildcat swansong, graduated. Brookens, a guard who was third on the team in scoring with 11.3 points a night, transferred to the NAIA's Bethany. 

Replacing that kind of talent is never an easy task. As they say, though, as one door closes, another opens. Make it two for the Wildcats. 

First comes Dylan Kuehl. A redshirt freshman, Kuehl is making the most of his first true year of collegiate competition. He's third on the team in scoring through five games with 10.6 a night- on 65.6% shooting, to-boot. Not only that, but the forward's grabbing a team-high 5.4 boards a game in the process. Then there's Brian Parzych. A true sophomore, Parzych certainly made meaningful contributions throughout his freshman campaign, playing in all 30 games and averaging 5.9 points and 2.5 rebounds. This season, though, has been a different beast for the guard. He's now second on the team in scoring with 16.8 PPG. He hasn't stopped grabbing boards, either- he's third on the team with 4.8 a game. Parzych has also continued to prove himself to be a key distributor, averaging a team-high 3.6 assists. He'd already been tops on the team last year with 2.9 a night.

Some doors never have to close at all. Enter Max Bjorklund.

As a junior, Bjorklund was huge for the Wildcats, particularly on their nine-win run. In a game against Ferris State during that stretch, the guard put up 40 points on 14-15 shooting. Not in the game- in the second half. Not too shabby. What was also impressive was Bjorkund's team-leading 16.9 points a game. Impressive enough that he was named to the Preseason First Team in the GLIAC. So far in his senior campaign, he's earned that distinction- and then some. Bjorklund's started the year by averaging 24.4 points on 53.8% shooting from the field. He's also operating at a clip of 43.5% from beyond the arc. Not only that, but the guard is second on the team in rebounds a night with 5.2. This is exactly the kind of leader you want out on the court to guide a talented squad of underclassmen. 

So far, the formula has worked out pretty well. Northern Michigan has started the year 4-1. There's no rule that says you can't throw a boulder onto the opposite end of a seesaw and sit in glory at the top forever. That's what Kuehl hopes to achieve with this group. 

THE BROADCAST
Catch all of the weekend's action through the NSIC Network by clicking the links below:

vs Michigan Tech (Saturday, Nov. 26 @ 1 p.m.): bit.ly/3kpDTUl
vs Northern Michigan (Sunday, Nov. 27 @ 1 p.m.): bit.ly/3XxRA4X

UP NEXT
The Bulldogs will dive into the full swing of NSIC play next week with a pair of conference tests. UMD will stay in Romano for a Thursday contest against Minnesota Crookston on Thursday, Dec. 1 at 7:30 p.m. as part of Ugly Sweater Night. The Bulldogs will then travel out to Bemidji for a game against the Beavers on Saturday, Dec. 3 at 3 p.m.