Story, photo courtesy of NMU Sports Information. Click the AUDIO button to hear Casey Ford's interview with Coach Matt Majkrzak.
MARQUETTE, Mich. – Thrilling. Loud. Electric.
Those were just some of the words that could describe the atmosphere at Vandament Arena on Thursday night.
In front of a sold-out crowd, the No. 22 Northern Michigan Wildcats knocked off their UP rival and No. 12 Michigan Tech 70-64 in a thrilling, high-intensity battle.
The teams exchanged blows early, but NMU put together the first sizable run of 7-0 to lead 18-10 over halfway through the opening half. Tech hung around, but Northern maintained that eight-point edge, 32-24, at halftime.
The game stayed close in the opening minutes of the second half, but Northern managed another stretch of 9-0 to lead 49-36 with 12 minutes to go. That would stretch to 58-43, the largest lead of the night, with seven minutes and change remaining.
The Huskies hit back-to-back threes in a 10-1 run to trim the gap to 63-58 with 2:40 to go. From there, NMU converted a key bucket from Dylan Kuehl and free throws from Charlie Miller and Sam Privet. Despite a couple of late threes from Tech, it was lights out as the Wildcats secured a pivotal top-25 win on their home court.
Speaking of Kuehl, he was sensational yet again. He paced all players with 23 points and 11 rebounds for a double-double, while finishing second on the team with four assists. He shot 9-15 (60%). Sam Privet had a breakout game as a new insert into the starting lineup, contributing 16 points on 6-9 (66.7%) shooting to go along with five boards.
Michigan Tech was led by Dawson Nordgaard with 18 and Marcus Tomashek with 15.
Neither side shot particularly well, as was expected with two of the top defensive units in the nation. NMU finished at 41.1% while Tech was 43.3%. Each team hit seven threes, with NMU attempting 23 and Tech 24. The 'Cats were 17-22 (77.3%) at the charity stripe while the Huskies were 5-7 (71.4%).
The Wildcats controlled the glass 38-33 and assists 16-12. In a game with two evenly matched teams, those were about the only stats that saw some separation.
In addition, Saginaw Valley's 92-65 victory over Grand Valley moves the Wildcats into a three-way tie with the Lakers and Huskies for the conference lead at 13-4. Northern will be home for the GLIAC Quarterfinals on March 4, but the Regular Season title is still up for grabs with three games to play.
Of note, the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) raised a remarkable $1,100.91 for Make-A-Wish during tonight's Miracle Minute.
