Northern Michigan University’s Brian Parzych plays in an exhibition game against Michigan State at the Superior Dome in Marquette on Oct. 13. (Photo courtesy NMU)

MARQUETTE — Over the last year, the Northern Michigan University men’s basketball team has played seemingly everywhere but in its new home when the team is in town.

That will all change this afternoon when the Wildcats play their inaugural game in their new home, the refurbished and expanded Vandament Arena. NMU hosts NCAA Division III Concordia of Mequon, Wisconsin, at 3 p.m.

Over the last 12 months, this Northern team has played in its old home of the Berry Events Center, then also played in the PEIF Gym when its floor atop the Berry ice was unavailable at about this time last year.

And these Wildcats also hosted an exhibition game in the usually football-only Superior Dome when Michigan State University of the Big 10 came to town on Oct. 13. The game provided a chance to retire the number of longtime Spartans and Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame coach Tom Izzo, an Iron Mountain native who played for the NMU men’s team in the mid-1970s.

Northern (3-2) looks to bounce back following a pair of losses in Duluth, Minnesota, last weekend at the St. Louis County Basketball Classic against a pair of national top-10 teams — an 82-71 setback to No. 3 Minnesota State-Moorhead and 79-67 loss to No. 6 Minnesota-Duluth, the event’s host team.

Prior to that, the Wildcats opened their regular season — not counting the fairly competitive 70-53 loss to NCAA Division I MSU — with three straight wins at neutral-site Wisconsin Dells, 78-59 over Maryville (Missouri), 77-63 past Missouri-St. Louis and 85-83 against Illinois-Springfield.

Today’s game will be broadcast on radio station WUPT 100.3 FM The Point, while fans can follow @NMU_MensBBALL and @NMU_Wildcats on X (formerly Twitter) for updates leading up to and during the game, or visit the NMU athletics website at nmuwildcats.com and look under the men’s basketball schedule for links to live video (including FloCollege), live audio, live statistics, ticket information, the game program and a series preview and history.

Here are some nuggets mined by NMU Sports Information about these Wildcats:

• Though no league games have been played yet, Northern leads the GLIAC with a plus-2.80 turnover margin

• Julien Smith leads the team in scoring at 16.0 points per game, which is also seventh in the conference. He has scored in double figures in all five games, topped by 27 points vs. Duluth.

• Dylan Kuehl at 12.0 ppg and Sam Privet at 11.6 ppg also score in double figures.

• Head coach Matt Majkrzak is in his sixth season and has back-to-back NCAA Division II Tournament appearances. NMU set a program record in wins with a 25-8 mark in 2022-23, winning an NCAA tourney game, then was 22-11 last season, winning their first league regular season title since 1992-93 at 14-4 that included a 13-game win streak.

• Majkrzak is the reigning GLIAC Coach of the Year, as he has an overall record, including this season, of 89-58 (.605). The only other Wildcats coach to win men’s GLIAC Coach of the Year was Dean Ellis in 1993.

As far as Concordia goes, the Falcons have struggled to an 0-4 record, averaging 70.0 ppg while giving up 79.8. They shoot 47.4% from the field, 32.0% on 3-pointers and 80.0% on free throws.

Compare that to NMU averaging 75.6 ppg and allowing 73.2 ppg, and shooting 46.6% from the field overall, 36.9% on triples and 70.7% on free throws.

Concordia’s offense is paced by former NMU player Casey Verhagen at 16.3 ppg, while Logan Landers has averages of 13.8 ppg and 7.5 rebounds.

Northern’s top rebounder is Kuehl at 6.8 per game, while Privet has hit 70.0% on 3s (7 of 10), Brian Parzych leads in assists with 2.6 per game, and a trio of players have each made six steals — Smith, Gerald Gittens Jr. and Biggie Luster.

Looking at the GLIAC nonconference standings, Ferris State and Lake Superior State are off to the hottest starts at 8-1 for the Bulldogs and 7-1 for the Lakers. Besides NMU, other league teams with winning records are Michigan Tech at 4-3 and Grand Valley State at 3-2.

Saginaw Valley State is 2-2; Wisconsin-Parkside, Purdue Northwest and newcomer Roosevelt are all 2-4; while Davenport and Wayne State are each 1-4.

NMU opens its GLIAC season next week at home against Purdue NW at 7:30 p.m. Thursday and against Parkside at 2 p.m. next Saturday. Women’s games will be played two hours prior to the men’s.

Information compiled by Journal Sports Editor Steve Brownlee. His email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.