Concordia's Casey Verhagen, center, passes while pressured on defense by Northern Michigan University’s Dylan Kuehl, left, and Isaiah Allen during their college men’s basketball game played at Vandament Arena in Marquette last Thursday. Verhagen is a former Wildcat. (Photo courtesy Cara Kamps)

MARQUETTE — A rather unique opportunity awaits the men’s basketball team at Northern Michigan University starting today.

The Wildcats venture off the U.S. mainland, but not out of the U.S. itself, when it takes part in the Puerto Rico Clasico today, Friday and Saturday on the U.S. commonwealth in the Caribbean Sea.

NMU is 8-1 and working on a seven-game winning streak as it takes part in an event that includes two other U.S. NCAA Division II men’s programs and four in Division II women’s basketball.

Most of the games pit a U.S. team against one from Puerto Rico, with men’s teams joining Northern being former GLIAC member Tiffin, along with Texas-Tyler. No location on the island for these games was indicated on multiple websites.

With games having started Tuesday, NMU jumps into action this afternoon against the Interamericana Tigres at 5:15 p.m. EST (6:15 p.m. local time). That’s followed by NMU vs. the Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras Gallitos at 7 p.m. EST Friday, then the Wildcats vs. the Puerto-Rico-Bayamon Cowboys at 6:30 p.m. EST Saturday.

NMU Sports Information notes in a news release previewing the event that beyond the games, the Puerto Rico Clasico provides the Northern team with a once-in-a-lifetime experience, offering exposure to a different style of play and basketball culture than what the Wildcats typically see in the Midwest.

The trip also gives the Wildcats a chance to test itself against unfamiliar opponents while representing the program and university on a unique stage before turning the page back to conference play.

Each game can be streamed for $14.99 through the Puerto Rico College Sports Tours website located at https://puertoricocollegesportstours.com/d2-december-livestreams.

There will be no live feeds for statistics or radio.

Fans can also follow @NMU_MensBBALL and @NMU_Wildcats on X (formerly Twitter) and @nmu_mbb on Instagram for updates throughout the event.

In the past week, NMU quashed the hopes of a pair of NCAA Division III opponents from Wisconsin that are members of the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference.

Playing at their home Vandament Arena, the Wildcats thumped Concordia 87-35 last Thursday, then outraced Marian 109-52.

Jackson Dudek, who was named GLIAC Tournament MVP last spring, led NMU in scoring at 21.5 points per game on the two dates, shooting 71% from the field (15 of 21) and even better on 3-pointers at 78% (7 of 9).

It included his career-high scoring game of 29 points vs. Marian in just 22 minutes as he made 10 of 12 overall from the field and 3 of 3 on triples.

Teammate Bennett Basich, a transfer in the off-season from Wisconsin-Green Bay, was named GLIAC Defensive Player of the Week. In just 28 minutes total between the two games, he rolled up 16 points, 15 rebounds, eight assists and three steals, getting 10 points and 10 rebounds vs. Concordia.

Dylan Kuehl, however, still leads NMU scorers at 18.6 ppg, also good for fourth in the GLIAC. And he’s sixth in the league with 6.4 rebounds per game, third with a 55.9% field goal percentage, third with 3.8 assists per contest and eighth with 0.9 blocked shots per outing.

He’s scored in double figures in all nine NMU games and has has a game with his career-high 35 points along with an 18-point, 16-rebound double-double this season.

Teammate Cal Klesmit has come on offensively as of late, ranking 13th in the conference in scoring at 13.8 ppg, an average higher than his highest-scoring collegiate game until four games ago. In that stretch, he’s averaged 19.8 ppg since his breakout 30-pointer vs. Wisconsin-Parkside on Dec. 4.

He’s doing it by shooting well from long range, make 25 of 59 (42.4%) on 3s.

Dudek is close behind Klesmit at 13.0 ppg, ranking him 18th in the GLIAC as he makes 55.7% from the field that includes 51.5% (17 of 33) on triples.

As a team, the Wildcats are top 20 in Division II in several categories — second with a 1.9 assist-to-turnover ratio, fifth with a plus-22.8-point scoring margin, seventh with 60.4 ppg allowed, seventh with a plus-11.9-rebound margin, 10th with a 79.5% free throw percentage and 20th with a 39.7% percentage on 3-pointers.

Story contents based on Northern Michigan University Sports Information press release previewing the games. Journal Sports Editor Steve Brownlee’s email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.