New to the national rankings, No. 18 Northern Michigan University travels a hundred miles to take on No. 12 Michigan Tech at 7:30 p.m. today at the Huskies’ gym.

The Wildcats have another game in this wraparound weekend, hosting Ferris State at 7:30 p.m. Monday at its own Vandament Arena.

Both games will be streamed on FloCollege and available on Marquette radio station WUPT 100.3 FM The Point, while tonight’s contest will also be televised on Fox-U.P.

Fans can also follow @NMU_MensBBALL and @NMU_Wildcats on X (formerly Twitter) and @nmu_mbb on Instagram for updates throughout the weekend, or visit the Wildcats athletics website at nmuwildcats.com and look under the men’s basketball schedule for links to live video, live statistics, a preview and ticket information for Monday’s game.

Northern Michigan University’s Dylan Kuehl, center, is fouled going up for a shot by Davenport's Aidan Moon, left, during their GLIAC game played at Vandament Arena in Marquette on Friday. (Photo courtesy Cara Kamps)

Northern, Tech and Ferris hold the top three positions in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. The Wildcats are 13-1 overall and 4-0 and alone in first place, while the Huskies are 12-2 and 3-1, tied for second place with Ferris, which is a much more modest 6-5 overall.

NMU has won 12 straight games, one short of its program record of 13 that was set also during head coach Matt Majkrzak’s tenure in the 2023-24 season.

Northern ran its latest winning streak to an even dozen after winning on back-to-back days last weekend at home, taking down Davenport 101-65 and slipping past Grand Valley State 72-60. This week is the first time this season the Wildcats have cracked the top-25 national rankings as conducted by the National Association of Basketball Coaches.

“We have had these runs in the past, and it’s been a lot of different guys stepping (up), with Dylan (Kuehl) consistently being the alpha threat,” Majkrzak said in an NMU Sports Information press release previewing the games. “(Michigan Tech) presents a unique challenge and defensively, they are awesome. They have dominated big-time opponents with how hard their schedule has been.”

Northern has not only done it with depth, but also efficiency and defense. The Wildcats are No. 1 in NCAA Division II in scoring defense, allowing just 58.0 points per game. They’re also second nationally in two other areas — a plus-13.2 rebounding margin and the lesser-known 1.9 assist-to-turnover ratio.

Continuing the theme, NMU is third in the country with a 26.6-point scoring margin, third with its 41.2% 3-point shooting, fourth with 11.5 triples a game, 10th with its opponents’ 38.4% field goal shooting and 10th with a 58.1% effective field goal percentage.

As his coach mentioned, graduate student forward Kuehl is the Wildcats one constant. He is the reigning GLIAC Offensive Player of the Week after averaging 29 ppg last week and shooting 70.4% (19 of 27) and 69.2% on 3s (9 of 13). He also totaled seven rebounds while not committing a turnover in 62 minutes on the court altogether.

He’s already been named to the GLIAC First Team three times in previous seasons. This season, not only is he fifth in the GLIAC with his 17.9 ppg, he’s fourth with a 54.2% field goal success rate, fifth with 3.2 assists a contest, 11th with 5.9 rebounds an outing and 11th with 0.8 blocked shots per game.

Kuehl is at 1,701 career points and 717 career rebounds, both top 10 all-time at Northern.

Teammate Cal Klesmit is at 15.1 ppg and Jackson Dudek at 12.9 ppg, with Klesmit hitting on 46.9% on 3s, which is No. 1 in the GLIAC and 14th nationally. Dudek makes 59.1% overall from the floor, too.

Division I transfer guards Charlie Miller and Bennett Basich each average 7.2 ppg and can hit triples.

Looking at Michigan Tech, the Huskies had been No. 5 in the NABC national poll until a loss to Grand Valley on Friday. Nevertheless, MTU is among the nation’s leaders in several stats — fourth with a 37.4% opponents’ field goal success, eighth with 60.9 ppg allowed and 16th in allowing 28.0% on 3s by opponents.

Last year’s GLIAC Player of the Year Marcus Tomashek leads the way again, averaging 18.9 ppg for No. 2 in the league, shooting 32.0% on triples after he set Tech’s record with 11 made on Dec. 20 vs. Lynn.

Ferris State, led by interim head coach Alex Fodness, averages 79.3 ppg and allows 78.9 ppg even while being No. 2 in the nation in 3-point defense with opponents only shooting 24.8%.

Ethan Erickson leads the Bulldogs at 16.4 ppg and is second in the GLIAC in making 3s at 2.9 per game.

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.