Northern Michigan University’s Dylan Kuehl, right, and Trevor Polite, left, double-team Minnesota-Duluth's Caleb Siwek during their game played at Vandament Arena in Marquette on Nov. 29. (Photo courtesy Cara Kamps)

MARQUETTE — Even though he’s known as one of the top scorers in the conference, men’s basketball player Dylan Kuehl of Northern Michigan University didn’t earn an honor for his offense on Monday.

The graduate student forward from Iron Ridge, Wisconsin, instead was named Defensive Player of the Week by the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.

He led the Wildcats to a pair of road victories at Lake Superior State and Saginaw Valley State last week that allowed NMU to remain in a tie for the league lead with Upper Peninsula rival Michigan Tech.

In those games, he blocked four shots in each while averaging 10 rebounds and still pouring in a robust number of points. He was cited for timely defensive play that directly impacted both games’ outcomes.

A three time GLIAC First Team honoree, he scored 31 points and pulled down 11 rebounds vs. LSSU, shooting 65% from the field on 11-of-17 shooting.

NMU Sports Information mentioned that while his scoring kept the Wildcats in the game, it was his defense that defined the closing moments.

With the score tied 72-72 in the final minute, Kuehl rotated over to snuff a driving layup attempt, setting up teammate Cal Klesmit to hit the go-ahead-for-good 3-pointer about 15 seconds later.

Then vs. SVSU, he scored 13 points and grabbed nine rebounds with again four blocks, the total of all other players on both teams combined.

And he made all four blocks in the second half, mirroring his late-game defense from two days earlier in Sault Ste. Marie.

For the season, Kuehl is No. 3 in the GLIAC in scoring with 19.2 points per game, No. 9 with 6.2 rebounds a game, No. 4 with a 54.2% field goal percentage and No. 5 with 1.2 blocked shots an outing.

This week, Northern returns home to Vandament Arena to host Purdue Northwest at 7:30 p.m. Thursday and Wayne State at 3 p.m. Saturday.

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