Northern Michigan University’s Derek Merwick, right, works to get around Michigan State’s Jeremy Fears Jr. during the Superior Dome Showdown exhibition college men’s basketball game held in the Superior Dome in Marquette on Oct. 13. (Photo courtesy NMU)

MARQUETTE — The Northern Michigan University men’s basketball team must’ve liked The Dells so much they’ve gone back for a second weekend there.

This popular Wisconsin Dells vacation spot will be an all-business trip for the Wildcats, though, as they take on Illinois-Springfield at 4 p.m. EST today.

Last weekend, NMU opened its regular season with a pair of wins, 78-59 over Maryville (Missouri) and 77-63 over Missouri-St. Louis, both also in the Wisconsin Dells at the Justagame Fieldhouse following an approximately 300-mile trip there.

Illinois-Springfield is also undefeated at 2-0 after knocking off GLIAC opponents Roosevelt 93-76 and Wisconsin-Parkside 60-43 last weekend on its home court in the Midwest Region Crossover.

While today’s game isn’t scheduled to be broadcast on an area radio station, probably due to the proliferation of events NMU is taking part in this weekend, fans can follow @NMU_WBBall and @NMU_Wildcats on X (formerly Twitter) for updates leading up to and during the game. Or visit the NMU athletics website at www.nmuwildcats.com and look under the men’s basketball schedule for links to live statistics, a game preview and series history.

“It was such a unique and fun coaching experience playing 10 guys and subbing in and out,” Northern head coach Matt Majkrzak said about last weekend in an NMU Sports Information news release previewing today’s game. “We didn’t play well at any point, but we won both games and it spoke to their level of how hard they played and how unselfish they were.”

The Wildcats also lost a home exhibition game just over a month ago against NCAA Division I powerhouse and Big 10 member Michigan State, 70-53, in the Superior Dome Showdown in Marquette on Oct. 13. The exhibition had been set up in part to honor and retire the jersey number of NMU alumnus Tom Izzo, the longtime Spartans coach who also played basketball for the Wildcats in the mid-1970s.

Last weekend, Northern used balanced, unselfish play to record its victories, according to NMU SI.

On Friday vs. Maryville, all 10 NMU players scored and grabbed a rebound, with nine of the 10 getting an assist.

Then on Saturday against St. Louis, all 10 scored again with each contributing an assist and nine of the 10 grabbing a rebound.

In this early stage of the season, returnee Brian Parzych leads NMU in scoring at 14.0 points per game, while newcomer Julien Smith is at 12.5 ppg. And teammates Dylan Kuehl, Sam Privet, Gerald Gittens Jr., Biggie Luster and Brandon Trilli all averaged at least 7.0 ppg as well.

In his sixth season, Majkrzak is seeking to bring the Wildcats to a third consecutive NCAA Division II Tournament appearance. The last two seasons have been two of the best in program history, with the NCAAs the icing on top of that cake.

In 2022-23, Northern captured its first GLIAC Tournament title since 2000. NMU went 25-8, the most wins in program history, and made it to the NCAA round of 32.

Last year, the Wildcats followed it up with a 22-11 season that saw them win the GLIAC regular season title for the first time since 1992-93 with a conference record of 14-4 that included a midseason 13-game win streak, tied for the longest in the program’s history that goes back more than a century.

Majkrzak is the reigning GLIAC Coach of the Year. In his five-plus seasons, NMU has gone 88-56 (.611 winning percentage), including a 47-19 (.712) mark over the last two.

He is only the second leader of the program to be named conference Coach of the Year, joining Dean Ellis in 1993. For a team that dealt with injuries throughout last season, Majkrzak continued to make it work for the Green and Gold, plugging and playing different lineups with seemingly no interruptions.

Northern’s 17-player roster includes only six who return from last year.

Kuehl was named to the GLIAC Preseason First Team after being a key player for Northern’s recent success. He was named to the All-GLIAC First Team and All-Defensive Team in each of his two seasons, as well as earning a spot on the National Association of Basketball Coaches’ All-District Second Team last year.

In his career, Kuehl is averaging 14.3 ppg, closing in on 1,000 points with 929. He also averages 6.4 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.1 blocks over his two seasons while shooting 52.2% from the floor. Last year, he topped the GLIAC in made field goals and was fourth in rebounds.

In the backcourt, NMU added a quartet of guards in Smith, Gittens, Luster and Derek Merwick from the transfer portal. Parzych is the established veteran among the guards, averaging 10.6 ppg and over the last two seasons.

Majkrzak will also look to returning bigs Sam Privet and Jackson Dudek, as well as redshirt freshman Peter Lattos, to step into bigger roles than they had in 2023-24.

Senior guard Max Kunnert leads Illinois-Springfield at 17.0 ppg after two contests, with Prairie Stars teammates Tye Banks, Khalil Ross and Jack Weber also averaging in double figures.

UIS has made half of its 3-point attempts (14 of 28) and is shooting 47.2% overall from the field. In addition, the Stars limit teams to 41.2% from the floor and 25% from beyond the arc.

Springfield has had a winning record in each of the last two seasons, including 18-13 a year ago, and were picked second in the preseason poll for the Great Lakes Valley Conference.

Despite winning the regular season a year ago, the Wildcats were only chosen third in the GLIAC preseason poll, likely at least in part because of the departure of GLIAC Player of the Year Max Weisbrod to Division I Northern Iowa in the offseason.

Of the teams that the Prairie Stars defeated last weekend, Parkside was chosen in a tie with Michigan Tech for sixth place in the GLIAC preseason poll, while league newcomer Roosevelt was chosen 11th — last place.

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