Northern Michigan University’s Julien Smith goes in for a layup in a GLIAC game against Saginaw Valley State at Vandament Arena in Marquette on Saturday. (Photo courtesy Cara Kamps)

MARQUETTE — Starting tonight, this weekend may very well determine if the Northern Michigan University men’s basketball team can win the GLIAC regular-season title.

Even though this will only bring teams halfway through their 20-game league schedule, the third-place Wildcats are hitting the road to first face one of the two teams ahead of them, then two days later, the team they’re tied with.

NMU plays in Big Rapids against GLIAC co-leader Ferris State at 7:30 p.m. today, then heads back north to Sault Ste. Marie to face co-third-place Lake Superior State at 3 p.m. Saturday.

Both games will be broadcast on radio station WUPT 100.3 FM The Point and will also be available to watch online at the FloSports app.

Or follow @NMU_MensBBALL and @NMU_Wildcats on X (formerly Twitter) for updates leading up to and during the games, or visit the NMU athletics website at www.nmuwildcats.com and look under the men’s basketball schedule for links to live video, live statistics, game previews and series’ histories.

While Northern has solid 12-4 overall and 6-2 conference records, this week also marks the second time this season the Wildcats have hit the road to face a pair of top-20 teams. At No. 8 in NCAA Division II, Ferris State is 17-2 overall and 7-1 in league, while No. 14 LSSU is 15-3 and 6-2.

During the weekend after Thanksgiving, NMU traveled to Duluth, Minnesota, to face No. 3 Minnesota State-Moorhead and No. 5 Minnesota-Duluth, losing both games, 82-71 to Moorhead and 79-67 to Duluth.

The Wildcats promptly went on a seven-game winning streak after those games, four of those games GLIAC encounters. That put them tied atop the league at that time, but since, they’ve split their four contests, all conference tilts and all at home.

Last week, Northern lost to Wayne State 82-67 on Thursday at Vandament Arena, then defeated Saginaw Valley State 75-62 two days later.

The Wildcats had no answer for the Warriors’ Rob Lee Jr. on Thursday, when he dropped a career-high 40 points, making 6 of 8 on his 3-pointers and a perfect 10 of 10 free throws.

But on Saturday, Northern erased a five-point halftime deficit by starting the second half on a 19-0 run and coasting from there.

Gerald Gittens Jr. came off the bench to lead NMU scorers vs. Wayne State, scoring 17 points after hitting 7 of 8 free throws, while season-leading scorer Dylan Kuehl added 16 points and new-found offensive force Cal Klesmit put in 11.

Julien Smith led Northern on Saturday, scoring 17 points and grabbing six rebounds, while Sam Privet was right there with him with 16 points and a game-high eight rebounds. Klesmit had 12 points with three 3s as Kuehl and Gittens each had 11 points that day.

Despite the problems vs. WSU last week, the Wildcats’ calling card has been its defense, allowing a GLIAC-low 66.4 points per game, which also ranks 25th nationally. They also give up a league-low 31.2 rebounds a game, having a plus-4.0 margin there. And NMU makes the conference’s second-best 7.3 steals a game and has the No. 2 turnover margin at plus-2.31 a contest.

Individually, Kuehl is ninth in overall scoring in the GLIAC at 15.4 ppg, scoring in double figures in 15 of 16 games and shooting at least 50% in 12 of his last 14. He’s been GLIAC Offensive Player of the Week twice this season.

In conference games only, Kuehl is fourth in scoring at 16.4 ppg and second by making 51.6% on field goals.

He surpassed 1,000 points in his collegiate career earlier in the season, the 35th player in NMU men’s history to do so. Kuehl has been named to the GLIAC First Team and All-Defensive Team in each of his previous two seasons and was named to the GLIAC Preseason First Team in the fall.

Smith is No. 2 in Wildcats’ scoring at 11.9 ppg, Saturday’s performance his highest point output since Nov. 23. Northern’s go-to player in the clutch, he’s made 8 of 10 from the field in the final four minutes of games that have been 10 points or closer, and that includes making 6 of 8 — and 5 of his last 5 — on triples in that situation.

Privet is third in scoring at 10.1 ppg, while Klesmit is next at 9.5 ppg.

Ferris was on a 16-game winning streak before losing at Wisconsin-Parkside 78-66 last Thursday, though the Bulldogs bounced back with a 93-83 win at Purdue Northwest on Saturday.

FSU, a perfect 11-0 at home, is in the top 10 in the nation in multiple statistics — fourth with 30.3 defensive rebounds a game, seventh with a defensive 38.8% on field goals, eighth with a defensive 28.4% on 3-pointers, eighth with a plus-17.7 scoring margin and 10th by making 39.4% on triples.

Senior guard Ethan Erickson leads Ferris at 16.8 ppg, third in the GLIAC, also his rank with a 40.5% on 3s. His 3.2 makes a game on triples leads the conference.

Tyler Hamilton at 11.2 ppg and Nathan Claerbaut at 10.7 ppg also average in double figures for the Bulldogs, while Claerbaut is tied for second in the GLIAC with 7.2 rebounds a game and has the league’s No. 1 and fourth-best in the nation blocked-shots rate of 2.7 a game, more than double of any other conference player.

Leading all-time 76-71 vs. the Bulldogs, NMU has won four of its last six vs. Ferris, including a couple of recent postseason encounters — NMU was victorious 67-59 in the 2023 GLIAC Tournament, while FSU prevailed last season 81-65 in the NCAA Division II Tournament.

LSSU also lost 66-63 to Parkside on Saturday, its most recent game, but like Ferris is perfect at home at 8-0.

Statistically, the Lakers are the best in the conference and 11th nationally with a 1.65 assist-to-turnover ratio, also leading the league with 8.3 steals a contest. And they’re second in the conference in scoring at 80.5 ppg and scoring defense at 67.1 ppg. And they’ve hit more 3-pointers than any other league team, 10.3 per game.

Lake State has five players who average scoring in double figures, considered one of the most balanced attacks in the nation. The Lakers are led by Tyson Edmondson at 15.9 ppg, then comes Kingsley Perkins at 13.1 ppg, Hunter Soper at 11.1 ppg, Devin Womack at 10.7 ppg and Adam Harakow at 10.3 ppg.

Perkins also leads the GLIAC by making 55.7% on field goals, while Soper’s 29 steals are three more than any other conference player.

NMU is 70-46 all time vs. LSSU, including a split last season, when the Wildcats won at home 72-71 and Lakers prevailed in Sault Ste. Marie 74-68.

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.