Northern Michigan University’s Julien Smith, center right, drives to the basket while defended by Lake Superior State’s Tyson Edmondson, center left, during the GLIAC Tournament men’s basketball championship game played at Michigan Tech’s arena in Houghton on Sunday. (Photo courtesy Cara Kamps)

MARQUETTE — Familiarity shouldn’t breed contempt, but it should provide a detailed scouting report when the Northern Michigan University and Michigan Tech men’s basketball teams meet for the fourth time this season on Saturday afternoon in, of all places, Springfield, Illinois.

That’s where the eight-team Midwest Region of the NCAA Division II Tournament is being held, and with the Wildcats (22-9) drawing the No. 6 seed and MTU (23-7) the No. 3, they were destined to clash in the first-round quarterfinals.

Both teams are looking to make this the first of three wins in a row over four days that would net them the regional title and a berth in the Division II Elite Eight being held in Evansville, Indiana, from March 25-29.

NMU is also looking to even the series with Tech after the Huskies won both regular-season encounters, 88-65 in Marquette on Jan. 9 and 67-64 in Houghton on Feb. 20.

But Northern’s 69-68 win in the GLIAC Tournament semifinals in Houghton on Saturday was probably the most important result, at least to the Wildcats, as it might have been what insured their entry into the national tourney.

This 1 p.m. EST game in central Illinois can be watched online for free on the Great Lakes Valley Conference Network and will also be available on radio station WUPT 100.3 FM The Point.

Fans can also follow @NMU_MensBBALL and @NMU_Wildcats on X (formerly Twitter) for updates leading up to and during the game.

Saturday’s winner comes right back at 6 p.m. Sunday for the regional semifinal to face either No. 2 seed Lake Superior State (27-6) or No. 7 Lincoln (23-8), a Missouri-based school.

After taking a day off, the regional championship is scheduled for 8 p.m. Tuesday against No. 1 Missouri S&T (24-5), No. 8 Malone (16-15), No. 4 Missouri-St. Louis (19-11) or No. 5 Ferris State (25-8).

Though Missouri S&T of Rolla, Missouri, is the host, the games were moved into their neighboring state.

NMU got into this position by winning the GLIAC Tournament title after entering as just the No. 4 seed. The Wildcats took out No. 5 Grand Valley State 85-72 in Marquette on March 5, then defeated the Huskies on Saturday before dispatching No. 2 LSSU 78-63 in the title matchup on Sunday, also in Houghton.

“Of the three championships we won, this one was the most fun,” Northern head coach Matt Majkrzak said in an NMU Sports Information news release previewing the game. “Throughout the year, there were a lot of points where I didn’t expect this season to end in a championship.

“We really, really earned this one by going through the heart of the league.”

This marked Northern’s second conference tourney title in three years and third straight appearance in the NCAAs that goes with a regular-season title in that time, too.

NMU won the conference title game over LSSU despite top scorer Dylan Kuehl missing most of the first half due to injury. Instead, teammate Jackson Dudek led the way with a season-high 19 points and nine rebounds, shooting 8 of 12 from the field. He was named GLIAC Tournament MVP after averaging 15.7 points and shooting 68% over the three games. Northern’s Brian Parzych also made the all-tournament team.

The final two wins both came over nationally ranked teams that the Wildcats lost to twice during the regular season.

Now winners of six straight, the Wildcats enter the big dance with their third straight season with 20-plus wins, the first time in program history reaching that mark in back-to-back-to-back years. Northern is also one of only six programs in Division II to make the NCAA Tournament in three straight seasons and win three straight conference championships (regular season or tournament).

Now an All-GLIAC First Teamer and All-Defensive Team member in each of his first three seasons, the offense has been led by Kuehl, as he was the only player in the GLIAC to reach double figures in every conference game in the regular season, averaging 17.6 points over those 20 games. Overall, he averages 16.2 points and 6.7 rebounds per game while shooting 50.1% from the field.

Since entering the starting lineup 13 games ago, Dudek is averaging 13.7 points per game while shooting 61% from the field.

For an offense that averaged more than 79 points per game in each of the last three seasons, defense has been the mode of operation this season. The offense scores at a rate of 74.3 points per game while the scoring defense is allowing only 68.3, good for a top-40 mark nationally.

With veteran guards, the Wildcats take care of the ball as well as any team in the country. Committing just 9.9 turnovers per game, Northern ranks 13th nationally. It has been a staple in Majkrzak’s resurrection of the program, as NMU has averaged less than 11 turnovers per game in each of his six seasons at the helm. Northern is also 32nd in Division II with a 1.38 assist/turnover ratio.

Looking at MTU, the Huskies are ranked No. 23 and won eight straight before the Wildcats knocked them out of the GLIAC tourney.

Tech averages 77.3 ppg, led by GLIAC Player of the Year Marcus Tomashek, who is 11th in the country at 23.3 ppg.

Head coach Josh Buettner was named the GLIAC Coach of the Year for the second time. Dawson Nordgaard was named to the All-GLIAC Second Team and Josh Terrian earned All-Defensive team recognition.

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