Wildcats tied for third place in conference
DETROIT – Jackson Dudek scored a season-high 18 points to lead the Northern Michigan men’s basketball team to a 66-61 road win over the Wayne State Warriors on Saturday afternoon.
Dudek’s team-high 18 points came on 8-11 (72.7%) shooting. He also added six rebounds, a block, and a steal. Since entering the starting lineup four games ago, Dudek is averaging 15.8, shooting 27-35 (77.1%), to go along with 7.3 rebounds per game.
The Kimberly, Wisconsin product has been a revelation during NMU’s four-game winning streak, as the ‘Cats average margin of victory over the last four is 18.8 points to get them right in the thick of the race for the GLIAC regular season title.
Julien Smith followed Dudek with 14 points while Dylan Kuehl chipped in 12. NMU shot 24-58 (41.4%) from the field while the Warriors were 21-47 (44.7%). After scoring 40 against NMU last month in Marquette, WSU’s Rob Lee Jr. led all scorers with 19 points.
NMU’s ability to control the ball played a key role in the victory, as they committed a season-low four turnovers while turning over the Warriors 14 times. Northern led in points off turnovers 15-8.
The Wildcats pounced on the Warriors early on, in large part thanks to Dudek. He gathered an offensive rebound on the game’s first possession, leading to a Smith triple. He would follow that with a pair of buckets for five points, two rebounds, and a steal in the first four minutes.
NMU went on a 10-0 run early on, suddenly pushing its lead to 22-7 with 6:52 to play in the first half. The Warriors went without a field goal for 7:30 of game play. As WSU heated up to end the half, Cal Klesmit knocked down a corner three to maintain a 10-point cushion, 27-17, with two minutes before halftime.
That double-digit lead remained as the horn for halftime sounded, leading 31-20. Dudek poured in 13 points on 6-7 in the first half, while no other ‘Cats scored more than four. NMU forced WSU into 10 first half turnovers while only committing four themselves.
A 6-0 run early in the second half from NMU gave them their largest lead of the game, 44-28, with 14:45 remaining. The Warriors didn’t quit, scoring the next nine to make it a seven-point game with 12 minutes left.
Derek Merwick connected on a three to end that run, but again, the Warriors scored seven of the next eight to close the gap all the way down to four, 48-44, with 8:30 on the clock.
NMU would answer with the next six to stretch the lead back to 10.
A lot of time was spent at the foul line late for each side, and Smith came in clutch for the Wildcats, going 4-4 at the charity stripe in the final 22 seconds to ice the game.
NMU improved to 16-6 overall and 10-4 in the GLIAC. With a Ferris State loss, the ‘Cats are now tied with the Bulldogs and one game behind Lake Superior State and Michigan Tech at 11-3.
Up Next
Two massive games await the Wildcats at home, as they’ll host Lake Superior State on Thursday, February 13, before welcoming Ferris State on Saturday, February 15 for Senior Day.
