Michigan Tech guard Jesse Napgezek drives around a Lakeland defender during an exhibition game Saturday, Nov. 29, at the SDC Gym in Houghton. (David Archambeau/For the Gazette)

HOUGHTON — Now ranked No. 11 in the country, the Michigan Tech Huskies men’s basketball team won their two opening games of GLIAC play last weekend by defeating Roosevelt Thursday and following that effort up with a win over Wisconsin-Parkside Saturday. The Huskies are now 8-1 overall and 2-0 in GLIAC play.

Given that the Huskies won’t see another GLIAC opponent for a month, the wins last weekend were crucial, according to coach Josh Buettner.

“Honestly, it’s a, I don’t know if that’s the right thing to say, relief in some ways to go get two,” he said. “It’s, obviously, a really good feeling. Kind of what we did last year, we really emphasized those two conference games. Just when you have a month before you get to play in the GLIAC again, so, if it doesn’t go well, you’re sitting there and staring at those standings. I know there’s a few games in between, but it just feels like a long time before you get another opportunity in the GLIAC.

“So, (we are) just happy that we went on the road, it’s always hard to win on the road, and got two. It was a heck of a trip.”

More impressively, the Huskies are doing this without senior guard Marcus Tomashek playing to the level that the rest of the conference believes he will. He had 14 in the win Thursday, but just seven in the win Saturday. Despite his early-season struggles, he is averaging 17.3 points per game.

“What I like is just our toughness, grittiness, belief, and constant competitiveness,” Buettner said. “These guys just aren’t fazed by much. Minus one game, we’ve been really, really good defensively. I think we have a lot of room to grow on the other side of the ball. A lot of that has to do with some of our best offensive players kind of getting off the slow starts. Ty (Fernholz)’s been pretty good recently, but was really struggling early.

“Marcus took a summer off trying to get healthy, and he’s just not moving yet. He’s doing a ton of really good things for us. He’s defending. He’s moving the ball. He’s not trying to force things. He’s really doing a nice job leading. So, he’s really helping us win. He’s still averaging over 17 a game, so it’s not like he’s not scoring, but doesn’t have quite the gaudy numbers that he had, at times, last year.”

While Tomashek is not scoring the way he expects to, one player who has begun to step up is freshman guard Jesse Napgezek. He scored nine points Thursday, and followed that up with a career-high 18 to lead the Huskies Saturday.

“I knew it was a possibility,” said Buettner. “We knew he was pretty talented, and, obviously, he was pretty physically developed for a freshman. It was interesting. We had a conversation with him a couple weeks ago. (We told him to) stop thinking about offense. Just show us that we can trust you on defense, play hard, pay attention to details, and your minutes are going to go up. Who knows what will happen with offense. Honestly, he’s done that. He’s been a good defender and it’s gotten him more minutes. The offense comes easier for him. But, he did a heck of a job defensively.”

A defensive option as a freshman, redshirt sophomore guard Gabe Smith is finding some consistency offensively, which also helps the Huskies. He led the team with 14 in the win Thursday, and added another 10 Saturday.

“There’s another player we’re talking about where our ceiling can get to,” Buettner said. “Defensively, he’s been awesome. He needs to avoid a couple dumb fouls here and there, but he’s just a weapon on that side of the ball, and he’s becoming a weapon on the offensive side side now, too.

“Honestly, he’s never really been a scorer in his life. So just the experience of kind of putting the ball in his hands as much as we are right now, the more and more comfortable he gets, the harder, the tougher a guard he’s going to become, and the more plays he’s going to be able to make.”

Scouting the Blue Devils

The Wisconsin-Stout Blue Devils are 4-5 overall this season with wins over Maranatha Baptist, then-No. 6 Illinois Wesleyan, and North Central (Minnesota).

They are led offensively by senior guard Tyrel Creger, who averages 17.0 points per game. Sophomore guard Domanyck Schwarzenberger has also been very good, averaging 10.8 points per game.

“I know they’re dangerous,” said Buettner. “This isn’t just a game that you can completely just show up and play. They got several guys that could play Division II. Their leading scorer is a kid that we were trying to recruit a couple of years ago out of Bay College. He’s a good player. We scrimmaged against them when he was a freshman, and he was right there, competing with our young guys at the time. He’s solid.

“They try to play with pace. Honestly, the coaching roots go back to Ferris State, so they do a lot of things kind of the Ferris State way. It’ll be a good test.”

Game time

The Huskies and Blue Devils will face off Saturday at 5 p.m. at the SDC Gym in Houghton.