Michigan Tech guard Nate Abel drives around a Purdue Northwest defender during a game Saturday at the SDC Gym in Houghton. (David Archambeau/For the Gazette)

HOUGHTON — After winning their previous three games by a combined four points, the No. 6 Michigan Tech Huskies men’s basketball team got back to what they do very well, play defense, as they capped their eighth-straight win, 83-65, over the Purdue Northwest Pride Saturday at the SDC Gym.

“We played closer to a full 40 minutes,” said Huskies coach Josh Buettner. “We still had a few lulls in there, but we came out focused today. Purdue Northwest is a pretty explosive team, and I thought we got back to our defensive foundation that we were relying on earlier in the season.

“I thought we executed well offensively in the first half, and, for the most part, we were pretty locked in defensively. It’s a step in the right direction, and we’ve got to keep improving.”

Redshirt sophomore guard Gabe Smith secured his fourth double-double of the season and led the team in scoring (17) and rebounds (10).

“Gabe has, the last couple weeks, missed a couple free throws, and maybe not always had quite the right play on offense, but he’s really cranked up his defense again,” Buettner said. “The last couple games, he was just back to being disruptive, blowing everything up, and making plays. It was awesome to see him make a three. He made his free throws today.

“Gabe was everywhere and just making our team better on both sides of the ball.”

Senior guard Marcus Tomashek added 15 points, and a team-high five assists.

Buettner loves where his game is at.

“The best thing he was doing, he had five assists in the first half,” said Buettner. “He was playmaking, making everybody better. That’s what good players can do.”

Freshman guard Jesse Napgezek had 13 points off the bench in 18 minutes as well.

Michigan Tech improved to 19-2 overall, and 10-1 to lead the GLIAC.

The Huskies connected on five of their first seven shots led by Tomashek hitting 3-of-4 from the field to jump out to a 13-2 edge by the 15:46 mark, forcing a Purdue Northwest timeout.

Tomashek had back-to-back assists translating into a dunk by Smith and a layup by Napgezek to keep the Huskies ahead 19-9 at the media timeout.

Tomashek contributed on three-straight possessions down the stretch, finding Smith in the paint for an and-one, and another layup, sandwiched between a midrange jumper to make it 39-24 with 2:12 remaining in the opening half.

The Huskies forced a Pride timeout with 45.9 seconds to play after a 3-pointer by senior guard Nate Abel, and a putback by Napgezek, to push Michigan Tech ahead by 19 points, the largest lead of the day at 44-25 before Purdue Northwest knocked down a triple to close out the first half at 44-28.

Michigan Tech shot 52.9%t from the field in the first 20 minutes, and earned 24 points in the paint, along with eight points off of Purdue Northwest turnovers. Tomashek led all scorers with 10 points at the half, adding the five assists.

The Huskies outscored the Pride 13-10 through the first eight minutes of the second half, capitalizing on 5-of-7 free throws while senior guard Josh Terrian and Tomashek cashed in from long range to keep Michigan Tech ahead 57-38. Smith also added a 3-pointer minutes later off an assist by Terrian.

Michigan Tech got the Pride in foul trouble and secured the bonus with 10:18 to play in the game, with Napgezek converting on two free throws to make it 61-42.

“Jesse’s one of the best basketball athletes on our team,” said Buettner. “You can look at, he’s not all the way there yet with everything in terms of his shot’s coming around, his offensive consistency. But, he can get places on the court that a lot of our guys can’t. He can keep guys in front that some of our guys can’t.

“If he keeps being consistent in practice down the stretch, Jesse could really help us win some games.”

The Pride also reached the bonus with under nine minutes to play, as the two teams combined for 38 foul shots in the second half. Michigan Tech finished 16-of-21 from the charity stripe as Napgezek went 5-of-6 and Abel added 4-of-4.

The Huskies got ahead by as many as 25 points in the second half, coming with 5:04 to play after two free throws by Napgezek (74-49).

Smith led the team in scoring with eight points as Napgezek recorded seven, with the lone field goal being a slam dunk with 3:10 to play, pushing the Huskies ahead by 23 points (77-54).

Sophomore guard Ty Fernholz and redshirt junior guard Drew Barrie hit 3-pointers for the Huskies, with under 90 seconds to play, as Michigan Tech ultimately sealed the win.

Kwat Adbelkarim and Davontae Hall each recorded 12 points to lead the Pride as Kevin Taylor had a team-high six boards.

Up next

The Huskies head back out on the road next week, traveling to Davenport on Thursday before a Saturday tilt against Grand Valley State.