Michigan Tech guard Marcus Tomashek drives around a Saginaw Valley State defender during a game Saturday at the SDC Gym in Houghton. (David Archambeau/For the Gazette)

HOUGHTON — After doubling up their loss total during a tough road trip two weeks ago, the No. 13 Michigan Tech Huskies men’s basketball team returned home last week to earn a pair of wins over the Lake Superior State Lakers and the Saginaw Valley State Cardinals. The wins were significant, not only from a wins and losses perspective, but also because the Huskies had defeated the two teams by a combined three points earlier this season.

“We talked about it,” said Huskies coach Josh Buettner. “It was a must-win weekend. We treated it like a tournament, and we wanted to break it down that the only thing that matters was this weekend. Let’s go out and try to put forth two good performances, and then we’ll go to the next step after that.

“Obviously, it worked out in our favor. It was a successful weekend, and we’re getting into the sprint of the season, so we have to move on to the next.”

With the two wins, the Huskies improved to 20-4 overall and 11-3 in GLIAC play, which put them into a three-way tie at the top with Northern Michigan and Grand Valley State.

The Huskies used a ton of offense to win their game against Lake Superior State Thursday, and then flashed some impressive defense in their win Saturday against the Cardinals.

“I think we’ve shown that throughout the year,” Buettner said. “It is because when you start getting the conference tournaments and tournament time, you never know how a game’s going to go, or how it’s going to be officiated, or what the other team’s going to try to do. So, the better you can do in certain situations, obviously, that’s good.

“I don’t think our defense was that bad against Lake State. They were really good in the first half, made some shots and did some things. I thought, down the stretch, they cooled off a little bit. Some of that was our defense, and I thought we did a pretty good job guarding the ball in the second half of that game. Obviously, against Saginaw, I thought, for the most, part we were pretty good the whole game. They did have a couple spurts where they got some buckets on us, but that was usually because we missed some layups, or turned it over, and didn’t have our defense set.”

Senior guard Marcus Tomashek scored 36 in the win Thursday, but just 14 Saturday. While not 100% healthy, Tomashek is still a key component of everything the Huskies do offensively.

“We don’t have to rely on his scoring,” said Buettner. “We rely on him, whether he’s scoring or not scoring. When he’s still defending and leading and playmaking, he doesn’t have to make all his shots. He did a nice job that Saturday, and he’s done a nice job this year kind of learning that we can win without him going and getting 30.

“But, we need him to do everything else if he’s going to be out there. He’s really embraced that. He’s really become a good leader for us. He did that on Saturday, and that’s part of why we were successful.”

It also helped that senior guard Josh Terrian hit six 3-pointers Thursday night. Buettner said that started with practice two days prior.

“That came from Tuesday’s practice,” he said. “A lot of the older guys don’t do a ton on Monday, but we met and said it’s getting to the end. We need you to be urgent. This is Lake State. This is a rivalry game. They’re playing as well as anybody in the league right now. It’s going to take our best.

“Nobody raises our practice level more than Terrian. He came out and probably had his best practice in months. It turned the whole team into a good practice, and we came out and played well on Thursday. You play like you practice, and we needed that.It’s at the point now where I get it, we’re old guys are a little beat up, and you have to bring it.”

Scouting the Pride

The Purdue Northwest Pride come into Thursday’s game 10-11 on the season and 6-8 in GLIAC play after a weekend that saw them fall to No. 14 Grand Valley State Thursday, but beat Davenport Saturday. The Huskies beat the Pride at home, 83-65, Saturday, Jan. 24.

Senior forward Kyle Ross leads Pride in scoring, averaging 14.8 points per game. He is also good around the basket, where he picks up 7.5 rebounds per game.

Fifth-year guard Kevin Taylor has also been good, averaging 10.7 points per game. He shoots 35.2% from beyond the arc. Junior Kwat Abdelkarim averages nearly in double figures as well at 9.4 points per game.

Scouting the Warriors

The Wayne State Warriors are 11-9 overall this season and 8-6 in GLIAC play after a weekend that saw them sweep Davenport and Grand Valley State. They lost to the Huskies earlier this season, 75-74, at the SDC Gym on Thursday, Jan. 22.

Junior guard Jordan Briggs leads the team in scoring, averaging 17.8 points per game. Senior forward Carlos Paul III averages 12.6, but scored 18 in Houghton.

Junior forward Jotham Nweke averages 10.5 points per game, giving the Warriors three players in double figures regularly.

Game times

The Huskies and Pride will face off Thursday at 8 p.m. at John Friend Court in Hammond, Indiana. Saturday, the Huskies and the Warriors will battle at the Wayne State Fieldhouse at 3 p.m.