Huskies to face Drury in Sweet 16 contest
Courtesy of MTU Athletics
*RANKING THE HUSKIES*
*Ben Stelzer is fifth in the nation in 3-point field goals per game.
* Austin Armga is seventh in the nation and second in the GLIAC in points per game (23.2)
* Tech leads the nation in free throw percentage (80.9)
* Tech is third in the nation in 3-point field goal percentage (42.2)
* Tech is fifth in fewest turnovers per game (9.1)
* Tech is 10th in assist-turnover ratio (1.54)
* Tech is 13th in scoring defense (65.3)
*FAST FACTS*
* This is Tech’s first appearance in the Sweet 16
* The Huskies were 0-7 in regional semifinal games before Sunday’s win
* Coach Kevin Luke has won 362 games and is the all-time winningest coach in Tech basketball history
* Austin Armga is ninth on Tech’s scoring chart with 1,564 points
* Ben Stelzer is 20th on Tech’s scoring chart with 1,119 points
* Alex Culy has started every game of his career (116)
* Austin Armga was named to the GLIAC First Team
* Ben Stelzer was named to the GLIAC Second Team
* Alex Culy was named to the GLIAC All-Defensive Team
*SERIES INFO*
Tech is 1-1 all-time against Drury and 0-1 in the NCAA Tournament. The two teams met last season in the Midwest Regional Semifinals.
11/22/96 // W, 82-61 – Mankato, Minn. 3/17/13 // L, 76-62 – Springfield, Mo. (NCAA Tournament)
*LAST SEASON’S MEETING*
*Mar. 17, 2013* – Tech fell 76-62 to top-seeded Drury in the 2013 NCAA Midwest Regional Semifinal at the O’Reilly Events Center. Austin Armga led the Huskies with 21 points on 6-for-12 shooting. Ali Haidar was the only other Husky in double figures with 13. Tech shot 41.5 percent from the field and only 36.8 percent (7-for-19) from beyond the arc. The Panthers had three players in double figures led by Alex Hall with 23 points. DU shot 53.8 percent from the floor and went on to win the NCAA Division II Championship.
*GLIAC HONORS*
* Armga was named to the GLIAC First Team after being named to the Preseason GLIAC First Team
* Ben Stelzer is a GLIAC Second Team selection after receiving a Preseason GLIAC Second Team nod
* Alex Culy becomes the second player in Tech history to be named to the GLIAC All-Defensive Team three times
*SCOUTING THE OPPONENT*
Drury is 27-3 overall and ranked No. 8 in the final NABC Top 25 Poll. The three losses this season were to Bellarmine, William and Jewell, and Southern Indiana in the GLVC Tournament Semifinal.
*MORE ON THE PANTHERS*
Cameron Adams (17.5) and Kameron Bundy (17.3) lead the team in scoring. Adams also averages 6.1 rebounds per game and is shooting 66.4 percent from the field, seventh in the nation. Bundy was named to the GLVC First Team while Adams was on the Second Team. Ian Carter and Drake Patterson were named to the GLVC All-Defensive Team.
*COACH OF DRURY*
Steve Hesser is in his 10th season as the head coach of the Panthers. He is 222-78 as the head coach at Drury. The Panthers have posted 20 wins in eight of his 10 seasons.
*LAST SEASON IN THE NCAA*
Tech was the No. 4 seed in last year’s Midwest Regional. The Huskies defeated UW-Parkside 86-75 in the first round game and fell to top-seeded Drury 76-62 in the semifinal.
*COACH LUKE*
Head coach Kevin Luke is in his 20th season on the bench for the Huskies and has led Tech to five NCAA Tournament appearances and five GLIAC Titles. He has a 362-218 (.624) career record. He is a four-time GLIAC Coach of the Year and was the 2002-03 NABC National Coach of the Year. The Huskies have had seven 20-win seasons under Luke.
*GLIAC ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM*
Austin Armga and Ben Stelzer were named to the GLIAC All-Tournament Team. Stelzer averaged 23 points per game during the tournament, including a 34-point outburst against Grand Valley State in the quarterfinal. Armga averaged 22 points and 5.3 rebounds in the three games.
*ARMGA CLIMBS SCORING CHART*
Senior guard Austin Armga is ninth all-time in scoring in Michigan Tech men’s basketball history with 1,564 points. He became the 26th player to score 1,000 career points on Dec. 12. Armga is averaging 14.6 points per game in 107 career games.
*ACADEMIC ALL-AMERICAN*
Austin Armga was named a Capital One CoSIDA Academic All-American. He becomes the first Academic All-American since JT Luginski during the 2002-03 season. Armga holds a 3.78 cumulative grade point average in exercise science.
*SCHOOL RECORD FALLS*
Junior guard Ben Stelzer hit a school record 10 3-pointers on Dec. 14 at Hillsdale. He made 10-of-13 from deep and broke Paul Turino’s record of nine 3-pointers in a game from February 1993. Stelzer also broke the record for most 3-pointers attempted (268) and made (116) this season. Jason Marcotte held both of them records from the 2003-04 season.
*NON-CONFERENCE GAMES*
The Huskies finished 4-0 in non-conference play. The season opened with a 78-58 win over Minnesota Duluth (Nov. 16). The next week (Nov. 22) the Huskies took down Southwest Minnesota State 86-64. The final game of November was at Bemidji State as Tech squeaked out an 81-74 win. The Huskies defeated UW-Parkside 83-79 on Dec. 21 to wrap up non-league play. The last time Tech was unbeaten in non-conference play was during the 2001-02 season.
*LAST SEASON*
The Huskies finished 21-9 overall in 2012-13 and 16-6 in the GLIAC. They reached the NCAA Midwest Regional semifinal before falling to eventual national champion Drury. Tech has won back-to-back GLIAC North Division titles.