NMU men’s basketball is on a winning streak as they head to Purdue Northwest and Parkside this weekend. NMU, Purdue Northwest and Parkside are all unranked heading into the weekend. The Wildcats are coming off an undefeated weekend at home where they hosted both Lake Superior State and Ferris State. The ‘Cats won 72-71 over the LSSU Lakers and 75-71 over the Ferris State Bulldogs. 

Sophomore guard Max Weisbrod had 25 points in the win over Lake State including the game-winning shot. Weisbrod also had 18 points over Ferris the next night, clinching the win with a basket for the Wildcats. 

“To have two games in a row where [Weisbrod] made all the shots, to get it back close against Lake State and then [he] hits the game-winner, then the next night [he] followed up with the game clincher again after making all the big plays down the stretch [is] pretty cool,” Head Coach Matt Majkrzak said. 

The team as a whole has found their groove, causing them to win game after game and giving them the momentum they need as they head into the final stretches of regular season play. Last weekend, NMU hosted two conference teams and will travel for more conference play this weekend. That is not where it stops, as the team will play the rest of their regular season games against GLIAC conference teams. 

This weekend, the team will first play at Purdue Northwest (8-7) in Indiana on Thursday. The team will then travel up to Wisconsin to take on Parkside (8-7) on Saturday. These are the first matchups for these two teams against NMU and they will play against NMU again later on in the season. Last season, the ‘Cats won both games against Purdue Northwest and went 1-1 in the Parkside games. 

“[Purdue Northwest is] one of those teams at home [where] they play a lot better, their offense is pretty high powered, they have a lot of talent defensively, they pressure you, which has given us trouble in the past,” Majkrzak said. “Then Parkside [is] the only gym we haven’t won in, we’re 0 and 3 there … they’re right in the hunt with everyone else.” 

Next weekend, the Wildcats will host Michigan Tech on Saturday, Jan. 27. The team will then travel to Big Rapids where they will take on Ferris State again. 

“I think winning close last weekend was also probably good for us rather than having it be easy because we experienced how close to failing we were,” Majkrzak said.