The history between the Muskies and Illinois Institute of Technology dates back to 1973, though six of the nine meetings have been played in the last seven-plus years. The teams did not meet in the COVID-19 impacted 2020-21 season, but split two games the year prior, including Illinois Tech winning the most recent meeting 71-67 in Chicago Jan. 11, 2020. Lakeland's last win over IIT came at the Moose & Dona Woltzen Gymnasium with a 73-67 victory Dec. 14, 2019. The Scarlet Hawks swept both meetings in the 2018-19 season in their first year in the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference. The series dates back to Feb. 9, 1973, when Lakeland won the first meeting 93-67 at the old Armory in downtown Sheboygan.

Lakeland last time out: Lost at Concordia Chicago 87-82 Wednesday
The Muskies cut a 12-point deficit with just over two minutes left down to three points and had a chance to tie late but dropped their first game of 2022 and first game in 18 days. Concordia went on a 32-9 run in the second half that proved to be the difference after it turned an eight-point Lakeland lead into a 15-point Cougars' margin. CUC shot 50% from the field and posted a 29-16 advantage in bench points, while the Muskies finished shooting 43.3%. Cam Jaeger scored 20 points and Aiden Polzin added 19 for Lakeland, which was playing for the first time since Dec. 18 and dropped to 2-3 in conference games.

Illinois Tech last time out: Won at Dominican 76-72 Wednesday
The Scarlet Hawks returned from an even longer layoff and picked up a hard-earned win on the road in River Forest. Milos Dugalic hit a three-pointer with just over a minute left to break a 72-72 tie and IIT held on in a game that was close throughout, with neither team leading by more than eight points. Otis Reale scored a career-high 28 points and Dugalic added 14 points and eight rebounds, and the Scarlet Hawks shot 50% in their first game since Dec. 11, a span of 25 days that included two postponements.

About the Scarlet Hawks: Illinois Tech got off to a slow start losing six of its first seven games, but is 2-2 in the NACC and in addition to the win over Dominican also defeated MSOE Dec. 4. The Scarlet Hawks did not play last year due to the coronavirus pandemic, and this year have a new coach in Terrence (T.J.) Gray, who took over in May 2020 after three years as an assistant with the program. Illinois Tech finished 12-14 in 2019-20 in its most recent season and qualified for the NACC Tournament, falling in the first round to Concordia Wisconsin.

Telling stats: The Muskies hit the halfway point of their season Saturday. Two areas that have often indicated success or failure through the first 12 games are rebounding and free throw attempts. Lakeland is 5-0 this year when it outrebounds opponents, but 1-6 when its is outrebounded. The Muskies also are 5-1 when they shoot more free throws than their opponents, but 0-5 when that is reversed. Free throw numbers can be influenced by end-of-game situations with trailing teams fouling in the final minute, but for the season Lakeland has shot 21 more foul shots then its opponents (207 to 186).