MBB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[MiacLostProphet]

wow, maybe its the 2 for 1 or mabe i just forgot how lopsided reffing can be against st. thomas...... a battle of a game, but i van't say the refa have been equal oppertunity callers.

[wabbit]

The circle has been completed grasshopper...Carleton defeats Bethel in a tough, physical game 72-67. My boy Sutherland was moving like a gazelle to a tune of 18 pts and 7 assists. Rosett goes off for 20 pts and 10 rebs. Davis ends up with 12 pts and 3 assists, 3 of his pts at the foul line on a 3 pt attempt. Jonkey Kong was harrassed all game long but hit a 3 pt dagger with 14 seconds left for a total of 5. Papa put his hex on Theisen who appeared off but still managed 4 pts. A huge win and the Knights are going to be very tough in the playoffs...

[piperinsider]

My best guess
(1) UST   (2) GAC   (3) AUG   (4) CAR   (5) HAM   (6) SJU

Wow, what a great D3 basketball mind....

Quarterfinals: Tuesday, February 23
#6 Saint John's at #3 Augsburg, 7:30 p.m.
#5 Hamline at #4 Carleton, 7:30 p.m.

Semifinals: Thursday, February 25
Highest Remaining Seed at #2 Gustavus, 7:30 p.m. 
Lowest Remaining Seed at #1 St. Thomas, 7:45 p.m.

[Willy Wonka]

Gonna make my way over to Hutton and see what WW and his active imagination are talking about. Wasn't able to make the UST-GAC game but from what I'd seen all year our favorite #5 has been an angel. I had commented to many people how it looked like he finally got the message. Playing under control and keeping his emotions in check.

Can anyone verify that he was a naughty boy? Maniac?

Archer's emotions appeared to be fully in check. He also made one of the more athletic plays you'll see from a D3 player with a leaping steal and save in UST's second-half run Wednesday night. But that doesn't diminish his flopping escapades.

One of my buddy's significant others actually compared him to Bambi on ice during his first few minutes of the game. That whole act seemed to be gone in the second half when he just concentrated on playing, which was nice.

**********************

Does anyone actually want to win the MIAC MVP this year? Check out the top three guys, according to these boards, in the final game of the year...

Aaron Burtzel
9 points, 5 boards, 2 assists...benched over the last 11:04 with SJU down 17. With Burtzel riding the pine, the Johnnies nearly storm all the way back. Team falls all the way to 6th with the loss.

Ray Brown
15 points, 6 boards, 5 turnovers...Pipers lose their last three games by a combined 35 points to drop the 5th.

Tyler Nicolai
13 points, 1 board, 1 assist...Tommies finish the year 19-1.

While Nicolai finished the year with a couple games right around his averages, Burtzel and Ray Ray both finished with a couple stink bombs that would, to me, take them out of the MVP equation. Could it open the door for someone like, say, Sutherland to sneak into the conversation? It wouldn't seem to be out of the question, especially since the Knights won 10 of 11 to close the year.

Here are his stats with a guesstimate of league rankings.

15 PPG (tied for 4th)
2.9 RPG (n/a)
3.9 APG (3rd)
48% FG (13th)
41% 3 pt (9th)
74% FT (15ish)
1.4 SPG (6th)
.75 bpg (10th)

[Buddo]

As far as I can tell, SMU's Will Wright earned this year's scoring crown with 18.1 PPG. Ray Brown came in second with 17.7 PPG.

Congrats to Will, a kid who gives 100% effort every game. Next year will be his year to really shine.

[miacsuperfan]

As far as I can tell, SMU's Will Wright earned this year's scoring crown with 18.1 PPG. Ray Brown came in second with 17.7 PPG.

Congrats to Will, a kid who gives 100% effort every game. Next year will be his year to really shine.

actually, ray brown (18.6 ppg) wins the scoring title as 'conference only' games are used to determine that title.  wright's conference total was 18.1 ppg.

[huhoops]

Notes on yesterday's game at Hutton:

UST:

* They are playing like a well oiled machine on both ends. They get the shot they want every time down the court and rarely have lapses on defense.

* A flurry of early threes (7/10 in 1st half) had HU digging back for the whole game. More below on this.

* Nice job taking care of the ball (19 assists to 9 TO's)

* Forced a ton of turnovers before HU even crossed half court

HU:

* Pretty horrid job handling the UST pressure (Schmidt, Brown, and Rieg combined for 12 TO's)

* Hipp missed a ton of bunnies. I don't think the box score was correct in 5/11 from the floor. It seemed more like 5/15-17

* On the first half threes, HU looked like they were playing different defense than they have all year. Most of the time, they run a match up zone type of defense and seem to deny the best guards. Yesterday, it looked like they were getting confused on screens and leaving shooters WIDE open. Second half adjustments left UST with less three point looks (2/5).

* HU out rebounds UST by 15, only shoots 5% less from the floor, but turns the ball over 9 more times.

* Kind of got chippy in the second half. A few potential intentional fouls and some talking from each team. It could be fun to see these guys play again in a playoff atmosphere.

On to CAR. HU had a shot at them in Northfield a couple weeks back and couldn't seal the deal in a 3 point loss. CAR has been rolling and HU has struggled of late, but I still think this has the makings of a great MIAC playoff game.

[SUMMIT!!!!!]

lotta good points HU... it looked to me like UST wanted the win more than Ham. Great crowd and atmosphere. Best overall experience I'ver had at Hutton. WHat was the green mascot thingy?? where is the legendary Piper?

A win Tues sends HU to CStP to battle UST...3 games, 3 gyms in St Paul...kind of odd.

Both Q-final games Tuesday should be excellent. USJ is fading fast, but they match up well with Augs. The key to me will be if they can contain the Auggie three-point shooters. The game in the paint should be brutal.

Car and Ham is also intriguing. Which version of Hamline shows up is the big question mark. WIll they try to send Car to the FT line in hopes of a bad night there by the Knights?  CC's defense will be tested, but they are a good defensive team

[piperinsider]

USA! USA!

Gotta love the STrib - can't even copy and paste.

MIAC basketball playoffs Monday
No. 3 seed Concordia will host St. Catherine and No. 4 Macalester will host St. Thomas on Monday night in the first round of the MIAC women's basketball tournament.

The men's tournament begins Tuesday, with No. 3 Augsburg hosting St. John's and No. 4 Hamline at home against Carleton.

Bummed about this week - Tuesday Hutch hosts Shakopee in a game between teams at the top of the conference - Thursday - playoff hockey and state girls hockey - Saturday I'm in Duluth.

[tommiegun]

miacmaniac, I wasn't there, but I'd be shocked if the green mascot thingy wasn't "greenman," a character made popular by FX's "Always Sunny in Philadelphia"

http://www.costumzee.com/view/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/charlie_green_man.jpg

[SUMMIT!!!!!]

USA! USA!

Gotta love the STrib - can't even copy and paste.

MIAC basketball playoffs Monday
No. 3 seed Concordia will host St. Catherine and No. 4 Macalester will host St. Thomas on Monday night in the first round of the MIAC women's basketball tournament.

The men's tournament begins Tuesday, with No. 3 Augsburg hosting St. John's and No. 4 Hamline at home against Carleton.

Bummed about this week - Tuesday Hutch hosts Shakopee in a game between teams at the top of the conference - Thursday - playoff hockey and state girls hockey - Saturday I'm in Duluth.

PI, in Saturday's edition, they had the score AUGSBURG 72, SAINT MARYS 72... in the fall they had USJ winning a WOMEN'S soccer game (I know the Big Red had a down year, but still)

[SUMMIT!!!!!]

miacmaniac, I wasn't there, but I'd be shocked if the green mascot thingy wasn't "greenman," a character made popular by FX's "Always Sunny in Philadelphia"

http://www.costumzee.com/view/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/charlie_green_man.jpg

nope it looked more ike a teletubby or something from Barney

[ChairmanYao]

Although green man from It's Always Sunny is hilarious, it is not the creature being spoken of yesterday. That would be Arnie the Aardvark. A Halloween costume turned Piper mascot. Unfortuantely its power didn't turn into a W.

[piperinsider]

Although green man from It's Always Sunny is hilarious, it is not the creature being spoken of yesterday. That would be Arnie the Aardvark. A Halloween costume turned Piper mascot. Unfortuantely its power didn't turn into a W.

Should gone with the Cupid outfit:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56syKDjxgLw&feature=related

[ChairmanYao]

Darko with 8 points and 8 boards tonight. Won't be long before he starts playing like the four guys picked around him and leads the Wolves (along with K Love) to a championship. Glory days are coming.