MBB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[Drake Palmer]

I was at the Carleton Augsburg game yesterday.  It certainly was not an offensive explosion, but it was a carefully orchestrated, tactical & interesting game to watch.  The contest was a game of runs.

Carleton jumped out to an early 14-4 lead, & after Andy Grzesiak –Grimm missed a relatively easy breakaway dunk, I thought the Knights rout of the Dawgs was on.  But I give credit to the Augsburg coaching staff for helping the Augsburg team keep their composure. They worked tirelessly on the defensive end and patiently kept looking for their shots until they caught Carleton and finished in a dead heat at halftime 23-23.

In the 2nd half, Augsburg came out strong & ran out to a 15 point lead 40-25 with 14 minutes to go in the game.  But Carleton wasn't to be denied either as they put on a 19-5 run to tie up the game & force overtime.  One key point - Carleton played excellent defense & shut down the Dawgs without fouling.  This came up huge in the final seconds of regulation.  Augsburg had the ball with 14 seconds left & Carleton only had like 3 fouls.  The Dawgs had 3 futile possessions and inbounded the ball only to have Carleton make Augsburg run some time off the clock and then foul.  Augsburg never did get a decent look at the basket in the closing seconds of regulation.

In OT, the giants in the paint – Augsburg's Cory Polta & Carleton's Seth Jonker continued their excellent battle. Polta with his strong as a bull power moves to the basket, & Jonker countering with the sweet footwork & killer turnaround jumpers.  Both players ended up as high scorers for their teams with14 pts each.  Jonker scored 4 pts in OT & Sutherland scored the other 2 pts.  Augsburg responded with clutch FTs from Polta, a 3 from reserve Tyler Schmidt, & 4 pts from the charity stripe for PG Ben Flavin.  Flavin had a poor day shooting the ball but he was money from the FT line, 7-7, to go along with 7 assists, & no TOs. Excellent floor game.  The Dawgs don't win this game without his steadying influence.

I left the game with very strong impressions of both clubs. The Knights couldn't quite get their perimeter game going yesterday but that was due in no small part to the Augsburg defense. Knights were 4-21 from behind the 3pt line.  Carleton was just as stingy as they forced the Dawgs into a 2-16 performance from behind the arc.  While I'm sure both teams wanted to win, Carleton had a little more margin for error as they currently in 2nd place in the league.  They're also in very good shape to make the playoffs & possibly earn a top two seed, and the first round playoff bye.  Augsburg needed this game more as they're got a real fight on their hands just to make the playoffs.  Good ball game!

[Drake Palmer]

At 4-7 in the conference the Jays still have a shot at the playoffs, but my guess is that they'll need to go at least 6-3 over the last nine games to have a chance. 

I do like SJU's schedule in that they have Carleton and UST at home, with their two toughest road games at St. Olaf and Gustavus. I think Saturday's game at Skoglund is almost a must win, though, because if they lost the J's would need to go 6-2 the rest of the way, which would mean no slip-ups at home (Concordia and Augsburg), taking care of business on the road (Bethel, Mac and SMU) and beating one of the top 3.

It will be very interesting to follow the fortunes of the Johnnies among the other contenders for the 6th spot.

Have to think that loss yesterday might have done in the J's. 2-7 in January, now need to win 6 of final 8 to get into playoff position. Just don't see it happening. Especially the way St. Olaf is playing and now the Oles hold the head-to-head tiebreaker with the J's. I recall a convo about Concordia and SJU and this nice group of juniors/seniors not really improving over these last four years, and it looks like both may miss the playoffs altogether.

Tough loss for my Knights yesterday. Good enough defense, but a few too many turnovers, didn't get to the line enough and shot horrible (4-21) from 3-pt. range. They have Monday off and then head to SJU before hosting GAC at West next Saturday.

Csid – you're absolutely right about the Johnnies & Cobbs.  Mose might have to buy me a chicken dinner if neither one of those teams makes the playoffs.  Theoretically both teams could still do it, but it's beginning to look like a real long shot now.  Looking at both teams' remaining schedule, I only see 3 games when they might be favored to win.  And 8-12 isn't going to make the playoffs.

Monster ball games from a couple of forwards who may feel they've been slighted in recent conversations.   UST's Tommy Hannon scored a career high 23 pts against Bethel yesterday.  6-8 FGA, 11-15 FTA, 6 rebs, 3 assists.  Chris "I've been scorned" Palmer sent some special tea in my direction as he scored 31 pts, and was a jaw dropping 21-23 from the free throw line. He also picked up 11 rebounds to add to his increasing tally of double doubles for the season.  Good ups mad man! 

[papahoops]

Have just spent the past 5 days on the nicest beach I have ever experienced with weather in the 80's, so MIAC basketball has not been on my mind much Since I am returning to the chilly north tomorrow, I thought I would check in on the board. The playoff picture definitely became clearer over the past week and it is hard to imagine the current top 6 changing. St. Olaf and Augsburg have shown themselves to be contenders, while the Concordia, SJU, and SMU seem to have fallen into the playoff "pretender" category.

Oh, and if anyone ever gets a chance to go to te Turks & Caicos Islands in the Caribbean, GO.

DP,
I didn't get a chance to chime in on your question last week, but I'll take the Purple team hands down.

[Gacman]

It was nice to see GAC get a nice rebound win coming of the loss to STO. Playing at CON the past 4-5 years have given the Gusties trouble but they controlled the game the entire way.

I see two huge games tonight. STO vs. UST & STM vs. CON.

STO vs. UST is huge for two reasons....One, STO has been playing well lately losing in a close game to CAR and beating SJU & GAC handly. If they can beat UST, they can begin to separate themselves from the other two teams that will make up the 4-6 seeds. Also to make this conference championship race interesting, UST needs to lose to someone other than CAR & GAC to make those matchups more meaningful. UST isn't going to lose to both CAR & GAC. They could easily lose one, but losing one doesn't take them out of first place. STO with how they have been playing lately could give UST a really tough game tonight. Should be a good game.

STM vs. CON are both fighting for there playoff lives. Whoever loses is done, and in reality both are already done because even if CON wins, they have a really tough last four games all against playoff teams with three being on the road. SJU is really the only team on the outside looking in that has an outside chance of making the playoffs.

This will be a fun year to see how the playoffs will shake out because everyone is beatable.

[carletonsid]

I was at the Carleton Augsburg game yesterday.  It certainly was not an offensive explosion, but it was a carefully orchestrated, tactical & interesting game to watch.  The contest was a game of runs.

Carleton jumped out to an early 14-4 lead, & after Andy Grzesiak –Grimm missed a relatively easy breakaway dunk, I thought the Knights rout of the Dawgs was on.  But I give credit to the Augsburg coaching staff for helping the Augsburg team keep their composure. They worked tirelessly on the defensive end and patiently kept looking for their shots until they caught Carleton and finished in a dead heat at halftime 23-23.

In the 2nd half, Augsburg came out strong & ran out to a 15 point lead 40-25 with 14 minutes to go in the game.  But Carleton wasn't to be denied either as they put on a 19-5 run to tie up the game & force overtime.  One key point - Carleton played excellent defense & shut down the Dawgs without fouling.  This came up huge in the final seconds of regulation.  Augsburg had the ball with 14 seconds left & Carleton only had like 3 fouls.  The Dawgs had 3 futile possessions and inbounded the ball only to have Carleton make Augsburg run some time off the clock and then foul.  Augsburg never did get a decent look at the basket in the closing seconds of regulation.

In OT, the giants in the paint – Augsburg's Cory Polta & Carleton's Seth Jonker continued their excellent battle. Polta with his strong as a bull power moves to the basket, & Jonker countering with the sweet footwork & killer turnaround jumpers.  Both players ended up as high scorers for their teams with14 pts each.  Jonker scored 4 pts in OT & Sutherland scored the other 2 pts.  Augsburg responded with clutch FTs from Polta, a 3 from reserve Tyler Schmidt, & 4 pts from the charity stripe for PG Ben Flavin.  Flavin had a poor day shooting the ball but he was money from the FT line, 7-7, to go along with 7 assists, & no TOs. Excellent floor game.  The Dawgs don't win this game without his steadying influence.

I left the game with very strong impressions of both clubs. The Knights couldn't quite get their perimeter game going yesterday but that was due in no small part to the Augsburg defense. Knights were 4-21 from behind the 3pt line.  Carleton was just as stingy as they forced the Dawgs into a 2-16 performance from behind the arc.  While I'm sure both teams wanted to win, Carleton had a little more margin for error as they currently in 2nd place in the league.  They're also in very good shape to make the playoffs & possibly earn a top two seed, and the first round playoff bye.  Augsburg needed this game more as they're got a real fight on their hands just to make the playoffs.  Good ball game!

Thanks for the recap. Listened to the first half on the radio and caught the final 5 minutes and OT on video (or as much as the Augsburg camera person would allow. Way to focus in on halfcourt during the Auggies final possession in OT! ).  It was Carleton's least efficient offensive performance of the season (0.876 PPP), so hopefully they can use the Monday off to get their shooting eye back in time for Wednesday. Huge stretch ahead for the Knights at SJU (2/2), home to GAC (2/5) and UST (2/9). They finish at SMU, at BU, at Mac and then home to St. Olaf.

Did anyone else know that the MIAC Playoff Championship game has been moved to Sunday? Maybe I missed that convo...

[Drake Palmer]

Good post G-Man.   Stranger things have happened but I just don't see the three – Concordia, SMU or SJU putting together a long enough winning streak to make the playoffs. With basically 3 weeks left in the season, a 2.0 to 2.5 game lead seems like too much to overcome at this late stage.  But go ahead – show me. 

Its' too bad I have a work meeting tonight. The STO UST game could be a barnburner.  I'm sure the STO coaches are stoking the fires to remind the team of the beatdown they experienced the last time they played the Tommies.  UST went to Northfield back in December & spanked the Oles to the tune of 87-58.  But that game took place 8 weeks ago and the young Oles have improved leaps & bounds in that time. The Oles are getting quality minutes and points from 7-8 players, and their rotation goes 9 players deep.  As I've mentioned before, 3 of the top 8 players are only freshmen and 4 FY get courttime on a regular basis.

As Pops has pointed out in the past, a lack of offensive production from the UST 2nd unit could be a concern as they continue to go with a 9-10 man rotation.  This could be a factor to watch tonight & other games for the Tommies.  However, their top unit seems to gathering momentum.  Earlier this season, the sideline experts were criticizing the lack of production from the post but this seems to have changed in recent weeks.  Both Tommy Hannon and Anders Halverson are starting to pick up the scoring slack on the inside.  This in turn should make their perimeter game that much more dangerous, and should provide better looks for Nicolai, Healy et al. In 3 of the last 4 games Hannon has either lead the team in scoring or has tied for game scoring highs.  Plus it seems the talented Halverson is starting to find his stride and become more consistent in his senior year. So who knows, maybe they won't need points from the 2nd group.

CSID - Interesting discovery regarding the league playoffs.  In addition to the league championship day change, the quarters & semis are scheduled for Wednesday and Friday rather than the Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday format they've used in previous years.   Any idea why?

[SUMMIT!!!!!]

I believe the rational for the date change was to allow the 3-4-5-6 seeds more time to prep for the quarterfinals.  I'm not saying it makes sense, but that is the explaination I was given.

The interesting thing is a team with a bye the final day of regular season would have a full week off if they were to grab the #1 or #2 seed. To me, that much time off is a 2-edged sword- while its nice to get some rest and heal any aches/pains/tweaks, it can wipe out a team's momentum.

Survey of the Great Minds on the Board -- does a week layoff help or hinder a team come playoff time?


I do have to wonder if DP's "work meeting" is a smokescreen to prevent him/her from paying up the bucket of chicken I'm owed. (also, if Cord & USJ both miss the playoffs, you still owe me another bucket, as I had said Cord would finish ahead of USJ... so if Cord finishes 10th and USJ 11th, they are still ahead of the Johns).

[AO]

I believe the rational for the date change was to allow the 3-4-5-6 seeds more time to prep for the quarterfinals.  I'm not saying it makes sense, but that is the explaination I was given.

The interesting thing is a team with a bye the final day of regular season would have a full week off if they were to grab the #1 or #2 seed. To me, that much time off is a 2-edged sword- while its nice to get some rest and heal any aches/pains/tweaks, it can wipe out a team's momentum.

Survey of the Great Minds on the Board -- does a week layoff help or hinder a team come playoff time?


I do have to wonder if DP's "work meeting" is a smokescreen to prevent him/her from paying up the bucket of chicken I'm owed. (also, if Cord & USJ both miss the playoffs, you still owe me another bucket, as I had said Cord would finish ahead of USJ... so if Cord finishes 10th and USJ 11th, they are still ahead of the Johns).

I think a week off would help a majority of teams.  5 months of basketball takes a toll on any player and getting an extra day or two off can make a difference.  I will say that since the teams that are getting this bye are the highest ranked teams and thus have likely been on cruise control for the last week, the break is less necessary, and usually they don't have the sort of momentum that the plucky team who fought to get into the playoffs has.

[piperinsider]

Helps me. Saturdays around the end of the month are hard to make time for the MIAC Championship. I haven't been to one in two or three years. I want to say my last was Carleton at UST when Dan Forkrud was a senior.

Anyone be up for a cookout or a meeting at a local establishment hours before tip-off?

[TheSuperfan]

Pipers pull out the win vs. Augsburg. Sadly I was not in attendance, but was able to watch some online.

Side note, Hipp passes Vern Mikkelsen in career points at 1,415 moving Hipp to #5 on the Hamline scoring list.

[SUMMIT!!!!!]

SHOCK ALERT!!!!!MAC 68 GAC 67
that is not a typo.... Im heading to an ER (my guess is Wonka has a stroke when he sees the final).

Gacman- or anyone else who was there-- what happened?

2nd shocker-- Ole 73 UST 68
Oles are coming together nicely, but also benefitted from a flu bug that left Nicolai, Archer & Healy dragging. Still, the Oles played well, shot like hot pistols (especially in the 2nd half) and outrebounded UST. They also kept the Tommies from the free throw line in the 2nd half...solid play by St. Olaf

[Drake Palmer]

In my best Dick Vitale impersonation – "Are you serious?!?!? Both perennial MIAC powers go down in defeat tonight on their home court.  Protect this house – not with the St. Olaf Oles & Macalester Scots around B-A-B-Y!!! 




STO 73-68 over UST
MAC 68-67 over GAC

More boxscore analysis is required.

[Drake Palmer]

Notes from around the league while we wait for the Gustie Mac recap: 

From Collegeville where the Johnnies defeated the Royals 77-53.

With 15 minutes left in the game, SJU scored 10 points on one trip down to its offensive end. Following a made basket, Burns stripped the ball and went hard to the basket and was fouled. The foul was ruled intentional and a Royal was called for two technical fouls and ejected from the game. Junior Aaron Barmore (Bloomington, Minn./Jefferson) made all four free throws resulting from the technicals, and Burns made his two. Barmore then hit a jumper on the Johnnies' extra possession.

Hmm, I've got a pretty good guess who that unnamed Royal might be.  Too bad.

[SUMMIT!!!!!]

Notes from around the league while we wait for the Gustie Mac recap: 

From Collegeville where the Johnnies defeated the Royals 77-53.

With 15 minutes left in the game, SJU scored 10 points on one trip down to its offensive end. Following a made basket, Burns stripped the ball and went hard to the basket and was fouled. The foul was ruled intentional and a Royal was called for two technical fouls and ejected from the game. Junior Aaron Barmore (Bloomington, Minn./Jefferson) made all four free throws resulting from the technicals, and Burns made his two. Barmore then hit a jumper on the Johnnies' extra possession.

Hmm, I've got a pretty good guess who that unnamed Royal might be.   Too bad.

uh, considering the box score identified the player tagged with the technicals by name, yeah, its a pretty good guess as to who he is 

[oldtimefan]

Gustavus game tonight was officially a benefit for the food shelf. Wasn't supposed to be a benefit for the opposing team!
However, congratulations to Mac.
Interesting stats from the game: MAC was 11/16 from 3pt. range but only 9/21 from the free throw line. Gustavus had no points in the last 2 minutes.