MBB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

St John's received a huge commitment from Eastview's 6'5" G/F, Ryan Thissen, this weekend.  He received plenty of D2 interest and I believe some offers before narrowing his list to St John's and St Thomas.  Good time to be a Johnnie fan.

I watched some of his Hudl reel...looks like a kid that will play right away. Will be nice having him and Mitchell Plombom together for 3 years.

Sarcasm (but semi serious) Alert:

Everyone can look good on a Hudl reel. Those things don't show what a player is really like .. just their carefully selected and crafted highlights. Do those reels ever show defensive highlights unless it's a once-in-a-lifetime moment?

[Smitty Oom]

St John's received a huge commitment from Eastview's 6'5" G/F, Ryan Thissen, this weekend.  He received plenty of D2 interest and I believe some offers before narrowing his list to St John's and St Thomas.  Good time to be a Johnnie fan.

I watched some of his Hudl reel...looks like a kid that will play right away. Will be nice having him and Mitchell Plombom together for 3 years.

As a Eastview alum and having younger brothers going/gone through the program, I can assure you that he is a very good player. SJU is always so deep and brings in a decent amount of players I would not guarantee him playing a role as freshman, but it sure is a possibility.

[Smitty Oom]

Nice article in the Strib on Freddie Gillespie.

http://www.startribune.com/surprise-surprise-freddie-gillespie-s-leap-from-low-level-hoops-to-final-four-dreams/567063212/

I admittedly scoffed when I heard that he was going to Baylor, and didn't think that he was of that caliber, and just figured they must've been desperate for some size.  While that might have been the case, things clearly worked out well for both parties.  Going from two years in the MIAC to being a starter on a solid Big 12 team has to be a first, right?

Good for him.

Try the number one team in the nation!!

[Miacmaniac33]

I am surprised no one on here is talking about Gustavus' upset win on Sunday vs. Augsburg. Quite impressive. Guse and Malo huge inside for GAC

[Pat Coleman]

Just merging this post into the existing MIAC conversation.

[faunch]

I realize SJU is having a really good year but what is up with Concordia? Only 13 points at half???

[Drake Palmer]

I realize SJU is having a really good year but what is up with Concordia? Only 13 points at half???

Times are hard in Cobberville.  Cobbs might only be favored to win in their two games against Hamline, and game against Macalester.

Augsburg dodged a last second bullet in Northfield as the Oles' Troy Diggins caught and shot what appeared to be the game winning shot with .02 left in the game.  Unfortunately for St. Olaf, the ball can only be tipped or deflected toward the basket with less than .03 left in the game. Dawgs win 75-74.  Augsburg looked to be running out of gas toward the end of this game.

[Drake Palmer]

Since the holiday break, the Jays have been crushing it and are manhandling everyone they've gone up against.

[SUMMIT!!!!!]

Congrats to Coach Tauer of his historic landmark win tonight against a scrappy Mac squad.

https://tommiesports.com/sports/mbkb/2019-20/releases/20200122xhhjec

"Tauer (200-49), who guided the Toms to the 2016 NCAA championship, is believed to be just the second Division III men's coach -- and among approximately a dozen NCAA men's coaches at all levels -- to reach 200 wins in less than 250 games."

That's a in percent of .803, easily among the very best among active coaches in all levels.

[Smitty Oom]

I realize SJU is having a really good year but what is up with Concordia? Only 13 points at half???

Times are hard in Cobberville.  Cobbs might only be favored to win in their two games against Hamline, and game against Macalester.

Tommy Schyma, senior captain and probably the best player on a Cobber team that is not deep, has been injured for the last handful of MIAC games and the results have not been pretty. Obviously everyone gets banged up, but it stings even more on a team like Concordia where the margin of winning is fairly thin this year and the team is pretty young/unexperienced/not quite too deep.

[AO]

Augsburg dodged a last second bullet in Northfield as the Oles' Troy Diggins caught and shot what appeared to be the game winning shot with .02 left in the game.  Unfortunately for St. Olaf, the ball can only be tipped or deflected toward the basket with less than .03 left in the game. Dawgs win 75-74.  Augsburg looked to be running out of gas toward the end of this game.

Looked like a tip to me  https://twitter.com/OleAthletics/status/1220208000364838912

[GoldandBlueBU]

Augsburg dodged a last second bullet in Northfield as the Oles' Troy Diggins caught and shot what appeared to be the game winning shot with .02 left in the game.  Unfortunately for St. Olaf, the ball can only be tipped or deflected toward the basket with less than .03 left in the game. Dawgs win 75-74.  Augsburg looked to be running out of gas toward the end of this game.

Looked like a tip to me  https://twitter.com/OleAthletics/status/1220208000364838912

Wow.  Yeah, agree - that very much did not look like a "catch and shoot"!

[txg]

The ref waved it off because he used two hands.  But a tap does not need to be one-handed.  A blown call, and a shame.  That would have been a great win for the Oles, coming back from a 17 point deficit.

[Drake Palmer]

The ref waved it off because he used two hands.  But a tap does not need to be one-handed.  A blown call, and a shame.  That would have been a great win for the Oles, coming back from a 17 point deficit.

I don't have a dog in this fight, but how many times have we seen in televised college or pro sports, a call reversed that the game announcers & a neutral party "ref" thought would go one way, and the court officials go the other way?  Without the benefit of slow motion replay, its tough for an official to make a bang-bang decision like that.  Statistically, the refs might have thought, no way anyone can make this basket with this little time left. Nonetheless, tough loss for the Oles, and the Dawgs are looking like a really tired team.     

[bball1122]

What a rough way to lose a game.   I don't know the official rule - is anytime you hit the ball with two hands considered a "shot", and therefore not a tip?   If there isn't a rule like that....it sure looked good to me.  Unfortunately, it's very likely that loss could have playoff implications for the Oles. 

Augsburg being tired would make sense - it was their third game in four days.  They played the snow-delayed game in St. Peter Sunday, then were at home Monday for Hamline, and had to head back on the road to Olaf yesterday.   Rough stretch, exacerbated by the weather.  Home Saturday for the Cobbers in a must win, then they get a few days to catch their breath for the Tommies next Wednesday.

No Granger Kingland recently for Bethel or Alex Battist for Carleton - injured?  Bethel has weathered the storm without Granger, but Carleton just doesn't have the bodies for one of their top players to be out for an extended stretch.  The road doesn't get any smoother for them - three of their next four are SJU, AUG, and GAC. 

Seems likely that only the final playoff spot is still up for grabs, with SMU and STO a step up on CAR.

Finally, I was wrong about the Johnnies.  They look as good as ever right now.   Their roster is well built to give the Tommies fits, as UST just doesn't have the size to matchup this year.