MBB: Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference

[Buzz]

Well Slyder was a given bc the reg season champ gets Coach of the Year by default in this league pretty much.

I prefer to look at which team exceeded expectations for THIS year the most and I think that was clearly Hanover, who Miller turned into a HCAC contender a year earlier than anyone should have.

[mrbibler]

Looking forward to watching the Defiance-Whitewater matchup.

Whitewater is 20-0 when leading or tied at halftime this year so it is crucial that the Yellow Jackets stay close.  Keep them away from easy baskets in the paint (easier said than done) and force them to knock down the outside shots.

Stranger things have happened at Timken this year: Dec 29 Translyvania over Wash U.

Best of Luck to the Yellow Jackets!

[Pat Coleman]

Don't forget, final three-plus hours to enter the D3hoops.com bracket challenge.

You have extra time for the women's bracket, since the first game isn't until 4 p.m. ET on Friday.

http://www.d3hoops.com/pickem/

[BUBeaverFan]

Good luck to the Yellowjackets and Ravens! Do the HCAC proud!

[Buzz]

Yep, the action is just a few hours away now and hopefully Defiance and Anderson can represent the league well. It's a big step for the league to have gotten two teams in...hopefully the HCAC can build on that.

Not as familiar with AU's bracket, but DC's pod is mighty tough. You've got #8 UW-Whitewater (who has been top-10 all year and as high as #3), then there is #17 Wooster on its home court, and Defiance is just outside the top-25 and winners of 8-straight, and oh yeah...a 19-8 Grove City squad. All four are conference champions (tourney and/or reg season) and all four teams boast their league's Player of the Year.

[Buzz]

Whitewater is 20-0 when leading or tied at halftime this year so it is crucial that the Yellow Jackets stay close.

And Defiance is 20-2 this year when leading at the half. That's the sign of a couple of pretty good and experienced teams that know how to close out victories.

Not at all familiar with UW-Whitewater but I think Defiance has to clog the lane to try to keep that Mitchell guy from taking over. The Jackets also will likely need a strong shooting performance from its guards (Brown, Wolfrum, Armstrong, Floyd), because I'm not sure how many good looks DC will get inside. If at least two of the perimeter guys are on, it could give the Jackets a good shot at pulling the upset tonight.

[tommiegun]

Good luck to Anderson and St. Thomas tonight!

[cave2bens]

Much of the talk on the NCAC board this week indicated foregone conclusion that Woo and UWW would be vying for the pod championship.  Though some loyalty to the NCAC and hopes that the Scots get by Grove City, this is a marvelous opportunity for the "Bad News Bees" to notch two signature wins against highly ranked opponents.

Avoid Shisler's Cheese Haus, stay hungry, and get after Whitewater from the outset!  Earn a chance for better match-ups to go "Transy" on Wooster.  Second round dreams and "the Belt" should provide adequate incentive.

Defy the Ordinary    GO JACKETS!

[dc_has_been]

Tonight will really size up the HCAC conference.  Both DC and Anderson matched up against top notch opponents.  DC will have to shut down Mitchell, which will not be an easy task at all as mentioned by Buzz.  He will stand a head taller than DC's starting center being 6'9". 

[John Gleich]

31-30 DC lead at the half.  Check out the WIAC in game updates page for... in game updates!

[AUStudent]

RAVENS WIN RAVENS WIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[BUBeaverFan]

Good job Ravens.  Defiance loses a close one.  HCAC has done themselves proud tonight.

[dc_has_been]

Congrats to Anderson on their first round victory.  In regards to DC, I don't really know what to say.  I only got to know what was happening through live stats updates.  To me it just looked like Whitewater wanted it more & DC just handed it over IMO.  It was very frustrating to see UWW was getting offensive rebound after offensive rebound.  That's either bad coaching at the end or DC just being a very inferior team that got lucky to hang around for 98% of the game.  Anyways, I'm looking forward to getting somebody else's perspective that actually saw the game.

Congrats to DC for at least getting to the tournament and having a pretty good season.  Anderson, keep it rolling and represent the HCAC!

[Jackets Backer]

This is not a very good perspective, I'll say that, I was at the game. DC outplayed Whitewater tonight, played harder, tougher and more physical. That's saying something since Whitewater has 2 guys that are Division I transfers and a 6-9, 240-pound giant center. Jackets actually outrebounded Whitewater, had a 71-65 lead with 2 minutes left. One rebound on possession where Whitewater got four shots and the game would've been sealed. With score tied and 19 seconds left, Jackets really handed the ball to Whitewater on inbounds pass. Not bad coaching, to outrebound a team with physical speciments along its frontline, means you were pretty tough. Just a couple tough breaks at the end or Jackets move on. Congrats to Whitewater, they made the plays in crunch time and were a bit fortunate to pull it out. Whitewater has a team that can go a long way in this tournament, super talented.

[cave2bens]

Would agree with JB's assessment, after following Point Special's play by play and the live stats.  DC matched UWW pretty well on the boards, shocking the WIAC faithful and shot the lights out coming out of halftime.  Unfortunate that the charity stripe was unkind and a couple of turnovers at the end (outscored 7-0 in final 37 seconds  ) spoiled the party.  C'est la Vive.

Enjoyed reading the NCAC posts this morning, describing Fletcher's antics post game.  Some of his DI experience obviously hasn't dissipated, and it sounds as if DC's fan contingent was well represented and quite vocal the entire game.  Well done. 

Hopefully, Wooster can put together a balanced game and send the DI "wish-they-were" players back to the Badgerland playground with their tails clipped.  Congrats to Anderson, continue to represent - and Go Scots.