Top 25 talk

[Hugenerd]

#2 VA Wesleyan and #3 MIT both go down to unranked teams today.

MIT lost 80-68 against WPI, who was ranked #24 last week and ranked as high as #17 this season. MIT led throughout the first half and the early part of the 2nd half, but a 9-0 run by WPI at about the 10 minute mark of the 2nd gave them the advantage. MIT couldn't overcome a -9 turnover margin, and WPI scored its last 10 points from the FT line (10-12) to account for the final margin. Big game for MIT point guard Mitch Kates in the losing effort. He had 22 points and 7 assists, surpassing the 1000 point plateau in the effort.

[Mr. Ypsi]

And in the case of Va Wes, Guilford is not currently ranked, but they are still a VERY good team (now 13-5), and have probably been Va Wes's toughest rival the last few years.

Edit: scratch the 'probably' - Guilford is 9-1 in the last 10 games against Va Wes!

[smedindy]

#21 Wittenberg loses to a better-than-you-think Hiram squad, 65-51. The Tigers really clanked it up there, bending the iron at a 16-57 rate. The NCAC is cannibalizing itself this year.

[Ralph Turner]

#6 UMHB lost at McMurry 75-71. 

McMurry had a good crowd there as they dedicated the court to former McMurry head coach/current AD Ron Holmes at a ceremony between the games. McMurry jumped to a 16-3 lead in the first 5+ minutes and held off UMHB.

UMHB had had a tough 75-73 OT win at crosstown Hardin-Simmons on Thursday night.  This is the road trip that I expected UMHB most likely to get a loss or two.  UMHB coiuld sweep the rest of the regular season and host the Men's tourney.

[smedindy]

Wabash wins handily over Kenyon 83-59 and Wooster survives over OWU 72-68.

[mass_d3fan]

WPI goes into MIT's Cage and walks out with a big win,80-68.  MIT had the whole week to prep for this one and WPI played without its 2nd leading scorer Marco Coppola.  Matt Carr out dueled Noel Hollingsworth in a battle of pre-season All-Americans and the visiting Engineers got great balance from their seniors and young freshmen and lone sophomore.  This game was also Coach Chris Bartley's 200th career win.  I would not at all be surprised to see these two teams play two more times this year.  Looking forward to seeing how the voters treat WPI after this one.

[Greek Tragedy]

Point goes down to unranked River Falls at Quandt, completing the Falcons' regular season sweep of the Dawgs.

[Ralph Turner]

I have # 2, 3, 6, 11, 12, and 21 falling this weekend.

[mck99]

UNLV holds the NCAA Division I record for most consecutive games scoring a 3-point goal. Since the 3-point field goal was adopted by the NCAA in 1986-87, UNLV has converted at least one 3-pointer in all 818 games played. In UNLV's 818 games, the Runnin' Rebels have made 5,386-of-15,168 (.355) shots from behind the arc. Entering the 2011-12 season, Vanderbilt was second, nine games behind UNLV. UNLV, Vanderbilt and Princeton are the only three schools to make at least one 3-pointer in every game played since the 3-point line was implemented.

[smedindy]

That makes sense - early in the 3-pointer's time many coaches eschewed it, much like many NBA teams did when it first migrated to the NBA.

The ABA, of course, shot three-pointers like drunken sailors, and that was the fun of it! Many of us Hoosiers drew three-point lines on their driveways and emulated Billy Keller and Louie Dampier with their red, white and blue basketballs!

[Titan Q]

#23 NYU  89
Wash U  75 

I watched NYU's convincing win @ Wash U today via video stream.  I was really impressed with the Violets.  They have good inside players, good perimeter players, and really move the ball well on offense.  The Stein guy down low is a ton, and the PG is also really good.  This game was basically never close - NYU led comfortably almost the whole way.

NYU completed the rare UAA U. of Chicago/Wash U sweep - only the 5th time it has ever happened in UAA history.  The Violets sure looked like a very solid Top 25 team.  Honestly, they looked closer to #15 than that #23 spot they're in right now.  (I've only seen NYU play this one time.)

I thought Wash U would win this game and get back into the Top 25.  The Bears were not good defensively at all today though...they really struggled to stop NYU's offense.  And quite frankly, it sure looked like the better team won this game.

[Ralph Turner]

#23 NYU  89
Wash U  75 

I watched NYU's convincing win @ Wash U today via video stream.  I was really impressed with the Violets.  They have good inside players, good perimeter players, and really move the ball well on offense.  The Stein guy down low is a ton, and the PG is also really good.  This game was basically never close - NYU led comfortably almost the whole way.

NYU completed the rare UAA U. of Chicago/Wash U sweep - only the 5th time it has ever happened in UAA history.  The Violets sure looked like a very solid Top 25 team.  Honestly, they looked closer to #15 than that #23 spot they're in right now.  (I've only seen NYU play this one time.)

I thought Wash U would win this game and get back into the Top 25.  The Bears were not good defensively at all today though...they really struggled to stop NYU's offense.  And quite frankly, it sure looked like the better team won this game.

Thanks Titan Q!

[Darryl Nester]

How They Fared (Complete)

Top 25

Rank	Pts	Team	W-L	Results
#1	622	Middlebury	16-0	def. Castleton State, 97-71; def. Hamilton, 76-64
#2	595	Virginia Wesleyan	13-2	LOST to Guilford, 55-60
#3	575	MIT	16-1	LOST to WPI, 68-80
#4	547	Amherst	15-2	LOST at #38 Wesleyan, 67-68; def. Bowdoin, 80-66; def. Colby, 82-64
#5	500	UW-Whitewater	17-1	def. UW-Oshkosh, 62-45; def. UW-Stout, 56-41
#6	494	Mary Hardin-Baylor	16-1	def. T#34 Hardin-Simmons, 75-73; LOST at McMurry, 71-75
#7	450	Hope	16-1	def. Calvin, 81-65; def. Olivet, 84-53
#8	448	Emory	15-1	def. Carnegie Mellon, 83-68; def. Case Western Reserve, 70-59
#9	428	Whitworth	14-3	LOST to Whitman, 66-77; def. Willamette, 83-69
#10	388	Cabrini	16-1	def. Gwynedd-Mercy, 78-73; def. Baptist Bible, 93-70
#11	343	UW-Stevens Point	14-4	def. UW-Platteville, 71-57; LOST to T#34 UW-River Falls, 75-82
#12	319	Claremont-Mudd-Scripps	15-1	def. Pomona-Pitzer, 57-55; LOST at Whittier, 85-88
#13	310	Franklin and Marshall	16-1	def. Dickinson, 65-62; def. McDaniel, 70-46
#14	266	Birmingham-Southern	16-1	def. Austin, 92-62; def. University of Dallas, 100-78
#15	237	Williams	15-3	def. Skidmore, 76-59; def. Hamilton, 82-61
#16	211	Wabash	14-3	LOST at #21 Wittenberg, 43-61; def. Kenyon, 83-59
#17	206	Illinois Wesleyan	14-3	LOST at T#47 North Central (Ill.), 69-82; def. Elmhurst, 77-60
#18	159	William Paterson	16-2	def. Baruch, 72-58; def. New Jersey City, 72-58; def. Rutgers-Camden, 67-45
#19	120	Augustana	13-4	def. North Park, 73-52; def. Carthage, 90-70
#20	103	St. Thomas	12-4	LOST to Bethel, 68-69; def. St. Olaf, 78-77; def. St. Mary's (Minn.), 77-59
#21	99	Wittenberg	13-4	def. #16 Wabash, 61-43; LOST at Hiram, 51-65
#22	97	Wheaton (Ill.)	14-3	def. Carthage, 79-73; def. North Park, 75-52
#23	87	New York University	14-1	def. Chicago, 81-71; def. #29 Washington U., 89-75
#24	60	Wooster	14-3	def. Allegheny, 73-51; def. T#34 Ohio Wesleyan, 72-68
#25	57	Eastern Connecticut	14-1	def. #31 Western Connecticut, 74-61; def. Southern Maine, 58-44

Others receiving votes

Rank	Pts	Team	W-L	Results
#26	56	Rhode Island College	14-2	def. Mass-Dartmouth, 61-57; def. Plymouth State, 61-43
#27	47	Oswego State	12-3	def. Cortland State, 69-67
#28	42	Transylvania	15-2	def. Mount St. Joseph, 53-44; def. Anderson, 58-55
#29	39	Washington U.	12-4	def. Brandeis, 80-54; LOST to #23 New York University, 75-89
#30	37	Bethany	16-2	def. St. Vincent, 77-63; def. Grove City, 78-57
#31	26	Western Connecticut	14-3	LOST at #25 Eastern Connecticut, 61-74; def. Mass-Boston, 82-73
#32	24	Lake Forest	14-1	def. St. Norbert, 62-54; def. Ripon, 83-75
#33	18	Worcester Polytech	14-3	def. Clark, 64-51; def. #3 MIT, 80-68
T#34	16	Hampden-Sydney	13-4	def. Washington and Lee, 78-56; LOST at T#44 Randolph-Macon, 80-86
T#34	16	Ohio Wesleyan	13-4	def. Hiram, 75-62; LOST at #24 Wooster, 68-72
T#34	16	UW-River Falls	13-5	LOST at UW-Superior, 82-85; def. #11 UW-Stevens Point, 82-75
T#34	16	Hardin-Simmons	12-4	LOST to #6 Mary Hardin-Baylor, 73-75; LOST to Concordia (Texas), 75-92
#38	10	Wesleyan	14-5	def. #4 Amherst, 68-67; def. Tufts, 58-57; LOST to Bates, 60-77
T#39	6	Christopher Newport	14-3	def. Shenandoah, 77-58; def. Greensboro, 91-69
T#39	6	Puget Sound	13-4	def. Linfield, 72-55; def. Lewis and Clark, 76-74
T#39	6	St. Joseph's (L.I.)	13-2	def. Mount St. Vincent, 110-95; def. SUNY-Old Westbury, 88-85; 01/21 at Mount St. Mary postponed
T#39	6	Mary Washington	13-5	def. Hood, 63-51; LOST at Frostburg State, 75-76
#43	5	John Carroll	12-4	def. Heidelberg, 94-68; LOST at Capital, 68-85
T#44	4	St. Mary's (Md.)	13-5	def. Salisbury, 78-75; def. Stevenson, 59-56
T#44	4	Randolph-Macon	15-3	def. Lynchburg, 85-74; def. T#34 Hampden-Sydney, 86-80
#46	2	Grinnell	13-1	def. Beloit, 117-84; def. Lawrence, 98-74
T#47	1	DePauw	12-5	def. Denison, 73-68; def. Oberlin, 69-37
T#47	1	North Central (Ill.)	11-6	def. #17 Illinois Wesleyan, 82-69; def. Millikin, 74-37

[Mr. Ypsi]

Daryl, my undying thanks for doing this - I couldn't (easily) vote in my own PP without it!  Most weeks it provides me with almost all I need for my ballot (though some weeks, like with this week's carnage, I start over from scratch).  Keep it going!

+k from me (and every day this week if I remember - I've got many weeks of taking you for granted to make up for ).  I encourage others who feel the same way to join in on the karma boosts.

[Darryl Nester]

Daryl, my undying thanks for doing this - I couldn't (easily) vote in my own PP without it!  Most weeks it provides me with almost all I need for my ballot (though some weeks, like with this week's carnage, I start over from scratch).  Keep it going!

+k from me (and every day this week if I remember - I've got many weeks of taking you for granted to make up for ).  I encourage others who feel the same way to join in on the karma boosts.

It is my pleasure -- my computer program means that most of the time it takes but a few minutes of my time (and the occasional times that I have to fix my program because of an unforeseen problem are a welcome diversion from grading homework).  I'm glad to hear that others find the reports useful.