MBB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[earlhamalum]

Some thoughts on the Earlham/Witt match up tonight.

Earlham is Scoring 72.4 PPG.
Witt.                       68.3 PPG.

Granted Witt. is holding their OPP. to 53.2 PPG.  I think this style of game will help EC.  If Earlham scores 70 points I have a good feeling Earlham will have a chance at beating the #1 team in the Nation.

Witt. has more depth then Earlham.  6'9 Soph. Nick Welsh who has been coming off the bench as of late for EC will need to step up his game tonight.  EC will need LaRon Henry, Markous Jewett, and  Brandon Miller to have their Typical outings.

I also think EC will need to shoot .45% from downtown and keep Witt. off of the boards which is no easy task.

Witt. over that last four-years is a combined  43-7 at home.   The good news is they have lost 2.33 games at home a year over the last 3 years.  They are 7-0 at home so far this year.  So they need to lose to another team at home other than Wooster... So why not EARLHAM!  

GOOD LUCK EC.  KEEP another NCAC team on the front-page of D3hoops.com.
I can see it now.  
           HEADLINES:     EARLHAM UPSETS #1 Wittenberg.

[David Collinge]

I don't know how to pronounce "Monon."  I do, however, know how to pronounce "I don't care."

This went over like a lead balloon on the Top 25 board, so I'll try it again here.  This week's men's poll is the 100th men's poll produced by D3hoops.com.  Congratulations to Pat & co. on this achievement.  Wooster is the only team that has received votes in all 100 of these polls.  That streak greatly outdistances the next-longest streak, 69 by UW-Whitewater.  Wooster has the second-longest active streak of appearances in the top 25, having appeared in 53 consecutive top 25 polls.  Amherst, at 55 weeks, is the longest.

[Pat Coleman]

Wow... no wonder it's taking so long to get around to compiling that list of all-time No. 1 teams.

A list which I bet David has squirreled away somewhere. We have three seasons' worth in the database and I ran through 1999-2000 myself earlier in the week.

[David Collinge]

All-time list of #1 teams?  I'm almost there, just have 1999-00 to enter into my database (really just a big spreadsheet.)  I should be done by the end of the game.

Which, by the way, is being led at the half by Wooster by just two points.

[Pat Coleman]

MEN
1999-11-01   UW-Platteville
1999-11-23   UW-Platteville
1999-11-30   UW-Platteville
1999-12-07   UW-Platteville
1999-12-14   UW-Platteville
2000-01-05   Hampden-Sydney
2000-01-11   Hampden-Sydney
2000-01-18   Hampden-Sydney *
2000-01-25   Hampden-Sydney *
2000-02-01   Hampden-Sydney *
2000-02-08   Hampden-Sydney *
2000-02-15   Hampden-Sydney *
2000-02-22   Hampden-Sydney *
2000-02-29   Calvin
2000 Final   Calvin *

Unanimous picks with asterisks.

[wooscotsfan]

Final:  Wooster 102  Allegheny 71

Nice road win for Wooster tonight as they cruised past the Gators in the 2nd Half.    The Scots opened the 2nd Half making 11 of 14 shots and 7 of those were three pointers!  Wooster made 15 three point shots total in tonight's contest.

Wooster had several players in double figure points tonight:

James Cooper 17
Devin Fulk 17 (career high)
Tom Port 16
Tim Vandervaart 16

Wooster is now 13-1, 5-0 NCAC.   Next game is Saturday AT Wabash.

GO SCOTS!! 

[David Collinge]

Wooster wins:

Wooster 102
Allegheny 71

Obviously, all Wooster in the 2nd half.

Thanks, Pat; but I'm adding all the teams and all the votes, not just the #1s, to my database.  Time-consuming, but big big fun! 

[augie_superfan]

What sort of offense does Wooster run to consistently score near 100 pts?  Obviously, it can't be a Grinnell type offense but is it similiar to what a team like Puget Sound runs?  Thanks.

[wally_wabash]

We've got a barnburner in Delaware.  Game is tied at 48, just under 6 minutes to play.  Wabash was down six early, then up six at halftime.  OWU came back to tie and it's been back and forth (assist to LG for getting me up to speed). 

Oooh...Chojnacki is cut.  Blood over his right eye...obviously he'll have to sit.  We'll see if he can get back before they get the blood up off the floor.

[wally_wabash]

Chojnaki checks back in (with a new jersey) at the 2 minute mark...OWU up by two.

Wabash forces a turnover.  Wabash uses most of the shot clock and turns it back over to OWU.  Sounds like turnovers are killing Wabash tonight. 

OWU turns it right back over in their half of the court.  Another Wabash turnover...sigh. 

Down to 25 seconds to play, Medeiros fouls.  Both teams are well under the bonus.  It's going to be foul city here until OWU gets to the line. 

Rybarczyk will go to the line...he's a 62% shooter.  Huge free throws here.  First one is good.  Second is also good.  Wabash is in trouble now. 

Joseph drives to the hoop and misses the layup.  OWU rebounds and Chojnaki gets fouled.  Shot is no good.  Wabash misses their shot.  1.3 seconds left, OWU rebounds.  Wabash's streak will end tonight. 

Final scores is 61-55 for the homestanding Bishops.  Wabash's nine game win streak is over....Wooster comes to town on Saturday. 

[earlhamalum]

Witt-75
Earlham- 57

[wooscotsfan]

augie_ superfan:  Wooster runs an up tempo opportunistic offense that tries to capitalize on what the opponent gives them!  

Wooster shoots a lot of three pointers if they are open when the Scots run and also when they swing the ball in the halfcourt but they do NOT run the Grinnell system and in some games Wooster will not shoot a lot of three's if easy baskets are available.  Against Emory & Henry (they run a Grinnell system style), Wooster made only one three pointer all night because they kept beating E&H inside for layups.  Wooster still scored 150 points that night!

A big difference with Wooster is that they play tough defense and also try hard to outrebound their opponents.  If Wooster gets a defensive rebound they often run the ball up the floor and go for either a layup (3 on 2 or 2 on 1) OR someone will spot up on the break for a wide open three point shot.  In the half court, Wooster also plays inside/out with Vandervaart kicking the ball out of the post to a shooter for a three pointer.

Wooster has 5 guys that make a lot of three point shots including Tom Port who is built like a NBA two guard (he is 6'5", jumps well and can shoot the three ball even with someone guarding him).  The other four big shooters are Kyle Witucky (4 years starting at point), Devin Fulk (shooting over 55% from three range this year), James Cooper (nailed a big three ball to beat Witt in the last 5 seconds of the game) and Andy Van Horn.

While these 5 guys have made the majority of the three pointers, Wooster has 3-4 other guys off the bench that can also shoot the three pointer.

Average Stats through 14 games:
Wooster is shooting 53% from the floor
Wooster is shooting 43.8% on three point shots
Wooster is outrebounding opponents 43.1 to 37.4 per game

[WooMix]

Thanks wally_wabash for that great commentary.  I cud see the action from what you wrote.  I'm sorry your boys lost.  It doesn't even get better for you.  Woo comes to town on Saturday.  Another tough one for your boys!

[pennstghs]

my inquisitive thoughts about tonights witt-earlham game.

first and foremost the NCAC refs for tonight's game and every other game i should add are TERRIBLE-no calls were abundant tonight and when the refs did blow the wh istle it was a missed call as well-i dont know how some fouls got called or not called. brandon miller was taken out of the game by the refs. the refs calling magic fouls on witt in the second half allowed earlham to sneak within 13 but witt pulled away.

the rebounding differential, as always, was the main difference-witt's defensive tenacity and rebounding led them to the win with their low post dominance also present. any other thoughts

[Li'l Giant]

Tough loss for Wabash. It was a great game. Lots of back and forth action. OWU made a good run at the end and closed it out. Sounded like it was a great crowd. Hopefully Wabash can put the disappointment behind them and bring it for Wooster.