MBB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[wooscotsfan]

`3 minutes left:  Ohio Wesleyan 65  Kenyon 51    Bishops will play Wooster in Round 3 on Friday night!

[David Collinge]

All four favorites win (or winning). What a drag.

[wally_wabash]

And my video cut out.  Just as well with DePauw leading by 18.  Not exactly how I was hoping this game tonight would go. 

So ends a pretty rough campaign for the Little Giants.  I'm not really sure what happens next.  I haven't been able to see as much Wabash hoops this year as I normally do, but what has been pretty consistent from what I've seen this season is that Wabash struggles mightily to get good shots.  Everything seems to be guarded or off balance or out of range.  This year's team just doesn't get good looks.  I'm not sure what the offseason holds here, but I do think that this team could benefit enormously from an offensive coordinator type on the staff. 

The top four are headed off to Wooster for the weekend which is fitting given the split in the standings this season.  Should be a good pair of semis on Friday. 

[David Collinge]

The four top seeds won on the women's side, too. What a boring conference.

[David Collinge]

DePauw 73, Wabash 59
OWU 78, Kenyon 67

[wooscotsfan]

NCAC Tourney Semi-Final Matchups on Friday night at Wooster:

Wooster 23-3 vs. Ohio Wesleyan 20-6

Wittenberg 20-6 vs. DePauw 19-7

Should be two very competitive and interesting games on Friday.   Top 4 teams in the NCAC have all had good seasons -- three 20 game winners and a fourth knocking on the door.

[sac]

NCAC Tourney Semi-Final Matchups on Friday night at Wooster:

Wooster 23-3 vs. Ohio Wesleyan 20-6

Wittenberg 20-6 vs. DePauw 19-7

Should be two very competitive and interesting games on Friday.   Top 4 teams in the NCAC have all had good seasons -- three 20 game winners and a fourth knocking on the door.

DePauw has whipped Wittenberg twice  72-46, 71-49

[wooscotsfan]

NCAC Tourney Semi-Final Matchups on Friday night at Wooster:

Wooster 23-3 vs. Ohio Wesleyan 20-6

Wittenberg 20-6 vs. DePauw 19-7

Should be two very competitive and interesting games on Friday.   Top 4 teams in the NCAC have all had good seasons -- three 20 game winners and a fourth knocking on the door.

DePauw has whipped Wittenberg twice  72-46, 71-49

Yes...and it is always hard to beat an opponent 3 times in a season...especially when Witt needs the win badly to stay in the Pool C discussion.

[kiltedbryan]

NCAC Tourney Semi-Final Matchups on Friday night at Wooster:

Wooster 23-3 vs. Ohio Wesleyan 20-6

Wittenberg 20-6 vs. DePauw 19-7

Should be two very competitive and interesting games on Friday.   Top 4 teams in the NCAC have all had good seasons -- three 20 game winners and a fourth knocking on the door.

DePauw has whipped Wittenberg twice  72-46, 71-49

Yes...and it is always hard to beat an opponent 3 times in a season...especially when Witt needs the win badly to stay in the Pool C discussion.

Both parts of this confuse me, WSF. I don't think it's any harder to beat an opponent for the third time as compared to the previous two times. I think that's basically a fallacy that covers for the notion that it's simply hard to beat *good teams* teams any number of times in a season. I mean, if it really were particularly hard to win the third time, why aren't we all really surprised to see that OWU, Wooster and DePauw all managed to do so last night, with both Wooster and DePauw winning by their largest margin out of their three contests this year?

And also, DePauw obviously needs to win on Friday just as badly as Witt does to stay in the Pool C discussion.

[woosterbooster]

NCAC Tourney Semi-Final Matchups on Friday night at Wooster:

Wooster 23-3 vs. Ohio Wesleyan 20-6

Wittenberg 20-6 vs. DePauw 19-7

Should be two very competitive and interesting games on Friday.   Top 4 teams in the NCAC have all had good seasons -- three 20 game winners and a fourth knocking on the door.

DePauw has whipped Wittenberg twice  72-46, 71-49

Yes...and it is always hard to beat an opponent 3 times in a season...especially when Witt needs the win badly to stay in the Pool C discussion.

Both parts of this confuse me, WSF. I don't think it's any harder to beat an opponent for the third time as compared to the previous two times. I think that's basically a fallacy that covers for the notion that it's simply hard to beat *good teams* teams any number of times in a season. I mean, if it really were particularly hard to win the third time, why aren't we all really surprised to see that OWU, Wooster and DePauw all managed to do so last night, with both Wooster and DePauw winning by their largest margin out of their three contests this year?

And also, DePauw obviously needs to win on Friday just as badly as Witt does to stay in the Pool C discussion.

There are three question marks sitting atop your smiley-face icon.  What else is on your mind?

[kiltedbryan]

Well, we can close the 2013-2014 book on games between the NCAC top 4 and the bottom 6.

Overall, the top 4 were 47-5 (.904) against the bottom 6, with the three good Ws - Wooster, Wittenberg, and Wesleyan - going 37-2 (.949).

Hiram was the only team without a top 4 win, though they came oh-so-close, with single-digit losses to each member of the top 4 (Wesleyan 69-67, DePauw 90-89, Wittenberg 80-79, and Wooster 76-71). Each other member of the bottom 6 had exactly one win against a first-division club.

Top 4 vs. bottom 6 records by team:
Wooster - 13-0
DePauw - 10-3 (losses at Oberlin, to Allegheny and Kenyon)
Wittenberg - 12-1 (loss to Denison)
Ohio Wesleyan - 12-1 (loss at Wabash)

[kenyonfan]

`3 minutes left:  Ohio Wesleyan 65  Kenyon 51    Bishops will play Wooster in Round 3 on Friday night!

I was at the OWU / Kenyon game last night, and OWU did look good. Kenyon fell into a big hole (which included what must have been 5 rim outs). The Lords played super hard until the final whistle to try and get back in the game but OWU's big inside presence, and excellent foul shooting, was too much for them to overcome.

OWU / Wooster figures to be quite a game.

[wooscotsfan]

NCAC Tourney Semi-Final Matchups on Friday night at Wooster:

Wooster 23-3 vs. Ohio Wesleyan 20-6

Wittenberg 20-6 vs. DePauw 19-7

Should be two very competitive and interesting games on Friday.   Top 4 teams in the NCAC have all had good seasons -- three 20 game winners and a fourth knocking on the door.

DePauw has whipped Wittenberg twice  72-46, 71-49

Yes...and it is always hard to beat an opponent 3 times in a season...especially when Witt needs the win badly to stay in the Pool C discussion.

Both parts of this confuse me, WSF. I don't think it's any harder to beat an opponent for the third time as compared to the previous two times. I think that's basically a fallacy that covers for the notion that it's simply hard to beat *good teams* teams any number of times in a season. I mean, if it really were particularly hard to win the third time, why aren't we all really surprised to see that OWU, Wooster and DePauw all managed to do so last night, with both Wooster and DePauw winning by their largest margin out of their three contests this year?

And also, DePauw obviously needs to win on Friday just as badly as Witt does to stay in the Pool C discussion.

kiltedbryan -- sorry if I confused you. 

I should have said that it is very difficult to beat a good team three times in one season.  Obviously, with a 20-7 record Witt is a good team and it will be difficult for DePauw to beat them again.  I won't be shocked if DePauw wins again, but Witt will be highly motivated to get some revenge.

On the other point, I agree that both teams desparately need the win on Friday to remain in consideration for a Pool C bid if they don't win the automatic bid.  Whichever team wins the Friday game will likely be ranked above the other in the NCAA's final ranking and will get to the table faster for a Pool C opportunity.

[sac]

I don't think the loser of the Witt/DePauw game makes it as a Pool C.  The winner is still pretty bubbly.

[kiltedbryan]

NCAC Tourney Semi-Final Matchups on Friday night at Wooster:

Wooster 23-3 vs. Ohio Wesleyan 20-6

Wittenberg 20-6 vs. DePauw 19-7

Should be two very competitive and interesting games on Friday.   Top 4 teams in the NCAC have all had good seasons -- three 20 game winners and a fourth knocking on the door.

DePauw has whipped Wittenberg twice  72-46, 71-49

Yes...and it is always hard to beat an opponent 3 times in a season...especially when Witt needs the win badly to stay in the Pool C discussion.

Both parts of this confuse me, WSF. I don't think it's any harder to beat an opponent for the third time as compared to the previous two times. I think that's basically a fallacy that covers for the notion that it's simply hard to beat *good teams* teams any number of times in a season. I mean, if it really were particularly hard to win the third time, why aren't we all really surprised to see that OWU, Wooster and DePauw all managed to do so last night, with both Wooster and DePauw winning by their largest margin out of their three contests this year?

And also, DePauw obviously needs to win on Friday just as badly as Witt does to stay in the Pool C discussion.

kiltedbryan -- sorry if I confused you. 

I should have said that it is very difficult to beat a good team three times in one season.  Obviously, with a 20-7 record Witt is a good team and it will be difficult for DePauw to beat them again.  I won't be shocked if DePauw wins again, but Witt will be highly motivated to get some revenge.

On the other point, I agree that both teams desparately need the win on Friday to remain in consideration for a Pool C bid if they don't win the automatic bid.  Whichever team wins the Friday game will likely be ranked above the other in the NCAA's final ranking and will get to the table faster for a Pool C opportunity.

Phew! Glad to have that cleared up.