MBB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[ScotsFan]

pennstghs,

Welcome back!!!

i'll try to keep this board up on witt stuff since we have a wooster bias on here.

It's always nice to talk smack with the rivals!

As for Witt's game with Cedarville tonight, you are right.  Witt can't be looking ahead to Saturday because C'ville is a good basketball team.  Witt has fared exceptionally well this early season against a very tough schedule that continues on for them this week taking road trips to NAIA #5 Cedarville and then #2 Wooster.  They'll be tough to stop if they can run the table this week!

I saw this brought up on, I believe, the Top 25 board that Wooster was happy to see IWU escape Chicago with a win last Saturday because it would have meant Wooster would've more than likely moved into the #1 spot.  And we all know how Wooster being ranked #1 in the past has turned out.  Its happened twice, and each time during Witt week and each time Witt has won!  Witt must like beating top ranked teams as C'ville was NAIA #1 as well last year when Witt beat them.  At least Wooster won't have that hanging over their heads Saturday.

[DarkSide-D]

Scotsfan,

The point of the OAC-NCAC challenge was brought up in the NCAC pick-ems.  Later this season, Dec. 29, Woo will be playing BW at the "Mose" Hole tourny.  Do you knwo if there will be other OAC-NCAC games down the road?

[waterboy]

NCAC/OAC Games:

Dec. 19 - Denison @ Capital
Dec. 20 - Ohio Northern @ Witt
Dec. 22 - Otterbein @ Witt
Dec. 29-30 - OWU @ Otterbein Invite (potentially on the 30th should OWU and Otterbein win)
Dec. 29 - BW @ Woo

That should just about do it.

[ScotsFan]

You left out one:

Dec. 14 - OWU @ Wilmington

I'd say that of the remaining games between the NCAC and the OAC, all are winnable by the NCAC.  OWU should get by Wilmington to make them 3-0 vs. the OAC this season.  Both of Witt's games are winnable for the Tigers.  Wooster should beat BW, but that won't be an easy one.  Denison @ Cap is the one I don't know about.  Cap has been playing poorly to date by their standards and expectations.  Denison did beat Musky, which beat Cap this past weekend, so its not a stretch to say that the Big Red could upset the Crusaders.  And as for Ott and OWU, we can wait to see if that materializes.  All in all, it is very doable for the NCAC to sweep the remaing games with the OAC.  Does that mean it will happen?  I would guess its not likely going to happen.  I would, however, go out on a limb and say, IMHO, that the NCAC will finish with a winning record over the OAC this year.

[woosterbooster]

I've been wondering about that BW-Wooster matchup.  First of all, why would Wooster choose to meet BW on the first night of their Mose Hole Classic rather than one of the probably patsies, Lycoming or Thiel, as the home team usually does in these four-team tournaments?  I'm pretty sure they'd end up meeting BW in the championship anyway, but that would be a bit more dramatic.

Secondly, I say watch out for BW in that game, as they have only a tough loss to Albion on their record.  The next weeks will reveal more, as they have to face both Muskingum, ONU, and Capital.

[ScotsFan]

I'm not quite certain why Wooster chose to face off with BW in the first game either.  I know "in-region" games are important, but Thiel would be and in-region game as well I believe.  Had Wooster scheduled Thiel first, chances are the Scots win that one.  Then BW would face Lycoming, and I would put my money on BW.  Then the Scots would face BW in another in-region game in the finals.  Chances are, if the Scots beat BW, they won't face Thiel in the finals as they are pretty bad.  So, I don't really understand the reasoning in scheduling BW for the opener of the tournament.  Maybe Wooster was afraid of a repeat of the 2001 Mose Hole Classic when Thiel upset a ranked ONU team, so Wooster ended up slaughtering Thiel instead of getting the match-up they wanted with the Polar Bears.  That's the only thing I can think of?

[ScotsFan]

At the half:

Witt - 37
Cedarville - 33

Witt led by as many as 12, but C'ville came back to tie it at one point.  Witt scored the last 4 points of the half.

[imderekpoe]

A game against Thiel - win or lose - would most likely count AGAINST the Scots in the Quality of Wins Index (formerly SOSI).  Even if they lose to B-W, they will still get 6 QOWI points (assuming that B-W ends up over .667 winning percentage), only 2 less than the 8 they would get by beating Thiel (assuming that they end up below .333). 

I was kind of surprised that they were opening against B-W, but my guess is that Steve remembers ending up with a SOSI fractionally worse than Albion's last year and wants to give his team the opportunity for as high an Index as possible this year.

[ScotsFan]

Good point cmh.  I forgot about SOSI.  That makes some sense as to scheduling such a tough opponent in the opening round of the tournament.

Witt has stretched the lead back to 8 midway through the 2nd half.

[woosterbooster]

Well then, they could have scheduled Lycoming for the first night, placing BW against Thiel.  They'd still get BW in the finals (most likely) while lowering BW's index.

[fighting_scots]

Looks like the Tigers won by 6 in C'ville--

[pennstghs]

one thing from the game tonight stuck out in my head. cedarville is almost a mirror image of wooster to be faced on saturday. hostile large crowd, good outside shooters and decent inside play. unfortunately i dont think we'll have to shoot lights out like tonight to beat wooster, cuz as history has shown russ has shown up vs wooster.

final tonight witt 65-c-ville 59-but not that close cedarville closed down the stretch but became uncomposed and started chucking up shots and then leaving the wrong man open. witt's freshman-mainly greg lee and d.j. corbett were huge and composed tonight.

stat of the game- witt outrebounds cedarville( a taller team) 38-28, but offensive rebounds down the stretch were key as they allowed witt to run the clock down and play to their advantage-cedarville was averaging 85 points a game.

looking forward to saturday-hard to top last year's 3OT game here but its possible

fyi i was formally known as wittpimp08 before

[David Collinge]

This Wittenberg team is looking pretty special.  I wish I could see them in person.  Wooster is going to have to play at a very high level for 40 minutes to win on Saturday.  Unfortunately, it seems to me that in the home games against Witt, the Scots tend to come out tight and press for the first 8-10 minutes before settling down.  If that happens Saturday, they may never catch up.   

[smedindy]

Don't say Wittenberg and Special in the same sentence. It's enough to make a Wally drink...

[kiltedbryan]

I agree with you, David, that this Witt team is looking tough.  Witt/Wooster are classic rivals.  In the decade that I've been watching these two teams play, it seems to me that Wooster's facing a serious challenge this weekend.  Witt always has size on Wooster, and this year will be no exception.  Both teams shoot the three exceptionally well- in fact I recall Witt just killing Wooster at Wooster last year through key three pointers.  If Witt is shooting well, it might be a double-figures victory for them.

I say that as a die-hard Wooster fan, and to boost the Wooster fans out there, here's my keys to the game for the Scots:  
1) Rebound.  If Wooster can't pull down boards at least on par with Witt, say goodnight.  
2) perimeter defense- Scotsfan already noted this- if Wooster doubles down or worries too much about Russ etc and opens up the perimeter, watch out.
3)  Wooster needs an early lead- I know this sounds trivial, but I remember being there last year when the nearly capacity crowd of 3000 in Timken might as well have not existed for the majority of the first half until halfway through the second as Witt sat on an 8-10 advantage.  Wooster needs their crowd with them to feed their advantage.
4) Use the guards.  For all Witt does have, I'm not sure any team in the country can match Wooster's set of guards- if they are effective at passing and shooting from the perimeter, it could be a double-digit victory for Wooster.

All we know for sure is that it'll be one to watch, with the potential to go either way.  I'll be doing my part from the bleachers to insure a Wooster victory!  Go Scots!