MBB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[MoneyBallSTL]

Nobody wants to post the final score?? I'm sure it is a sad day in Wooster after a 113-108 setback in double OT. It looks like Tori Davis was just unstoppable inside. But the Woo Crew need not worry too much because going undefeated is a nearly impossible task these days and I have no fears that we'd drop another for a long while given the schedule. So keep your heads up Scots and just learn from these mistakes tonight as these are the types of games we'll be seeing well into March I'm sure. GO SCOTS!!!

[woosterbooster]

Some thoughts on tonight's excellent double-overtime game at Wooster, won by BW, 113-108.

Just as against Wittenberg, Wooster failed to come out of the blocks with the necessary intensity to compete and fell behind 9-0. A timeout righted the ship, they went on a run of their own to even the game at around 13, but it would be nice to see them ready to fight from the opening tip rather than have to continually come from behind against the good teams.

Tori Davis was virtually unstoppable tonight, shooting 20-29 from the floor, all on very close to the basket shots.  Vandervaart more than had his hands full, but he never stopped trying.  I thought that Evan Will fared a little better, and I'm seeing improvement in his play every game.

Port himself had another fantastic game, scoring, rebounding, and defending.  I also found out that he's definitely eligible to play next season, should he decide to remain in school.  I sure hope that's his choice.  

In the second half I kept hoping that Steve Moore would try Port on Davis, since nothing else was working, and Port had fouls to give.  I think he would have had more success, maybe providing a few needed stops.

For the most part, James Cooper had his one-on-one game taken away from him tonight by some excellent defense.  When that happens, and it's rare, he's revealed as a one dimensional player who rarely seems to contribute in other areas.  If he's not scoring, he's not doing much else, and just looks very unmotivated.  Near the end of the contest, Coach Moore was subbing Cooper and Johnson offensively and defensively.  I kept hoping that Johnson would remain in the game, as he was bringing much more to the table.

Wooster will probably drop a handful of spots in the next poll, and that's understandable.  Their inside defense will continue to be a problem.  They'll need to outscore good teams with quality big men like Russ or Davis.  Sometimes they'll be able to, and sometimes they won't.

Jack

[imderekpoe]

Just back from Wooster...

First, congrats to B-W.  They made the plays when they needed to and the Scots didn't.  Wooster had no answer for Tori Davis tonight.  Vandervaart/Will were unable to deny him the ball and once he had it in the paint, it was pretty automatic.  For some reason, on B-W's posessions with time running out in regulation and the 1st overtime, he didn't even touch the ball!  Both times another player drove to the basket, and missed a tough shot.

The Scots could have easily won this game.  With the Scots ahead by 6 or 7 with 10:30 left, they proceeded to go 10 straight posessions without scoring, with turnovers on 5 of them.

Overall, it was a good, exciting game, but could have been a little better played.  I would have rather seen this as the championship game, after both teams had a chance to knock some of the rust off.

[smedindy]

Sounds like defense was an issue, or was the offense just that good?

[ScotsFan]

Another great game at Timken tonight.  Wish it could have ended on a little better circumstances, but oh well, you can't win them all I guess.  There was a nice crowd on hand, although they weren't especially loud, but that is expected when the students are gone.  There were almost 2700 which is a good crowd for a weeknight game.  Its just disappointing the outcome couldn't have been different.  

Hats off to BW and more specifically, Mr. Davis.  He is a class act.  The man dropped 42 points on Wooster and he didn't showboat one bit the entire game.  It was business as usual for him.  It was refreshing to see such a competitor go about his business without trying to show off while he was at it.  Their whole team seemed very classy to me.  I don't really remember any of their players trying to show up Wooster or the crowd.  They were all there to take care of business and that was to win the game, which is exactly what they did.

Wooster can't feel too bad in losing.  This was not their best effort by far tonight.  Yet it still took a monster game (and that might be putting it mildly) by Tori Davis and it took BW 2 OT's to finally pull off the upset.  

This was by far the poorest shooting effort by Wooster this season, especially in the 2nd half.  In the 1st half, the Scots were 6-12 from 3-point range, but they finised only 11-30, and they were getting good looks.  And it didn't just seem like Wooster was struggling from beyond the arc.  There were a lot of easy bunnies that just weren't going down for Wooster tonight.  It got to a point where you just had to say, this isn't going to be our night, and yet Wooster still almost pulled it out.  

Port had another very solid game with 30 points and 15 rebounds, I believe.  He seemed to be all over the court.   He could have probably had close to 40 if some of his easy bunnies would have fallen.  I too am hopeful of him usisng all of his eligibility.  Vandervaart finished with 15, but he missed a lot of easy shots as well.  Hats off also to Tyler Sekarak.  He drew the defensive assignment on James Cooper and did a phenomenal job!  He was on Cooper all night and you could tell James was getting a bit frustrated.  Cooper finished with only 9 points, which was another key stat that factored in this loss.  Finally, I seem to say this after every game, but Brandon Johnson just keeps getting better and better.  Tonight he finished with 15 points, and he did take an ill advised shot at the end of the 1st OT, but he just doesn't play like a freshman.  He is going to be a special player if he continues to improve like he has over the first month of the season!

Overall, a disappointing loss, but like MoneyBall said, its nearly impossible these days to go undefeated, and they lost to a very good team.  I said earlier in the season that it seemed like there were several teams in the OAC that you could consider as favorites, depending on what week it was.  After seeing BW tonight, I would think you could pencil them in as solid favorites to win that conference if they continue to play like they did tonight.

[ScotsFan]

Smeds,

To answer your question, I'd say it was more a case of 2 really good offenses going at it.  BW was coming into the game averaging over 90 ppg. and Wooster is averaging 100+ ppg. so it was pretty predictable that we were going to be watching a track meet which is exactly what we got.  The defensive job done on Cooper by BW was very good as I said.  And as for the defensive effort by Vandervaart and Will on Davis.  I just think Davis was having one of those nights where he couldn't miss.  He was in a zone tonight and would have been hard to stop regardless of who was on him. 

[smedindy]

So how often does Wooster play in the consolation game of that tourney, anyway? I assume it's pretty rare.

[gordonmann]

I think this is the first time it's ever happened, per the release.

[woosterbooster]

A friend told me how the unlikely matchup of BW and Wooster came to take place on the first night.  Apparently Lycoming, after initially agreeing to come to the tournament, balked at having to play Wooster on the first night.  They were accommodated.  I'd have told them to find somewhere else to play.

[smedindy]

It's not as easy as you think to fill a tourney up, though. Wabash had to cancel it's Pete Thorn tourney when someone pulled out.

[CentralOH]

Congrats to the Denison Big Red for getting back in the win column after a tough stretch.  It was a pretty balanced effort with 4 guys in double figures and 9 players logging double digit minutes.  Nice to see Mike Shea and Shea McMahon with solid contributions.

Now let's hope they can string two wins together and beat Alma tonight.

[smedindy]

Ah, so where's Denison Fan now?? 

Like I said before, Alma didn't look good in its first game of the year, but are now 7-3.

[CentralOH]

smed,

Did you see Alma in the consolation vs. UT-Dallas?  UTD hasn't had much success so far this year, but I'm just wondering about Denison's chances this afternoon.

[DenisonFan]

Congrats to the Big Red.  I will always take the W.

Truth be told the Shea's stepped up with 19 points and 12 boards.  Hopefully they will continue to help. 

Alfred shot extremely poorly from the line and couldn't hit a three to save their lives.
Let's see what happens today against Alma who lives from the 3 point line.

Again, good job Big Red!!

Let's get another one.

[ScotsFan]

So how often does Wooster play in the consolation game of that tourney, anyway? I assume it's pretty rare.

I think this is the first time it's ever happened, per the release.

Actually, it's the first time since 1985, per the release.  The Mose Hole has been around for 43 years.  It's still been a while since the Scots lost in the opening round.  It was the 1st time that Wooster has lost the opening round of the Mose Hole under Steve Moore, however.

They also lost the opener of the Al Van Wie Classic to start the '97-'98 season to Tiffin, so that loss last night would be the 2nd time a Steve Moore coached Wooster team lost in the opener of a regular season tournament at Wooster.