MBB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[ScotsFan]

Thanks for the links David!   

Nice to see that the live video feed for the Kenyon game is featuring Wooster audio!  Watching that OWU live feed, it was about all I could take hearing those OWU broadcasters keep saying Wooooooster... 

I don't know who will be doing the Wooster broadcast as Mike Breckenridge is going to be back and forth between Massillon and Canton covering Ohio State Football Championships.  But whoever it is, at least we won't have to endure someone saying Wooooooster! 

[ScotsFan]

Looking at those games, there's some intriguing matchups today.

Starting with OWU travelling to 'Gheny.  I'm sure that the Bishops have been waiting for this game for a while now after the Gators did in the Bishops to end the season last year.  First 'Gheny denied OWU home court advantge in the NCAC tournament, and then they followed that up by ousting the Bishops out of the NCAC tournament in Delaware no less!  And this is almost a must win for OWU if they want to keep their conference title hopes alive. 

Witt at Hiram is another interesting matchup.  Hiram has had Witt's number of late sweeping Witt in conference play last year.  However, Hiram doesn't appear to be playing up to the level they did at the start of last season.  It appears that last season's end of the season skid has carried over to this year for the Pups.  After picking up a nice win over B-W, Hiram followed that up with  a dud vs. MUC and barely escaped Oberlin on Wednesday night.  Hiram is going to have to play much better to even come close to extending their winning streak to 3 vs. Witt.

Wabash at Denison is next.  The Big Red are winless on the season, but they've been in every game.  They're only losing by an average of just over 7 ppg and their worst loss was at Hanover by 12.  It seems as though Wabash has had trouble in Granville in the past.  Depending on which Wabash team shows up, or if Wabash decides to show up for the full 40 minutes, don't be surprised by an upset in this one. 

Does anyone really care about Oberlin and Earlham?  I'm pulling for the NCAC in this one!     Go Yeomen!

And last is Kenyon vs. Wooster.  I'm having a tough time seeing how the Lords can keep this one close.  Yes, their Special K duo has been playing well as Knight is averaging over 22 ppg and Knapke is averaging over 15 ppg, but after that, the scoring drops off significantly.  Kenyon is going to need more than K&K to beat Wooster.  And then there's the height discrepency.  Kenyon has two players on their entire roster at 6'6" or taller.  Wooster equals that just in their starting lineup and surpasses that when you factor in that Wick plays bigger than the 6'5" he's listed at.  I would look for Wick to rebound from his quiet game in Delaware on Wednesday and have another big game today!  Also, does the lid stay lifted for the Scots on their 3-balls?  If they are shooting cold from the field, that could help keep Kenyon in the game.  In the end, I just think Wooster has too much depth, especially inside, and the Scots will gradually pull away in the end!

[wooscotsfan]

Kenyon's JT Knight has been named to the D3hoops.com Team of the Week for Nov. 23-29.  Congratulations, JT!

Wooster's defense in today's game will need to focus on J.T. Knight who is currently averaging 22.3 points/game on 49% shooting.  Knight is also the Lords' top threat from the 3 point arc where he has made 22 of 47 (47%).  Knight also has 8.2 rebounds/game.

Kenyon's #2 scorer is 6'6" Dave Knapke who is averaging 15.3 points/game on 53% shooting and 8.7 rebounds/game.

If the Scots slow down these two guys, they should get an easy victory this afternoon because the rest of the Kenyon team all shoots 41% or less from the floor.  In fact, 6 Kenyon players with regular minutes are shooting 38% or worse on the season.

Kenyon is 3-3 on the season but their 3 victories have come against 0-5 Swarthmore, 0-4 Kalamazoo and 2-5 Wash & Jeff so they haven't beaten any solid opponents yet.  The Lords have dropped games to Muskingum, Haverford and Case Western.

GO SCOTS!

[wooscotsfan]

Witt at Hiram is another interesting matchup.  Hiram has had Witt's number of late sweeping Witt in conference play last year.  However, Hiram doesn't appear to be playing up to the level they did at the start of last season.  It appears that last season's end of the season skid has carried over to this year for the Pups.  After picking up a nice win over B-W, Hiram followed that up with  a dud vs. MUC and barely escaped Oberlin on Wednesday night.  Hiram is going to have to play much better to even come close to extending their winning streak to 3 vs. Witt.

ScotsFan - looks like we agree on the Kenyon - Wooster matchup and the need to contain the Lords dynamic duo!

I also agree that the Wittenberg at Hiram game should reveal a lot about where these two teams are positioned.  Hiram actually has lost 3 players who played strong roles on last year's team.  Ian Pfouts was a starter and averaged 10.6 pts, Andrew Wiegand was also a starter and averaged 8.4 pts, while Jason Hebeisen was a solid bench player at 5.7 pts.

It looks like the Terriers have tried several different starters so far in their 4 games this season.  It will be interesting to see if the Pups can give the Tigers a competitive game today.

[ScotsFan]

ScotsFan - looks like we agree on the Kenyon - Wooster matchup and the need to contain the Lords dynamic duo!

Great minds...        

[David Collinge]

Nice to see that the live video feed for the Kenyon game is featuring Wooster audio! 

I'm not sure where you're getting that; Kenyon usually has their own audio for home games--in fact, two: one for the audio stream and another to accompany the video.  If you're reading my post to say that the Wooster audio accompanies the Kenyon video, that's a misreading; I just added the Wooster audio link since I figured so many in here would prefer it.  If, however, you figured out somewhere else that Kenyon's video will feature Wooster's audio, that's an interesting state of affairs.

Watching that OWU live feed, it was about all I could take hearing those OWU broadcasters keep saying Wooooooster...  

I was listening to the Wooster audiocast of that game, and I recall saying to a friend who was with me at the time: "You can tell who's broadcasting by how they pronounce the names.  If they're saying 'WOOOster,' it's an OWU broadcast; and if they're saying "WeZZZleyan," it's a Wooster broadcast."  

Hiram actually has lost 3 players who played strong roles on last year's team.  Ian Pfouts was a starter and averaged 10.6 pts, Andrew Wiegand was also a starter and averaged 8.4 pts, while Jason Hebeisen was a solid bench player at 5.7 pts.

Pfouts graduated, and Hebeisen graduated early, making him a de facto senior on last year's team.  I still haven't located Wiegand, who was just a frosh last year.  

This game, by the way, has been postponed until 5:30; I'll make the correction in my post above.

[wooscotsfan]

At the Half:  Kenyon 32  Wooster 25

Wooster got off to a slow start as Kenyon jumped out to a 15-4 lead.  Scots fought back and took a 25-21 lead.  Then the Lords went on a 11-0 run to lead 32-25 at halftime.

Wooster shot only 28% in the half and got outrebounded by Kenyon 20-12.  Both shooting and rebounding will need to improve if the Scots are going to rally in the 2nd half.

Kenyon shot 50% from the floor in the half and also made 6 three pointers to build this lead.

Ian Franks had a monster half with 14 points to lead Wooster.  Brandon Johnson has added 3 points.

For Kenyon, JT Knight has 8 points and Dave Knapke has added 7 points.

[David Collinge]

Other halftime scores:
Allegheny 45, OWU 36 (corrected Live Stats link in my above post)
Denison 39, Wabash 25 (not a typo)
Oberlin 34, Earlham 34

[wally_wabash]

Other halftime scores:
Denison 39, Wabash 25 (not a typo)

That is all. 

[ScotsFan]

Nice to see that the live video feed for the Kenyon game is featuring Wooster audio! 

I'm not sure where you're getting that; Kenyon usually has their own audio for home games--in fact, two: one for the audio stream and another to accompany the video.  If you're reading my post to say that the Wooster audio accompanies the Kenyon video, that's a misreading; I just added the Wooster audio link since I figured so many in here would prefer it.  If, however, you figured out somewhere else that Kenyon's video will feature Wooster's audio, that's an interesting state of affairs.

Yes, that was a mis-reading.  My bad... 

Wooster continues to trail by 5 but a key moment in the game may have just occurred as Knight picks up his 4th foul with over 12 minutes remaining! 

[ScotsFan]

Just as I was afraid of, that lid has found it's way back over the Wooster basket in this game!  Wooster's made 8 treys in the game, but that is on 26 attempts! 

Kenyon is shooting 50% and as a result lead by 7 with 4 to go!

[pennstghs]

seriously....Wooster down 3 with a minute to go and the video feed goes down

[pennstghs]

seriously.....

[WooHoopsntrack01]

63-62 :35 seconds to go.  Kenyon ball.......with a TO right now.  SCOTS IN A DOG FIGHT!  MISSED SHOT, SCOTS CAN WIN WITH NEXT BUCKET!!!!

[WooHoopsntrack01]

wOW WHAT AN AWESOME LAST :35 SECONDS.  SCOTS AND LORDS TRADE LAY UPS WITH NATHAN BALCH HITTING THE GAME WINNER!!  SCOTS WIN  66-65!!!!