MBB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[pennstghs]

Although I didn't see or listen to the game, congrats Witt on a big win!!!! Its always nice to get a win on your rival's home court!

[seinfeld]

This won't show up in the box score per say, but one stat that kind of sums up the Wooster-Witt game is the fact that Wooster had only committed four team fouls for the entire game with less than 8 minutes to play in the game. Wittenberg was in Wooster's face the entire game, challenging the ball as soon as Wooster crossed mid-court. There was nothing easy for Wooster, and Wittenberg had no problem bumping and pushing Wooster around. It also helped that the refs were fairly hands off, which is a good thing IMHO.

On the other hand, Wooster was letting the Tigers have all the room necessary to do whatever they wanted. Guards had room to drive or take three-pointers. Big men were catching the ball five feet from the basket and were able to turn and not run into a defender for almost two steps. Frankly, it is remarkable that Wittenberg didn't shoot a better percentage considering Wooster's mediocre defense.

The point of all this? There is no shame in losing to Witt at home. Frankly, I expected it with Hallowell out and Witt having more to play for. But to be down 23 in the second half on your own floor and Wittenberg is running around with barely a scratch should not happen. While I'm not advocating flagrant fouls, but how about letting Wittenberg know that they actually have to work for some points? I guarantee Wittenberg would not let Wooster walk around with a 23-point lead in the second half on their floor the way Wooster did.

Of course this doesn't apply to Bryan Wickliffe, who was the best player on the floor and really, along with Brandon Johnson, seemed to be the only ones up for this challenge for Wooster.

We'll see if Wooster plays with a little more toughness on Wednesday against OWU.

[fantastic50]

A large crowd at Timken, mostly wearing black for this rivalry game, didn't have much to cheer about tonight, as Wooster never led.  The Scots had a -11 turnover differential, Witt held Ian Franks to just 4 points.  There was a late attempt by the Scots to get back into the game, cutting the deficit from 23 to 12, but it was too little too late.

Hopefully, the Scots will re-focus after this game, and get ready for the remaining regular-season games and the NCAC Tournament.

[smedindy]

Now Witt has the Belt^TM. 

[ScotsFan]

Congrats to Witt on the win last night.

I was shocked at how un-into the game that Wooster appeared to be from the start.  I know this was basically a meaningless game in the big picture, but as I said earlier in the week, it's still Witt/Woo.  Do you really need anything more?  Witt didn't treat this as a meaningless game that's for sure!  I just kept waiting for a spark to go off in some of the Wooster players, and really, besides Wick, I didn't see it.  What I saw was careless ballhandling, lazy passes and uninspired play.  Sure, the Scots finally put together a little run, but it was too little too late by that point.

I know that Hallowell's absence was felt by Wooster and helped Witt give a lot more attention at defending Franks which they did.  But, IMO, the key to this game was the 18 turnovers by Wooster.  And once again, many of those turnovers were a result of poor decision making being made by the Scots.  I just don't get how Wooster can go through stretches this season where they look like they've finally turned the corner, and then, they suddenly regress back to playing like they were at the beginning of the season? 

I sure hope that Wooster comes out with more energy and gives more of an effort than the one they showed last night on Wednesday when OWU pays a visit to Timken.  If not, the Scots will be looking at a 2 game slide... 

[wally_wabash]

Not exactly the results I was looking for yesterday. 

First, I really don't know what was up with Wabash yesterday.  I wasn't at the game and followed livestats for about the middle 20 minutes of the game...looked like Wabash fell back into the "jack it up from 23 feet" trap that that leads to things like scoring 8 points in the first 12 minutes against Oberlin and shooting such a poor percentage that Oberlin stays in the game until late.  I have no idea what happened with the double tech, but I'll effort to find out what that was all about. 

I'm hoping that Wabash's effort yesterday is the result of having a pretty low profile opponent sandwiched between two giant road games.  I have to hope so because sub-33% shooting is not going to get it done on Wednesday. 

Second, I really wanted to see Wooster beat Witt last night.  In the big picture it doesn't really matter because Wabash was going to need to win on Wednesday either way, but things are just always a little bit better when Witt loses a big game.  Witt's win likely takes Allegheny out of the running for the #2 seed as the winner of Witt/Wabash on Wednesday is likely to get to 12 wins and hold the tiebreak over Allegheny. 

Alright, kids.  Big game on Wednesday at the HPER Center.  WAF!

[pennstghs]

You're right, big game Wednesday night.....however Wally its no longer the HPER Center, instead Pam Evans Smith Arena.

Hopefully a big and vocal Witt crowd shows up Wednesday, with it being senior night and a women's game before hand as well.

[ScotsFan]

You're right, big game Wednesday night.....however Wally its no longer the HPER Center, instead Pam Evans Smith Arena.

I look at it as one of those things where it will always be the HPER center no matter what they change the name to.  Kind of like Jacobs Field.  I still call it the Jake even though it's been Progressive Field for two years now. 

[David Collinge]

Today is the Chinese New Year, the first day of the Year of the Tiger.  I'm just sayin'...

[smedindy]

Log jams everywhere!

The race for 2/3/4 - Wabash @ Witt gives one team a big advantage. Witt follows with Oberlin and Wabash with Kenyon. so Wednesday's game is basically an elimination game for 2nd.

Allegheny has a tougher road, and they also can influence 5/6 by playing host to Hiram and on the road to OWU. While they handled Hiram by 14 on the road, the Bishops took them to OT way back when.

The race for 5/6 - Hiram at Gheny and home against Denison - OWU at Wooster and home to Gheny. Hiram has the advantage, especially if they can upset the Gators.

The race for 8/9/10 - So who is Wooster's punching bag? Oberlin is at home against Denison (who has secured 7th) and plays Witt. The Lords and Quakers match up and then Earlham finishes its NCAC career against Wooster, while as noted above Kenyon faces Wabash.

Here are my thoughts:

Gheny bests Hiram
Kenyon handles Earlham
Denison tops Oberlin
Wooster over OWU
Witt over Wabash (I'd have to say Wabash's road record does concern me...)

Wooster over Earlham
Witt over Oberlin
Hiram over Denison
Bash over Kenyon
OWU topples Gheny

Final records:

Wooster 15-1
Witt 12-4
Wabash 11-5
Gheny 11-5 (Wabash 3rd based on head to head)
Hiram 9-7 (I think in this case Hiram gets the tiebreak by their win over Witt)
OWU 9-7
Denison 6-10
Kenyon 3-13
Oberlin 2-14
Earlham 2-14

Witt could have a big letdown after beating Wooster, but playing at Witt is never any fun.

This will set up:

Kenyon @ Wooster
Denison @ Witt
OWU @ Wabash (revenge?)
Hiram @ Allegheny

Of course, I could be totally, completely wrong...

[bashbrother]

Lets hope the LG's can find away to win at Witt and find the #2. 

Here we are again, another Wabash vs Witt game that means a lot.

Wabash Always Fights!

[David Collinge]

Lets hope the LG's can find away to win at Witt and find the #2.

Do I really have to hope for that?

To the victor belongs the spoils:  congratulations to Wittenberg's David Nowicki, this week's NCAC Player of the Week.  This award is usually reserved for the scorers, but Nowicki is being honored for making modest contributions in all phases of the game as Witt recorded two victories.  He scored 14 points, and recorded 7 assists, 6 steals, and 5 boards in the two victories.  Congratulations, David!

[zander]

I DITTO THE CONGRATS TO DAVID NOWICKI FOR NCAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK. HE'S DONE A GREAT JOB OF RUNNING THE POINT AND LETTING THE WITT OFFENSE KEEP EVERYONE INVOLVED. THEY HAVE A LOT OF OFFENSIVE WEAPONS AND THAT MAKES THEM A VERY GOOD TEAM.

[pennstghs]

Congrats to David Nowicki and also to Wittenberg for entering the receiving votes portion of the D3hoops.com Top 25 this week!

wishful thinking, but assuming some of the teams ahead of Witt, such as Calvin or Hope, John Carroll lose once again and Witt win's out and makes it to the conference tournament finals and loses but rises to second or third in the regional rankings.....what are their chances of receiving an at large bid (Pool C for technical terms)

Like I said, wishful thinking because I believe Witt will win the automatic bid  

[Gregory Sager]

Witt is currently 14-5 in-region. If the Tigers beat Wabash and Oberlin and then get to the final round of the NCAC tourney before losing, they'd wind up 18-6, and a .750 in-region winning percentage should be good enough to garner a Pool C berth. Anything less than that (e.g., a semifinal loss), and they're pushing it. There are no guarantees for anyone below the .750 mark.

If you're a Witt fan, root like crazy for Capital or Ohio Northern to win the OAC tourney, because that would get the Crusaders or the Polar Bears regionally ranked in that final Selection Sunday ranking, and Witt beat both of those teams.