MBB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[BigRedFan]

BIG RED WINNING WHEN THEY HAVE 2!!
BIG RED PEAKING WHEN THEY NEED 2!!!

Congrats on another HUGE win!!!!!! 

I am still saying you DO NOT WANT the Big Red in the first round!!!!!

[WAlum]

The Big Red is hot right now and will be a tough out in the first round.  I can see several "upsets" in the first round occurring.  Credit to Witt and Wooster on the season so far and on setting up another premier matchup in the NCAC.  It should be fun to watch.  And imagine what this league race would be if OWU had not blown huge leads to Witt and Wooster.  Agree with Scots fan about the Bishops learning to finish games.  That is the difference between a 3 way race for the championship and another Witt/Wooster showdown as the top 2.

[smedindy]

For the first time in years, I can see a #8 team with an outside chance of beating the #1 seed, especially if that #8 team is Kenyon. They have some tools and if they shoot well, look out.

[smedindy]

Kenyon beat Oberlin so they're 4-9, 10-12 and Oberlin's  1-12, 6-16.

So NCAC site is wrong, has this score reversed.

d3hoops had it right. It was a good ol' fashioned tail kickin'.

http://www.d3hoops.com/seasons/men/2011-12/boxscores/20120208_m5jc.xml

[ScotsFan]

In the second half, Wooster's defense switched on every screen and rarely gave the Bishops an open shot.  In all fairness, Tim Brady looked like he was under the weather tonight?  ....as he even missed a free throw down the stretch that would have made the final score closer.

Under the weather or not, Wooster's defense has to be given a lot of credit for the performance they turned in in the second half of last night's game.  Coach Moore had pointed out earlier in the week that they had been working hard in practice at moving their feet in trying to defend Brady in an effort to limit the numerous trips to the line he gets.  In the first meeting between these two teams, Brady had 10 points from the line.  Last night he had 2 points from the line and only 3 attempts!  As wsf noted, Wooster did a great job of switching defenders coming off of screens and this frustrated the Bishops offensively.

Now it's on to Witt.  I'm really intrigued by this rematch.  When they first met, it was less than a month into the season and only Wooster's 6th game.  IMO, this is a different team than the one that lost to Witt on that buzzer beater in Timken.  And it's not like the Scots can't win at the HPER.  Just as Witt seems to have pretty good success on Wooster's home floor, the Scots have won 5 of their last 7 games down in Springfield.  Should be another good chapter written in this rivalry on Saturday night!

[ScotsFan]

This was the tiebreak procedure in 2008, and I assume that it hasn't changed.
So the analysis is based on Wooster winning on Saturday with both Wooster and Witt winning their final 2 to finish 13-3 in conference.

1) Wooster and Witt would split so this is a wash.
2) Nobody would finish ahead.
3) As noted by David earlier, if DePauw finishes ahead of Hiram then Witt wins the tiebreaker. If Hiram ends up ahead of DePauw then Wooster wins.  Of course, it might be possible that DePauw and Hiram could end up tied with OWU, Wabash or Denison - OR ALL OF THEM - and that would have to be sorted out first.
4) Heads or tails!  The winner of the flip gets a choice - do they want the #1 seed or do they want to host the tourney? That choice would almost certainly be to host.

Thanks for digging this stuff up again this year derek!  You seem to be the resident tie-breaker expert of the board!   

[woosterbooster]

This was the tiebreak procedure in 2008, and I assume that it hasn't changed.
So the analysis is based on Wooster winning on Saturday with both Wooster and Witt winning their final 2 to finish 13-3 in conference.

1) Wooster and Witt would split so this is a wash.
2) Nobody would finish ahead.
3) As noted by David earlier, if DePauw finishes ahead of Hiram then Witt wins the tiebreaker. If Hiram ends up ahead of DePauw then Wooster wins.  Of course, it might be possible that DePauw and Hiram could end up tied with OWU, Wabash or Denison - OR ALL OF THEM - and that would have to be sorted out first.
4) Heads or tails!  The winner of the flip gets a choice - do they want the #1 seed or do they want to host the tourney? That choice would almost certainly be to host.

Thanks for digging this stuff up again this year derek!  You seem to be the resident tie-breaker expert of the board!   

Yeah, yeah, yeah.  But that other Poe would have utilized trochaic octameter in his post, and quoted ravens and stuff. 

[nuscottsfan]

Now it's on to Witt.  I'm really intrigued by this rematch.  When they first met, it was less than a month into the season and only Wooster's 6th game.  IMO, this is a different team than the one that lost to Witt on that buzzer beater in Timken.  And it's not like the Scots can't win at the HPER.

ScotsFan I agree. Being a stats hungry kind of guy I dug up what may be the stat of the season so far for Wooster:
Although the TO bug bit Wooster Saturday night (15) it went mostly unnoticed as the Assists were there (13). Last night was a juxtaposition with only 4 Assists but a season low 7 T/O's. This seems to be the key to Wooster's turnaround and current run. In their 3 losses this season Wooster had a .45 A/TO ratio. In their wins it is .98. Looks like they are maturing into the typically solid, unselfish basketball team usually seen playing at Timken this time of year. KUDOS to Coach Moore and his staff for getting the underclassmen to settle down and be solid contributors AND game changers game in and game out. It will be interesting to see if they can continue the A/TO trend.

[WoosterFAN]

Fellow NCAC followers and Wooster Fan - I'm baaaack! Those that may remember from a few years back. I am Wooster Alum, former Bissman resident and former Voice sports columnist and Voice football/baseball/basketball beat writer.

I have been busy the past few years deployed with the US Navy as a Command Master Chief of a ship. I am back on shore duty in Virginia (right around VA Wesleyan and C.Newport). Thanks to this site, I was able to follow commentary about the NCAC and the Scots even thought I could not post. Dave (hope you remember me) - I am also in the final research and writing stages for my dissertation!

Well, I am back and excited about the end of the NCAC season for the Scots and the whole NCAC. Can we get some ESPN or FoxSports love for the best Division III hoops rivalry Witt v. Woo? I know that Gameday broadcast is out of the question but with twitter and Facebook, I think we should lobby for game day mention for the game on Saturday.

It is good to be back and look forward to my posts about the Div III hoops in this area as well as beloved Scott!

Go Bengals!

[Pat Coleman]

Well, welcome back!

[fantastic50]

The latest from Matt Snyder has Witt, Woo, and Wabash getting into the national field (either as Pool A or Pool C teams), with OWU on the wrong side of the bubble.  From the first regional rankings, it appears that the NCAA is emphasizing strength-of-schedule more this year, and that would help the LG's; obviously, beating Witt on Wednesday night also improves their profile.
http://tomaroonandgold.blogspot.com/2012/02/bracketology-292012.html#more

[countyroad]

Should be an awesome atmosphere at Witt tomorrow. I'm hoping the Scots can pull out a win.

Welcome back WoosterFAN!

[ScotsFan]

Welcome back WoosterFAN!  Glad to have you back!   

[smedindy]

Well, there's no time like the present to talk about tomorrow's games. All impact the various races and seeding scenarios in some way, shape or form.

DePauw (7-6, 13-9) @ Oberlin (1-12, 6-16) - For both teams, the second half of the NCAC season has been an ordeal. Of course, there are different levels of ordeals. DPU is suffering from a loaded schedule which wearied them before losing to a Denison team that's playing very well. Oberlin, well, they're just not into it right now. Losing Josh Merritt for a time took the wind out of them. He did play Wednesday but was lackluster. Every Yeoman was lackluster Wednesday, though. The New Tigers get back to winning and break their four-out-of-five losing streak.

Denison (7-6, 10-12) @ Allegheny (3-10, 5-17) - The Big Red are flying high after their win over DPU Wednesday. Suddenly they're in the conversation about hosting an NCAC tourney game and making the final weekend of the tournament. This game could be a quintessential 'trap' though. The Gators are playing much better than they have been and have gotten great performances from a variety of players lately. If they beat Denison, 'Gheny is back in the mix for the final tournament spot AND they greatly hurt the Big Red's chances to make noise.

Wabash (8-5, 16-6) @ Kenyon (4-9, 10-12) - Of all the teams to play after the big win over the Old Tigers, it had to be the Lords. Kenyon has played Wabash quite tough in Gambier in recent years. This is a huge trap game for the Little Giants, and they'll need the focus on defense and rebounding that they showed Wednesday to breathe easy.

Ohio Wesleyan (8-5, 16-6) @ Hiram (6-7, 13-9) - Whatever was affecting Tim Brady Wednesday against Wooster needs to be just a one-game thing. The Terriers need this game to claw back into the 5-seed discussion, and OWU needs this to keep up with a chance for a 3-seed and possibly a "C" bid. Because of the regional rankings, there's a decent chance that the NCAC gets 2 "C" bids but Wabash and OWU need to keep playing well and beating the un-ranked teams. Hiram's not going to make it easy, though.

Wooster (10-3, 19-3) @ Wittenberg (11-2, 17-5) - After all of the drama and the emergence of Wabash and OWU as true title contenders, it again comes down to THIS game against THESE teams. You wonder why the NCAC just doesn't always make this as part of the last weekend of games. Anyway, Wooster and Witt have survived their rough stretches (sometimes just so...) and now face off in the game of the year. Can Witt bounce back from their egregious FT shooting at Wabash? Can Wooster carry over their hard work on defense that they put forward in the second half against OWU? I think this is a great game to grab some popcorn and beverages and hook your computer to your TV. That's why God made HDMI cables...

[WoostAr]

Wooster website just posted a preview with some pretty detailed history on the rivalry.

http://www.woosterathletics.com/sports/mbkb/2011-12/releases/20120210rtleh5