MBB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[Gregory Sager]

Keep in mind that Jack Davidson has broken the single-season consecutive FTM record previously set at 66 by James Jones of Delaware Valley eight seasons ago. The career all-time consecutive FTM streak in D3 belongs to Dirk Rhinehart of Kalamazoo, who made 84 in a row spanning the 2000-01 and 2001-02 seasons.

[wally_wabash]

I feel like I'm underselling this.  Jack Davidson just did a thing that has never, ever been done in D3 men's basketball.  Wow doesn't quite cover it. 

[sigma one]

Yes, I was wrong on my count.  I did just as Wally did, leading to a miscount.  Wow, 67 straight.  Keep it going, Jack.

[URBAN4PREZ]

Big game tonight in Greencastle.  I thought DPU played Wabash tough in the season's first matchup, and I would expect a rowdy crowd for tonight's game.  I'm not ready to predict a victory for the Tigers, but a Wabash loss could push Wooster further out of reach and could give Wittenberg a shot at the 2 seed.

[wally_wabash]

Big game tonight in Greencastle.  I thought DPU played Wabash tough in the season's first matchup, and I would expect a rowdy crowd for tonight's game.  I'm not ready to predict a victory for the Tigers, but a Wabash loss could push Wooster further out of reach and could give Wittenberg a shot at the 2 seed.

They're all big for Wabash at this point.  Friday's Allegheny result probably puts the 1 seed out of reach for Wabash unless they get some serious help elsewhere (OWU nearly did it on Saturday).  The top seed isn't what I'm looking at now.  These games over the next two weeks are huge for Wabash to bolster/preserve their at-large profile.  The goal, certainly, is to qualify automatically but games like this one tonight have to end up in the W column for Wabash to stay on the right side of the bubble should they require an invitation. 

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

Here are the first rankings for the men this season: https://www.d3hoops.com/notables/2019/02/men-regional-rankings-first

[wooscotsfan]

Final:  Wooster 73  Denison 63    Wooster shot poorly in first half and got back on track in the second.  Dupler & Hempy combined for 50 points.

Wooster is now 19-3 overall, 14-1 NCAC

Final:  DePauw 94  Wabash 79   Jack Davidson had 40 points but DePauw shot 63.5% from the floor and made 11 of 17 three point shots!

Wabash is now 18-4 overall, 12-3 NCAC

Securing wins in the remaining games is critical for both teams to be considered for a Pool C bid and/or a NCAA hosting site in the first round.

[imderekpoe]

Any update on the status of Dontae Williams for the Scots? It looked like he was being helped back to the locker room (favoring an ankle) after the OWU game, and he didn't play against the Big Red. It would be a big loss not to have him available against the Tigers (both of them) and in the post-season. I think we saw last night that the Scots don't have great depth inside and were struggling when Bulic was out with foul trouble.

[URBAN4PREZ]

Don't look now, but Wittenberg is quietly working it's way back into the conversation.  Four straight wins by double-digits, and two straight by more than twenty-five points.  The next two games (@ Wooster and vs. Wabash) will be season-determining.  A Pool C bid still seems like a very remote possibility, but I think they could make a run in the conference tournament if they stay hot.

[sigma one]

In the Wabash loss at DePauw last night Jack Davidson was 13/13 free throws.  This extends his NCAA DIII record to 80 straight from the foul line.  The previous record was 67 straight  within a single season.  Davidson is closing in on the all-time (over two seasons) record of 84. 

[imderekpoe]

Don't look now, but Wittenberg is quietly working it's way back into the conversation.  Four straight wins by double-digits, and two straight by more than twenty-five points.  The next two games (@ Wooster and vs. Wabash) will be season-determining.  A Pool C bid still seems like a very remote possibility, but I think they could make a run in the conference tournament if they stay hot.

I believe that Witt even still has a chance to be the #1 seed in the NCAC tourney, as I think they would hold the tie-breaker if they win out and the Scots lose out. Although it seems unlikely that the Scots will lose to Oberlin, but stranger things have happened!

[wally_wabash]

Last night concludes a four game road swing for Wabash which definitely could have gone better.  Wabash dropped three of these four games and are spinning out a little bit here with the NCAA tournament just right there in front of them.  This is eerily reminiscent of 2010-2011 when Wabash raced out to a 13-0 record, earned a top 10 ranking, then alternated wins and losses for about six weeks, lost to Wittenberg in the league semis and finished just outside of the NCAA tournament.  In that stretch, Wabash lost games to Denison and Hiram- the kinds of "bad" losses that are exceedingly hard to shake when they come at the tail end of the season when people are paying attention.  The Allegheny and DePauw losses this time around have a similar feel to me.  I think Wabash is going to need to win at Wittenberg next week (3-22 all time in Springfield) and make the NCAC final to be in Pool C.  A sixth loss was one too many in 2011 and it might be one too many in 2019 as well.

A couple of things have stood out to me on this four game patch. 
- The balance that Wabash thrived with through the first 17-ish games has gone missing.  Davidson can go get his points whenever he wants, but it's been the contributions of others that have elevated Wabash to Top 25 material.  Hallstrom has been solid in the post, but a lot of other guys that were chipping in are in funks right now.  Gotta shake that off. 
- Wabash gave up 91, 80, 80, and 94 in these games.  That's putting an enormous amount of pressure on the offense which is not running at optimal efficiency as previously noted.
- Against Wooster and DePauw, the LGs started extremely slow, got behind big, and just couldn't get all the way back.  They did get within 1 in the second half against Wooster and were in a 1 possession game late there.  Last night Wabash cut a 16-point halftime deficit down to 9 pretty quickly in the second half, but couldn't get any closer as the Tigers blacked out and turned into the Warriors for 40 minutes.  It's just really, really difficult to get down 15+ points and figure out a way to win.  Particularly against above average to good teams. 

So Wabash has a couple of weeks here and hopefully six more games to get right and earn the right to play more games.  They'll need to get back to starting games better and somebody other than Davidson and Hallstrom are going to have to make a shot.  Those things haven't happened and that's how you drop three out of four at a critical time.  There's absolutely not a better time ever for a home game against Kenyon and hopefully Wabash can use Saturday afternoon to get right again. 

[fantastic50]

I have Wabash squarely on the bubble at the moment.  They don't necessarily have to beat Witt next Wednesday AND in an NCAC tourney semifinal, but the LGs certainly cannot afford to lose both of those games.

Witt is quietly getting back into the conversation.  If they were to get three big wins over the next two weeks (at Woo, vs Wabash, & Wabash again in the semis), I think they're certainly in.  Winning two of those three might be enough for Witt to earn a Pool C berth.

[sigma one]

Davidson was 9/9 FTs today in Wabash's win over Kenyon.  He now at 89 in a row.

[Mr. Ypsi]

Davidson was 9/9 FTs today in Wabash's win over Kenyon.  He now at 89 in a row.

Which is the all-time D3 record, even across seasons.  Anyone know if he has yet attained the all-time all-divisions record?