MBB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Final: #24 Wooster 87  #14 Whitworth 82 

Just returned from Wooster where I watched the Scots knock off #14 Whitworth in a well played game.  Wooster shot 55% from the floor and outrebounded the Pirates 32 to 29 to win this very competitive game.

Wooster was led by Keonn Scott with 29 points, Dontae Williams with 20 and Danyon Hempy with 18.  Keonn Scott was selected as the Great Lakes Invitational MVP and Dontae Williams also made the All Tournament team.

Wooster has now beaten two solid teams, in Whitworth and Brockport State, that will probably each win their respective conferences.

Wooster is now 9-1, 3-0 NCAC.  Next game is at Ohio Wesleyan on 1/4.

GO SCOTS!

Not having Isaiah Hernandez really hurt Whitworth.  College did a beyond admirable job trying to do everything, just not enough.  Full strength or not, it'll be a good win for Wooster's resume for sure.

[wooscotsfan]

Checked Massey Ratings this morning to see which NCAC team has played the toughest schedule so far.

Here is the current Strength of Schedule ranking for the NCAC teams with winning records:

Ohio Wesleyan #19
Wabash #55
Wooster #68

Oberlin #110
Allegheny #214
Wittenberg #225

Witt is undefeated but they have played some real cupcakes and only one team ranked by Massey in the top 100 (Hanover).  By comparison, OWU has played 5 teams ranked in the top 100, Wabash has played 4 and Wooster has played 4.

[wooscotsfan]

Looked at two other season to date metrics for how the best NCAC teams are playing vs. their opponents -- Rebounding Margin and Opponents' Assists to Turnovers ratio:

On the Rebounding Margin metric, Wittenberg has the best number:

Wittenberg +8.4
Wabash  +7.5
Wooster +3.5
Allegheny +3.4
OWU  +3.1
Oberlin +2.0

On the Opponents Assist to Turnover ratio, Wooster has the best number: (a number below 1.0 means that your opponents have more turnovers than assists)

Wooster 0.69
Wittenberg 0.79
Allegheny 0.91
Oberlin 1.05
Wabash 1.14
OWU 1.23

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

If you look at the calendar, we are midway through the 2019-20 regular season. While there are probably more games ahead than behind for many teams, we now find ourselves looking at the half of the campaign.

What have we learned so far? Anything?

We may not be able to answer all of those questions, but we will see if we can turn over a few more rocks to find more clues on Thursday night's Hoopsville.

We will chat with a men's program that has gone from obscurity to at least being in the conference and regional conversation (if not national). Another men's program is about as high as they can go in the national convo, but do we really know how good they are and is there pressure to win it all? Plus a women's team many of you might not be talking about now, but probably will be chatting about come tournament time.

Tonight is also the season debut of the WBCA Center Court segment. We talk to Randy Tuggle, the head coach at Greensboro, on why the season is the perfect distraction for a far bigger priority. Tuggle chats with us about his battle with pancreatic cancer and how his team (and family) have been there every step of the way.

Hoopsville is presented by D3hoops.com and airs from the WBCA/NABC Studio. You can watch Sunday's show LIVE in the following ways:
- Main page: www.d3hoops.com/hoopsville
- Show page: http://bit.ly/2QZpezb (or www.d3hoops.com/hoopsville/archives/2019-20/jan9)
- Facebook Live Simulcast: www.facebook.com/Hoopsville (only the first 45 minutes aired; may have had a copyright problem haha)
- YouTube Simulcast: www.youtube.com/d3hoopsville
- Team1 Sports: www.team1sports.com/Hoopsville/
- Team1 Sports app (Android TV, Amazon Fire, Apple TV, Roku) - you will either find it under the "live" section or search for the Hoopsville channel

Thursday's show primarily covers the East, Great Lakes, Mid-Atlantic, and West Regions while also featuring a women's coach in the WBCA Center Court segment. All men's coaches appear in the NABC Coach's Corner. And all guests are featured on the BlueFrame Technology Hoopsville Hotline.

If you have questions about Division III basketball, feel free to send them and we will answer them on a the show. Email them to hoopsville@d3hoops.com or use any of the social media options.

Guests Schedule (order subject to change):
- Rich Murphy, Redlands women's coach
- Randy Tuggle, Greensboro women's coach (WBCA Center Court)
- Sean Coffey, Utica men's coach
- Matt Croci, No. 2 Wittenberg men's coach

If you enjoy the show via the podcasts, choose your favorite avenue to listen and/or subscribe via the the following four avenues (click on the images when necessary):
SoundCloud: www.soundcloud.com/hoopsville








We also have the podcast now on Tune-In and others coming. We will update them once we have better abilities to do so.

Don't forget you can always interact with us:
Website: www.d3hoopsville.com
Twitter: @d3hoopsville or #Hoopsville
Facebook: www.facebook.com/Hoopsville
Email: hoopsville@d3hoops.com
YouTube: www.youtube.com/d3hoopsville

[kiltedbryan]

Wittenberg 86
Wooster 98

Scots put forth a shooting master class in front of 2,500+ at Timken gym in what could be Steve Moore's final home game against Wittenberg. Scots hit 63% overall and 54% from 3 to run away and hide from the Tigers.

Final score is closer than it was: Scots led 52-33 at half and maintained a 20+ point lead until the final 2 minutes when a couple turnovers and missed foul shots let Wittenberg narrow the final margin.

Wittenberg falls to 14-1, 7-1 NCAC. Scots improve to 13-2, 7-1 NCAC.

[kiltedbryan]

Some unfortunate news out of Wooster, via twitter:

"Some sad news to share. As some of you already know, Justin Warnes '12 passed away on Thursday. "Warnesy" was a 3-year letterwinner, a key member of our 2011 national runner-up team, and a dear friend to many associated with our program." Obituary: https://www.newcomertoledo.com/Obituary/180687/Justin-Warnes/Toledo-OH

Justin Warnes was a tenacious defender, perhaps the best and most utilized defensive specialist Steve Moore ever had. His assignment was the opposition's best offensive player, and his strategy was to make that player earn every single point all night long, nothing easy. He knew his role and executed it to perfection.

Undoubtedly his signature game was in one of the best DIII games I've ever watched: the NCAA Elite Eight against Whitworth in 2011. Warnes's job? Contain Whitworth's consensus DIII National Player of the Year Michael Taylor. Taylor got his points that night, netting 25, but on 8-20 shooting (40%) vs. his 53% season average, and Taylor committed an uncharacteristic seven turnovers. Warnes was a huge part of making Taylor work all night. For added measure, Warnes himself went 4-5 from the field for 11 points, including one electrifying dunk early in the first half. (If you follow the link to Wooster's twitter account, the image in their post is of that dunk). It was one of only two games that season where Warnes touched double figures.

[Dr. Acula]

Wow, taken far too young.  It sounds like he was a great young man.  Prayers for his family. 

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

First Regional Rankings are out: https://www.d3hoops.com/notables/2020/02/men-regional-rankings-first

[Shamrock]

The Little Giants have won seven in a row after a win yesterday at Kenyon.

HUGE game at home against Witt. this coming Wednesday.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

Week 2's Regional Rankings are out: https://www.d3hoops.com/notables/2020/02/men-regional-rankings-second

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

The Week 3 men's regional rankings are out: https://www.d3hoops.com/notables/2020/02/men-regional-rankings-third

[econboy87]

I have seen several Division III games this year and the talent level continues to impress. What people sometimes overlook is that these student athletes are paying to play at this level because of their love for the game and for some a chance to be a big fish in a small pond. There are your Duke and Carolinas in Division III too, but just as impressive are that the majority of D3 teams never take a night off. They are constantly fighting to stay with and play with the more tradition laden teams. The NCAC saw that this year with every team either upsetting a top tier program or at the least fighting to the final horn. Wooster and Wittenberg are reaping the awards, but they would not be the teams they are without the others pushing them to perform the best each night. I wish good luck to the Scots led by potential 1st team All-American Danyon Hempy and the Senior dominated Tigers and look forward to 2021 when the others continue to close the gap.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

The Division III Men's and Women's Basketball Tournaments are set to get going. It all starts at 1:00 p.m. ET on Friday with the first men's game.

However, before you get fully wrapped up in the games make sure you go into it fully informed.

That means tuning into Hoopsville on Thursday night for our tournaments preview episode. We will not only take a fresh look at the brackets, but we will also talk to a number of coaches getting their teams ready for first-round games. From a Conference Cinderella, to a couple of Conference Champions, and a coach looking to finish his career with a bang.

Guests Schedule (order subject to change):
- Kevin Jaskiewicz, Coast Guard men's coach
- Steve Moore, Wooster men's coach
- Brian Lane, Transylvania men's coach
- Carissa Sain, No. 18 Chicago women's coach
- Mike Miller, No. 19 Messiah women's coach

Hoopsville is presented by D3hoops.com and airs from the WBCA/NABC Studio. You can watch Thursday's show LIVE starting at 7:00 p.m. ET in the following ways:
- Main page: www.d3hoops.com/hoopsville
- Show page: http://bit.ly/2TTWFVp (or www.d3hoops.com/hoopsville/archives/2019-20/mar5)
- Facebook Live Simulcast: www.facebook.com/Hoopsville
- YouTube Simulcast: www.youtube.com/d3hoopsville
- Team1 Sports: www.team1sports.com/Hoopsville/
- Team1 Sports app (Android TV, Amazon Fire, Apple TV, Roku) - you will either find it under the "live" section or search for the Hoopsville channel
Monday's show primarily covers the Atlantic, Central, South, and Northeast Regions. All men's coaches appear in the NABC Coach's Corner. And all guests are featured on the BlueFrame Technology Hoopsville Hotline

Men's coaches appear in the NABC Coach's Corner. And all guests are featured on the BlueFrame Technology Hoopsville Hotline.

If you have questions about Division III basketball, feel free to send them and we will answer them on a the show. Email them to hoopsville@d3sports.com or use any of the social media options.

Please also consider helping us out. We are accepting donations to the show - which many of you have asked about. The goal is to raise $7,500. We are approximately at $4,600 at the time of this posting.

To donate, click our PayPal link here: https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=BSRFLPUJQ9MKL&source=url

And thank you for your contributions.

If you enjoy the show via the podcasts, choose your favorite avenue to listen and/or subscribe via the the following four avenues (click on the images when necessary):
SoundCloud: www.soundcloud.com/hoopsville


 
   
We also have the podcast now on Tune-In and others coming. We will update them once we have better abilities to do so.

Don't forget you can always interact with us:
Website: www.d3hoopsville.com
Twitter: @d3hoopsville or #Hoopsville
Facebook: www.facebook.com/Hoopsville
Email: hoopsville@d3hoops.com
YouTube: www.youtube.com/d3hoopsville

[Bishopleftiesdad]

Branch Rickey getting renovated.
The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio Wesleyan to begin $4 million renovation of Branch Rickey Arena.
https://www.dispatch.com/sports/20200413/ohio-wesleyan-to-begin-4-million-renovation-of-branch-rickey-arena

[GLbball]

According to Hoop Dirt, Hiram is hiring Rochester assistant Taylor Roth as their next head coach. Says a current D3 head coach in NY turned the job down.

https://hoopdirt.com/d3-dirt-hiram-set-to-tab-uaa-assistant-as-next-head-coach/