MBB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[division3hoops]

Final score
ONU 68
Witt 51

Wow, I honestly don't know what to say about this game but that I didn't think Witt would go down like that.  Two both great teams. 
Listening on the computer is definitely not as good as being there.  Anyone who was at the game...any comments?

[wooscotsfan]

Here is the link to the Witt - ONU boxscore: http://www4.wittenberg.edu/news/athletics/mbasketball/statistics/06-07statistics/witm1219.htm

Several factors contributed to the big win for ONU tonight:
-Witt shot only 35% from the floor;  ONU shot 56%
-Witt only made 1 three pointer; ONU made 6 three pointers
-Pat Denbow did not play due to his lingering ankle injury
-Jack Hemenway only played ~21 minutes and fouled out
-Dane Borchers was limited to 28 minutes due to fouls (he had 4)
-Greg Badenhop was unstoppable for ONU as he had 23 points

The Polar Bears should be a great test for Wooster in the first game of the Mose Hole Classic on 12/29.  Let's hope that some strong defense by Van Horn, Johnson and/or Bidwell can slow down Badenhop because that will be one of the keys to a win.

[onefan]

Went  to the ONU/Witt game tonight....Witt looked flat....especially in the second half and looked to run out of gas mid way through the second half. Northern got Witt's big man in foul trouble and they worked the paint heavy in the second half. I really thought it would be a tight game, but Witt just didn't get it done tonight. Give Northern credit...tough defense and they played with some fire and intensity that was sadly missing in the ONU/BW contest. Witt's guards didn't look very sharp tonight...has that been a problem at all for them this year? 

[pennstghs]

sounds like witt didnt have it all together tonight from what i heard on the radio. obviously our bigs being in foul trouble hurt us, as we rely on our post scoring and feed off of it for everything else.

[sac]

As a long-time Pistons' fan and observer, that does have Thomas' fingerprints all over it, but I haven't seen any EVIDENCE that he orchestrated it.

I must say I liked Isiah better as a player than an executive - I think he's in over his head.

He wasn't a "BAD BOY" for no reason.

I bet Adrian Dantley has an interesting opinion of Isiah.

[ScotsFan]

Got to take exception to Witt as the premier D3 defensive team in the Nation...No way to prove it, but ONU plays good defense and tends to turn it up even higher when their offense goes south. Went to the ONU/Witt game tonight and Witt got outplayed at both ends of the court. They lacked intensity and appeared to be fatigued early in the second half. Could be a game for them to build on, but they didn't play like the sixth ranked team in D3 tonight. They actually reminded me of the way ONU played against BW last week. But, a good win for ONU and a good win for the OAC.

Well, with the way Witt played last night, I think it's tough to argue your opinion onefan.  After all, Witt's supposedly stout defense allowed ONU to shoot 55% from the floor while Witt mangaged to shoot only 35% and only 26% in the 2nd half when the Tigers needed to step up. 

One other thing that caught my attention is something I mentioned after the Witt-Woo game and that was concerning Witt's lack of depth from a scoring perspective.  Against Wooster 56 out of their 65 points came from only 3 players.   Last night Borchers had his ususal strong game with 17 points, however, the rest of Witt's starters only combined for an additional 17 points.  And look at the result.  The big games that Hemenway and Hill had vs. Wooster were not there vs. ONU and they lose by 17.

With ONU taking it to Wittenberg (at home mind you) I am now even more intrigued by this matchup with Wooster coming up after Christmas.  I've never questioned whether or not the Polar Bears are a very good basketball team.  It's just that when they got blasted out of their own gym by a struggling B-W, it made be question whether they were truly that good or did they just have a bad night.  After ONU's performance last night against Witt, I'm beginning to think it was a case of the latter and we should be in for a real treat on the 29th at Timken.

[woosterbooster]

I wasn't at the Witt-ONU game last night, and didn't even listen to it, so this is pretty speculative, but it's altogether possible that, playing on the road, neither Borchers nor Hemenway (maybe especially him) were able to successfully back down opponents in the paint for easy shots.  There are just things that work better on one's home court than in a hostile environment.

Possibly, also, ONU was able to go to school on the Wooster-Witt game, and was able to especially key on those three scorers.  Borchers, certainly being the best of them, was able to still have a good game.  But Hill and Hemenway were shut down, no one else was able to step up, and ONU got a very solid win.

[pennstghs]

yes and it doesnt help when your opponent shoots 50+ % from the field as well. any team is going to be hard to beat in those circumstances.

hope to see a BIG witt rebound thursday at otterbein-this win is much needed for in-region purposes. i feel bad for otterbein going up against a motivated witt team

[Vanilla24COW]

Was at the game last night, Witt was very flat. ONU has a guy named Michael Hunter that I don't think Shaq could back down, very big/physical guy, ONU contested shots really well and sagged into the post...Witt's spacing was bad and they were unable to find the open guy a lot of it came back to Witt being flat. Badenhop is a guy that finds ways to score, I didn't think Witt's defense on him was very good or as good as I have seen them guard Wooster. It will be a good game, there will be match up problems for both teams as the 5 starters for Northern will struggle to match up to Port, Cooper and Johnson but Woo will struggle matching up on Northern's post players. The sophmore #50 for Northern is pretty good but Hunter is more of a role player/hard worker and not real polished offensively. I see Woo winning this one but it will be close.

[David Collinge]

Final from Gambier:
#22 DePauw 53
Kenyon 52

I logged into the KC website to see if the game was at 7:00 or 7:30, and discovered that it was at 2:00.    I was looking forward to seeing the new (to me) facility, but I sure wasn't anticipating a close game.  Now I'm doubly mad that I'm such a nitwit.

Box score.  Kenyon shot just 31.6%, but held DPU to 39.6% shooting and outrebounded the Tigers 43-31.  Each team had 10 steals, with 37 total turnovers split 19-18 in Kenyon's favor.  Korey Haddox led the Lords with 14 points on 6/9 shooting.  DePauw's Austin Brown was 7-7 inside the arc and led all scorers with 18.

[David Collinge]

According to a post on the SCAC board, DePauw won the game with a buzzer-beating three.   

[David Collinge]

Denison is out in Vegas this week, playing at UNLV in the "D3 Desert Shootout."  Last night, the Big Red hit just 3 of 14 three-point attempts (37.5% overall) and turned the ball over 22 times in losing to Scranton, 70-53.  Dan Hodgkinson led all scorers with 21 points, including 11-13 from the line, but Scranton had 4 in double figures, including a double-double (11 pts., 11 boards) from Tom Bicknell.  Attendance for this game was reported as 50; does that suggest that there's something more interesting to do in Las Vegas than watch Denison basketball?  Box score.

Denison (1-8) takes on Clarke College (1-9), 68-61 losers to Manhattanville College, this afternoon (6:30pm EST).  The nickel slots beckon.

[onefan]

Scotsfan, Thanks for moving my post...Much appreciated. Northern did have a good shooting night. It is tough to beat a team that shoots as well as they did last night. Witt's early foul trouble added to their woes. ONU is indeed solid, and their lopsided loss to BW is still puzzling to me and I was there. My only explanation is that BW just had one of those sizzling shooting nights when everything they launched went in. I hope the next meeting is a better ballgame. As to the upcoming ONU/Wooster match-up, I look for a real barnburner. As I understand it Wooster is fairly deep and so is ONU. Very little is lost in terms of going to their eighth and ninth guy off the bench...that has been quite significant for ONU especially in the latter half of the game...opposing teams have lost a step and ONU still looks fresh...I doubt they will enjoy that advantage against Wooster. There are four very good teams appearing at the tournament...should be some good match-ups. I understand that Wooster chose to play ONU rather than either of the other two teams...I think Northern has taken exception to that decision and would like to demonstrate that this was a mistake. I guess we will find out on the 29th.

[ScotsFan]

I understand that Wooster chose to play ONU rather than either of the other two teams...I think Northern has taken exception to that decision and would like to demonstrate that this was a mistake. I guess we will find out on the 29th.

I don't think they chose to play ONU because they thought that was going to be the easiest path to the championship game.  They did it to guarantee at least one in-region game against a strong in-region opponent.  If you look back to last year's Mose Hole, Wooster also chose to play B-W in the 1st round and lost because they wanted the guarantee of the in-region matchup.  Both Wooster and B-W went on to win comfortably in their respective Saturday games.  Also, in case you don't recall, I think the motivating factor in all of this stems back to ONU.  Wooster and ONU were supposed to be the marquee matchup in the finals of the 2001 Mose Hole, but ONU was upset by Thiel on Friday night so the matchup never happened.

The point I'm trying to make is that I don't think Wooster made this move to play ONU out of disrespect to the Polar Bears.  Besides, looking at the field, there really isn't an easy opponent in the field which makes the tournament all the more interesting.

[David Collinge]

(I see that ScotsFan had the same idea as me, but I'll go ahead and post this anyway.  )

I suppose anything works as "bulletin board material," but I think Wooster's decision to play ONU in the opening round is a compliment to ONU.  Coach Moore made a conscious effort to toughen up the non-conference schedule this season, and I'm certain that he wanted to ensure that his team did not miss the chance to play ONU in this tournament.  Everyone knew that ONU was going to be loaded this season, and since Wooster has visions of a national title this season, they'll want to test themselves against Salem-caliber competition.

If Wooster had wanted a cupcake in the first round, they could have invited frequent Mose Hole participants Case Western Reserve or Thiel; instead, all three visiting teams are top-shelf and serious threats to go 2-0 on the weekend.  All four games look like close, tough affairs on paper. 

ONU's high shooting percentage last night intrigues me.  Teams just don't shoot well against Wittenberg's defense; they are just too good at contesting every shot.  To shoot 55.6% against Witt suggests to me a combination of three things:  outstanding ball movement to find the open shooter (when Wooster shoots well against Witt, this is the primary reason), slow or lackadaisical defense by Witt, and just plain hot shooting.  Vanilla24's comments suggest that Witt was a step slow on defense last night, and that might have been the difference.  Hot shooting is either there or it isn't; not much you can do about it either way.  What I'm interested in seeing next weekend is ONU's ball movement.  If ONU's ability to make the extra pass was significant last night, it should be significant against Wooster, too; but if the PBs are relying on Wooster to be a step slow on defense, they could be in for a long evening.