MBB: Ohio Athletic Conference

[Fifth and Putnam]

John Carroll is looking strong here as we begin heading down the stretch here of the regular season but much like Marietta last year, there is no margin for error in the race for the OAC Championship. Marietta is one game back and don't count Mount Union out quite either with two losses. Mount will have another shot at both before we're done.

JCU and Etta both look good at this point to get into the tournament in some manner. Mount Union may not want to test fate and win the OAC Tournament to be sure. Still a ways to go yet though and as we've seen...on any given night.

[EttaFan1]

As a Pioneer fan, I'm looking at the upcoming game this Saturday against BW in Berea as a possible landmine.  For some reason I just have an uneasy feeling about this matchup.  Fetherhoff is solid down low.  And Kuhn is ridiculous and a very difficult matchup for Marietta as well. 

If the Jackets have a respectable shooting night, they will give Marietta all they want. 

[Fifth and Putnam]

As a Pioneer fan, I'm looking at the upcoming game this Saturday against BW in Berea as a possible landmine.  For some reason I just have an uneasy feeling about this matchup.  Fetherhoff is solid down low.  And Kuhn is ridiculous and a very difficult matchup for Marietta as well. 

If the Jackets have a respectable shooting night, they will give Marietta all they want.

Trips to BW always scare me to death. It's a tough place to play and BW is a very solid basketball team. They gave Mount Union everything they wanted and more there Wednesday night.

More of a concern to me about Marietta down the stretch is mental lapses in the 2nd half. How many games here over the last couple of weeks has Marietta build large double digits leads at halftime only to see the opponent cut it to 1-2 possessions in the 2nd half. I know Coach VanderWal has to be drilling this into their heads about maintaining focus for 40 minutes so I am not sure what to attribute it to. Luckily it hasn't come back to bite them yet.

[EttaFan1]

Marietta has not handled on the ball pressure very well this year and are prone to mistakes, especially when being pressed full court.  It is the primary reason the Pioneers lost to St. Vincent early in the year.  When you can't advance the ball past the division line, it spells trouble.

Marietta had 13 second half turnovers against Mount Union which let Mount narrow the gap quite a bit.

ONU was effective pressing in the second half a couple of weeks ago and made the game closer than it needed to be. 

Marietta has also got away from running their base offense down the stretch of games instead trying to burn clock.  Unfortunately they don't have the player like RaNeal Ewing who could take almost anyone off the bounce to get a good scoring opportunity.  My opinion has always been that scoring points is better than running clock.  They need to continue to run their primary offensive sets and look to get the bigs more involved down low. 

[Dr. Acula]

Cap and Mount are scorching the nets today.  It's 88-87 Mount with 4 min. left.  Mount is 17-32 from deep and Cap is over 60% from the floor.  Both teams are over 50% from 3 and overall.  Noticed Kukura has not played today for the Raiders.  I hope he is okay.

[Dr. Acula]

Wow.  Great game.  Mount wins 97-96 as Cap hits a shot from the corner at the buzzer that would have tied it, but the kid didn't have both feet behind the arc.  Very exciting game down the stretch.  Mount improves to 14-5, 10-2.

[EttaFan1]

The top three are likely going to be JCU, Mount, and Marietta (since #4 Cap is 4 games off the pace).  We don't know the order yet.  This will all become clearer starting a week from Wednesday. 

2-10 Mount @ Marietta
2-13 JCU @ Marietta
2-17 JCU @ Mount 

Of course all three need to not stub their toes, but if they are able to beat the teams they should, then that is the 7 day stretch to watch. 

Here is who each has left on their slate.

JCU:
Otterbein
@Cap
BW
@MAR
@MOunt
Muskingum

Marietta:
Cap
@Wilm
Mount
JCU
@OTT
@ONU

(Northern gave the Pioneers fits in Marietta and Marietta squeezed out a one point victory). 

Mount:
@MUSK
ONU
@MAR
@Berg
JCU
WILM

Looks to be an interesting stretch run for these three teams.

[Fifth and Putnam]

The top three are likely going to be JCU, Mount, and Marietta (since #4 Cap is 4 games off the pace).  We don't know the order yet.  This will all become clearer starting a week from Wednesday. 

2-10 Mount @ Marietta
2-13 JCU @ Marietta
2-17 JCU @ Mount 

Of course all three need to not stub their toes, but if they are able to beat the teams they should, then that is the 7 day stretch to watch. 

Here is who each has left on their slate.

JCU:
Otterbein
@Cap
BW
@MAR
@MOunt
Muskingum

Marietta:
Cap
@Wilm
Mount
JCU
@OTT
@ONU

(Northern gave the Pioneers fits in Marietta and Marietta squeezed out a one point victory). 

Mount:
@MUSK
ONU
@MAR
@Berg
JCU
WILM

Looks to be an interesting stretch run for these three teams.

Making the assumption as you did that all 3 win the games they should the rest of the way (a dangerous assumption in this conference) and the top 3 win their home games against each other...Marietta wins the conference.

Marietta 17-1
JCU        16-2
Mount    15-3

How big will Marietta's earlier win in Alliance prove? Or are there more road victories still to be seen?

[Onward on, John Carroll]

Anybody know why Muskingum and Mount Union moved their boys and girls games to Thursday?

[Onward on, John Carroll]

The top three are likely going to be JCU, Mount, and Marietta (since #4 Cap is 4 games off the pace).  We don't know the order yet.  This will all become clearer starting a week from Wednesday. 

2-10 Mount @ Marietta
2-13 JCU @ Marietta
2-17 JCU @ Mount 

Of course all three need to not stub their toes, but if they are able to beat the teams they should, then that is the 7 day stretch to watch. 

Here is who each has left on their slate.

JCU:
Otterbein
@Cap
BW
@MAR
@MOunt
Muskingum

Marietta:
Cap
@Wilm
Mount
JCU
@OTT
@ONU

(Northern gave the Pioneers fits in Marietta and Marietta squeezed out a one point victory). 

Mount:
@MUSK
ONU
@MAR
@Berg
JCU
WILM

Looks to be an interesting stretch run for these three teams.

Making the assumption as you did that all 3 win the games they should the rest of the way (a dangerous assumption in this conference) and the top 3 win their home games against each other...Marietta wins the conference.

Marietta 17-1
JCU        16-2
Mount    15-3

How big will Marietta's earlier win in Alliance prove? Or are there more road victories still to be seen?

It has been my thought for the last month or so that John Carroll will lose two more OAC games.  I think one of those games will be at Marietta. I think the other game will be against either Capital or BW.  Just my hunch.

 

[sac]

Anybody know why Muskingum and Mount Union moved their boys and girls games to Thursday?

Mt. Union press release references to call the Muskingum AD with questions, so I would guess this is something on Muskingum's end.

[Dr. Acula]

Anybody know why Muskingum and Mount Union moved their boys and girls games to Thursday?

Mt. Union press release references to call the Muskingum AD with questions, so I would guess this is something on Muskingum's end.

And now it's been pushed back until Monday, Feb. 15.

[Fifth and Putnam]

Anybody know why Muskingum and Mount Union moved their boys and girls games to Thursday?

Mt. Union press release references to call the Muskingum AD with questions, so I would guess this is something on Muskingum's end.

And now it's been pushed back until Monday, Feb. 15.


Saw that...makes you wonder what the heck is going on to push a game back twice in the same afternoon.

Mount has to hate this as they will now have to play 3 times next week.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

Anybody know why Muskingum and Mount Union moved their boys and girls games to Thursday?

Just a thought: at this level, they usually don't like being called boys and girls. I try and call them men and women.

I realize ... a bit sensitive... but that sensitivity on their end was brought up to be a very long time ago and it has stuck.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

For the third consecutive year, Hoopsville will air for 12 hours as the regular season enters the final four weeks. Dave McHugh will chat with coaches, administrators, student-athletes, and others involved in Division III basketball from around the country. Other guests will include those who have Division III roots or appreciate the division and the game along with the student-athletes who play the sport.

Hoopsville will air from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. (and maybe later) on Thursday, February 4 live from the WBCA/NABC Studio. You can see what guests are scheduled, get more information, and watch the show here: http://www.d3hoops.com/hoopsville/archives/2015-16/feb4

You can also read the press release about the show: http://www.d3hoops.com/hoopsville/hoopsville-marathon-2016

Here is the guest list as we speak. All times are Eastern and subject to change. Additional guests to be added if and when necessary:


   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

Time	Guest	School
10:15am	Connie Tilley	St. Norbert (WBB) - WBCA Center Court
10:40am	Jamie Purdy	Peidmont (WBB)
11:00am	Keri Carollo	UW-Whitewater (WBB) - Nat'l Committee Chair
11:20am	Brent Pollari	Saint Mary's (Minn.) (WBB)
11:40am	Kent Madsen	No. 21 Wheaton (Ill.) (WBB)
12:00pm	Russell Loyd	Rose-Hulman (MBB)
12:20pm	Kevin Broderick	Nazareth (MBB)
12:40pm	Justin Scott	Arcadia (MBB)
1:00pm	Sam Hargraves	No. 12 Alma (MBB)
1:20pm	Lenny Reich	Mount Union (SID)
1:40pm	Maureen Webster	Clarkson (WBB)
2:00pm	Betsy Witman	York (Pa.) (WBB)
2:20pm	Sara Lee	Denison (WBB)
2:40pm	Klay Kneuppel	Wisconsin Lutheran (MBB)
3:00pm	Brian Van Haaften	Buena Vista (MBB) - Nat'l Committee Chair
3:30pm	Sydney Moss	No. 1 Thomas More (WBB)
3:45pm	Aaron Rousell	Bucknell (WBB) - former Chicago coach
4:00pm	Tim Shanahan	Staten Island (WBB)
4:20	Pat Cunningham	Trinity (Texas) (MBB) - NABC Coach's Corner
4:50pm	Bubba Smith	Sewanee (MBB)
5:15pm	Ben Strong	Former Guilford All-American
5:30pm	Kevin Connors	ESPN SportsCenter Anchor - Ithaca alumnus
6:00pm	Kristen Dowling	Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (WBB)
6:20pm	Allison Coleman	Sage (WBB)
6:40pm	Landry Kosmalski	Swarthmore (MBB)
7:00pm	Dave Niland	No. 23 Penn State-Behrend (MBB)
7:20pm	Aaron Galletta	Lasell (MBB)
7:40pm	John Baron	Gwynedd-Mercy (MBB)
8:00pm
8:20pm
8:40pm	Melissa Hodgdon	Wheaton (Mass.) (WBB)
9:00pm	G.P. Gromacki	No. 2 Amherst (WBB)
9:20pm	James Wagner
9:40pm	HAPPY HOUR	Free-for-all of calls, tweets, and fun!

We hope to get at least the full show on a podcast, or several podcast, during the on Friday. You can find it here:
SoundCloud: www.soundcloud.com/hoopsville
iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/hoopsville/id1059517087

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/user/d3hoopsville

And a reminder the Hoopsville Fundraising Project has begun yet again. Please consider helping us cover Division III basketball the way it deserves to be covered. If you can not donate, please don't worry about - we understand. At least share the campaign with anyone you think might be interested: http://igg.me/at/hoopsville-fundraiser/x/6029509

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Thanks!