MBB: Ohio Athletic Conference

[whoknows]

I know there is still one game left to play plus tournament but I am just curious what everyone thinks about the player of the year this year. I think it is very clear the two main candidates but just wanted to see some debate.

[David Collinge]

Here's the stats for the two you probably have in mind, plus one other who should be in the conversation.  The numbers in parentheses indicate rank within the OAC.  Through last night's games, from the OAC website.

Player	Year	Team	PPG	FG %	RPG	Blks/Gm
Tori Davis	Sr.	B-W	22.5 (1)	.656 (2)	8.8 (3)	2.25 (3)
Brandon Mimes	Jr.	JCU	19.9 (3)	.489 (10)	10.6 (1)	1.54 (4)
Tyler Ousley	Sr.	Ott	20.1 (2)	.582 (4)	10.5 (2)	2.42 (2)

Davis and Ousley have each been named OAC Player of the week three times this season.  Mimes has yet to receive this honor.

Ousley is also 7th in the leage in assists (3.0/gm) and 14th in FT shooting (.743).  Mimes is 6th in steals (1.67/gm.)  Davis is 2nd in minutes (36.62) while Ousley is 5th (34.04).  Ousley is also 7th in the league in A/TO, but this category is limited to those with 3 apg or more.  There are only 7 such players, and Ousley's 1.0 A/TO is last among them. 

[Toph]

I think it'll be Davis.  Flat out stud.  Ousley and Mimes have both had good years, but I think that Davis can play at another level that these two haven't gone to yet.  Also, Davis is a big time, big game player.  I wish the tournament was closer so I could go to all the games, but I'll just have to settle for the final.

[Pat Coleman]

Re: Preseason polls

Par for the course in this conference, which, IIRC, sent teams to the Final Four in consecutive years that were picked No. 6 in the league's preseason poll.

[kiltedbryan]

OAC Quarterfinal Pairings:
(to be played Wednesday, Feb. 21)

#8 Muskingum @ #1 Capital
#5 Otterbein @ #4 Ohio Northern

#6 Heidelberg @ #3 Baldwin-Wallace
#7 Wilmington @ #2 John Carroll

Highest remaining seed hosts the weekend.

Downloadable Bracket here (pdf file)

[johnworms]

Took in the OTT-CAP game tonight. For those questioning Otterbein's attendance counts of late, the number you will see in the paper on Sunday will be legit. I will agree that the Cards have not drawn big crowds for most of the year, but tonight's game had a feel like those of five years ago. I also believe that Otterbein typically reports the number of tickets sold. I would guess they have at least 500 season ticket holders, and on for a Wednesday night against Wilmington, my guess is about 30 of those folks show up.

As for the game, both teams played very hard, even though it really had no impact on the league standings. CAP was seeking an outright conference title, but they already had hosting privileges locked up. OTT will still have to travel on Wednesday, but this game is always about pride. The Cards looked in control most of the night, leading by 6 at the half, by nine with 3:30 to go, and even by 7 with 1:45 to go. Like a few other times this year though (ONU and JCU), the cards could not hold the lead in the last few minutes. CAP forced overtime with a short jumper with 20 tics remaining. The extra session began slow, but after #40 for the Crusaders fouled out, Tyler Ousley took over. #40 had kept the Otterbein senior quite most of the night, but in the last two minutes of OT, he scored the Cards final 9 points to secure the 4 point victory. Ousley made all of his free throws in the final minute, and had a key block when Capital's $50 had a good inside look in the game's waning moments.

My last thought: What the heck was that play Capital drew up with 5.7 seconds left and down three? They kept everyone in the frontcourt, and threw the ball to mid-court, where the kid who caught it stumbled out of bounds, but still almost made a half-court heave as he stepped on the line? Goodwin really needed a better play drawn up there. It looked like a play for when there is under 2 seconds left. 5.7 is more than enough time to get the ball down the court.

[David Collinge]

Wondering where wooscotsfan is, and hoping he's all right, here's tonight's scores:

Otterbein 73, Capital 69 (OT)
Baldwin-Wallace 86, Marietta 74
Muskingum 78, Heiidelberg 66
JCU 94, Wilmington 78
Ohio Northern 74, Mt. Union 59

Here's the final standings:
Capital 13-5 (16-8)
JCU 13-5 (17-8)
Baldwin-Wallace 12-6 (17-8)
Ohio Northern 12-6 (19-6)
Otterbein 11-7 (15-10)
Heidelberg 9-9 (13-12)
Wilmington 8-10 (13-12)
Muskingum 6-12 (12-12)
Mt. Union 5-13 (10-15)
Marietta 1-15 (5-20)

[kiltedbryan]

Also back from the Capital-Otterbein game:

I'm bad luck for Otterbein concerning their ability to close out basketball games.  I've seen them twice this year, and each time they've given up late leads and gone to OT.

I arrived slightly late for tonight's game, which means I missed Capital's only lead, 3-2.  As johnworms notes, Otterbein maintained control of the game through almost the entire contest, faltering only at the beginning for the second half (which Capital started on a 11-5 run to erase a 6 point halftime deficit) and at the end of the second half, where they gave up a 7 point lead in the last 2 minutes.

Quintin Mitchell is #40 for Capital.  He's definitely their most agile and athletic low post man.  He put in an excellent game: 14 pts, team-high 6 boards.  He was more effective than Cap's starter, Ben Gunn, both offensively and defensively.

His name has come up above in MVP discussions, so I feel I should comment on Otterbein's Tyler Ousley.  First, Otterbein's game plan hinges on his work in the post.  When they're running their offense, he definitely seemed to be option #1, everytime.  He reminds me of Dane Borchers for Witt- lanky, good touch at the hoop, excellent positioning around the basket.  I think his positioning is what accounts for his ability to consistenly draw fouls.  Coming into tonight's game he averaged 20.1ppg with 7.5 of those from the foul line.  He averages 10 foul shot attempts per game.  Tonight he scored 12 points from the floor, and was 11-13 from the line.  To understand just how often he gets touches offensively, and how often those touches end up at the foul line, he has shot 254 foul shots this season.  Otterbein's #2 man for FTAs?  Guard Ross Banaszak has 109.

Ousley was everywhere in tonight's game though.  6-10 FG, 11-13 FT, 23 pts, 18 rebounds (6 offensive), 7 assists, 5 blocks, and 1 steal for good measure.  He doesn't look like he'll dominate you, but he is remarkable fundamental around the basket and gets his hand on everything.

However, the most impressive offensive player on the floor tonight was Capital's Nate Stahl.  He's probably the best shooter I've seen this year.  Better than Badenhop; probably better even than Wooster's Devin Fulk.  He scored his game-high 26 tonight on 6-8 3 point shooting.  The rest of Capital shot 1-10 from behind the arc.  He ends the regular season 68-129 (52.7%) from 3.  I've seen him give two very impressive performances, but even on an "on" night, he wasn't able to carry his team to victory.

A few moments of almost ugliness in this game; thankfully, nothing really got out of hand.  I think Capital can feel (slightly) that they were on the short end of the officiating stick tonight.  The foul disparity (32 vs. 19) changed the complexion of the game and hindered any attempts at a comeback by Capital, since Otterbein spent most of the game in the bonus- and the last 9 minutes of the second half in the double bonus.  Capital only shot 10 FTs, Otterbein made 23.  However, before someone rants back at me, note that I'm trying to just show how the foul disparity affected the flow/tempo of the game, and I'm not saying that Capital got hosed.  The number of fouls just made Capital's attempt to come back more difficult, as players got into foul trouble and Otterbein racked up the free throws.

[pennstghs]

what was the attendance haha-i think we need a strong performance from the OAC champ to have a chance at hosting otherwise its going to be another trip to Witt or Wooster in the first round of the tourney again......not that they have had bad performances likewise.

[onefan]

I don't see the OAC tournament champ hosting the first game unless ONU wins it and some credit is given to them for their sweep of Wtt and Wooster during the season. But,Witt and Wooster are both ranked higher in the polls so I guess that won't make any difference either. What criteria is used for the location?

[kiltedbryan]

what was the attendance haha

It was listed at 2923.  Probably a pretty good estimate.

[kiltedbryan]

I don't see the OAC tournament champ hosting the first game unless ONU wins it and some credit is given to them for their sweep of Wtt and Wooster during the season. But,Witt and Wooster are both ranked higher in the polls so I guess that won't make any difference either. What criteria is used for the location?

Onefan,

I'm assuming that by "the polls" you mean the d3hoops Top 25 poll and the regional rankings.  Only the regional rankings matter in regards to selection and seeding of teams for the NCAA tournament.  Hosting is a different matter entirely, as it brings into play the regional and geographic element.

From the D-III Handbook:

Pairings and Site Selection
Once automatic qualifiers are identified and the Pools B and C teams are selected, the
following guidelines should be followed:
• Teams will be grouped in clusters according to natural geographic proximity.  Teams
will then be paired according to geographic proximity.  A team may be moved to
numerically balance the bracket if geographic proximity is maintained.  Teams should
be paired and eligible sites should be selected according to geographic proximity
(within 500 miles).
• Teams may be seeded on a regional basis using the regional selection criteria. 
However, geographic proximity takes precedence over seeding.
• Teams from the same conference do not have to play one another in the first round as
long as geographic proximity is maintained.
• The highest-seeded team that meets all selection criteria (and after a review of the
submitted host materials) will be selected as the host institution, provided geographic
proximity is maintained.
It is the intent of the committee to create competition brackets with a maximum of
eight teams competing in each bracket. Flights will be kept to a minimum.  The higher-
seeded team at the sectional sites will have the opportunity to select which game time
it prefers.
The higher-seeded team will be listed at the top of the competition bracket.  The top
team on the bracket is the designated home team and will wear the light (white) colored
jersey.  The higher-seeded team will sit on the bench to the right of the scorer's table
when facing the field.
Note: Media and/or coaches polls are not factors in the selection process.

[David Collinge]

To expand on scotsbrod's answer, there are a total of 21 teams that will host first- and second-round games.  Five teams will receive byes and host second-round games a week from Saturday; it is unlikely that any OAC team will be among them.  Five other teams will host first-round games a week from Thursday, with the winners traveling to play the bye teams.  Whether the OAC has any of these depends on where the byes are.  Last year, they were far away (Va. Wesleyan, Amherst, St. John Fisher, Lawrence, and Puget Sound), so my guess would be that the OAC isn't involved here either.

The other 44 teams will be grouped into 11 four-team regionals, played next Friday and Saturday.  The OAC champion (especially if it is JCU) has a reasonably good chance to be one of these eleven teams, but that depends in large part on who else from our general area is in the tournament, and what happens in the NCAC.  First on the list is Lake Erie, whose gym is inadequate to host a sectional but could be selected to host a regional, provided that they win the AMCC tournament.  If LEC hosts, it is likely that the OAC winner would go there, especially if it is JCU or B-WC.  Wooster also appears to have better hosting credentials than any OAC team, if they manage to win the NCAC tournament.  That would probably shut out the OAC from any possible hosting opportunities.

But if Lake Erie either loses or has their gym declared inadequate, and if Wooster loses (especially if it's not to Wittenberg), then the OAC champ could have a fairly good shot at hosting a regional--provided, of course, that it's not someone like Muskingum or Heidelberg.

[sac]

I like Woosters chances at hosting the first weekend if they win, I think LEC probably deserves a shot to host but the gym is just to small to justify it.

[Toph]

Go Muskies!  I can't make the trip to Capital this weekend!  I need a home semis and finals.