MBB: Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[Greek Tragedy]

Hey UWSPBandit!

I called two numbers I have for you but neither work. Send me a PM with a working number please. Thanks!

[Greek Tragedy]

Guess I have to match Hoops_n_golf! 

Stout (0-0) at La Crosse (0-1)
La Crosse hosts their 2nd conference home game when they welcome the Blue Devils.  It was a tough loss for the Eagles as Cale Zuiker shot 4-14 in just 18 minutes of playing time. Skylar Cameron scored only 7 points as well. Not good production from your Big 2. Stout comes in feeling good after topping Bethany Lutheran 90-80. Jarvis Ragland went for 25 and 15, while John Keefe scored 30, off the bench. No one will ever mistaken Stout's defense to Platteville's, so I think Zuiker and Cameron could come close to matching their team's 56 points from Wednesday. Ragland will get his points but no one else has been consistent enough to show they can contribute on a regular basis for Stout. I see the Eagles in a blowout (by 18?)

Superior (0-1) at Stevens Point (1-0)
Point welcomes Superior into town,  another team they've had success against on a regular basis. It's good to know if Ritchay can't score (6 points vs EC), others are capable of stepping up. Pelkofer, Ryf, Richard and even McGann have shown they can score. Like Point,  Superior also has a handful of guys that can put the ball in the bucket.  Everything does start and end with Brooks,  though Lindblom,  Schradle and new boy Ketz score as well. With that being said,  I still see the Yellowjackets struggling to score against a team that gave up just 50 to Eau Claire. Point in another double-digit win (15?)

River Falls (1-0) at Eau Claire (0-1)
After a nice win in Canada,  the Falcons try to go 2-0 on the road at Zorn. Jon Christensen absolutely went off against Superior and look for more of the same Saturday.  Grant Erickson also had a very good game and those two will be key to the Falcons' success this year. But like Zuiker and Cameron in La Crosse,  it's gonna take more than two players to have sustained success in the WIAC. The Bluegolds roller coaster season continues at home and if things hold to form, they should win since they've been alternating wins and losses. With the likes of Mau and Hjelter,  in addition to Ty Ketz,  you'd think they would be able to score more than 50 in Point. They'll score more than that this weekend, but River Falls will go into their first home conference game next week 2-0. Falcons by 13.

Platteville (1-0) at Whitewater (1-0)
Fresh off their nailbiter in La Crosse,  the Pioneers head east to challenge the Warhawks.  I still think Platteville is the one team that can challenge Whitewater this year. Stocki and Johnson will have to lead the way and either of those two will lead the team in scoring on most nights. But Manning and even Vaassen will have to do the dirty work in the middle. I'm not sure anyone will be able to stop, let alone slow down Whitewater.  With the best duo in the league in KJ Evans and Quardell Young (in the early going, maybe Christensen and Erickson? ), there isn't much stopping them, especially since they are getting quality contributions from Patten and Moananu (12 and 13 apiece and 6 rebounds each). Platteville won't win in Whitewater, especially after Wednesday,  but they'll keep it close. The hosts by single digits.

[fredfalcon]

RF 65, EC 59. Erickson had 22, 17 in second half. Nobody else in double figures for RF.

[badgerwarhawk]

WARHAWKS: 76
Platteville: 60

The two teams were tied twice in the opening minutes when KJ Evans hit a jumper putting the WARHAWKS ahead 6-4 and establishing a lead that would not be surrendered.  The lead reached double digits multiple times and a high of sixteen before the half ended with the WARHAWKS leading 39-28.  Evans and Xzavier Moananu each pulled down 7 rebounds as the WARHAWKS were able to control the boards 26-10 which led to a 22-10 and 13-0 scoring advantage in the paint and on second chances.  Evans led all scorers with 12 points and Quardell Young  and Ron Patton each had 9 points.  In the first eight and half minutes of the second half the lead grew to twenty.  Platteville would cut it to eleven twice but got no closer before it ended. 

The WARHAWKS play Augustana Wednesday night in Rock Island.  That's going be a real challenge. 

KJ Evans: 21 points, 10 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block and steal.
Xzavier Monanu: 14 points, 12 rebounds, 1 steal, 19 minutes.
Quardell Young: 12 points, 4 assists, 5 steals  ....  Young reached 1,000 career points
Cody Odegaard and Ron Patton: 11 points apiece

Rebounds: 44-27 WW 

[Greek Tragedy]

Hjelter didn't play on Saturday.  Anyone have the inside scoop why?

[Greek Tragedy]

The WARHAWKS play Augustana Wednesday night in Rock Island.  That's going be a real challenge. 

Are you sure? I heard Augustana switched the game and you'll be playing Illinois Institute of Technology instead, it will still be in Rock Island though.     

[Hoops_n_Golf]

You also mentioned that the River Falls at Eau Claire is the best matchup on paper, yet you have them winning by the most. Interesting.

My point, albeit poorly made, was that on paper it would be a good game, but I thought River Falls was better than they represented heretofore. And I guessed right! Thanks for calling me out, I need it!!!

[Hoops_n_Golf]

Here is my latest round of conference predictions!!!

Stevens Point at Stout - I am fully confident that the Blue Devils will win a couple they shouldn't, but I am confident this isn't the one. If it was later in the year, perhaps. I think Stout will match up fairly well with the Pointers, as neither has much size to speak of. But Point shoots too well, and that will be the difference. Look for a double digit lead around halftime, and the Pointers with a 15 point win on the road.
La Crosse at River Falls - I like the Falcons, I believe I've made that clear! This will be a great game, both on paper and in the gym  . I think Christensen has a big night as does Goodwin inside. I'm thinking a late run does the Eagles in, River by 12.
Superior at Eau Claire - This is a tough one for me to decide. I think Superior has some potential, but they've been very inconsistent so far this season. Eau Claire is similar, so it is a toss up. In the end, I think that Eau Claire is defensively better than Superior, and at home, that is enough for an 8 point win for the Bluegolds.
Oshkosh at Platteville - These are the two teams I feel I know the least about. I am going to go with pedigree on this one and take Platteville at home by 10. Honestly, I can't qualify that with a rationale.

[Greek Tragedy]

A work in progress...

Saturday's games

Stout 47 at La Crosse 72

Despite having a quick 5-0 lead, Stout's night went downhill from there. They were down 10 with 6 to play in the 1st half and the hosts were leading 44-23 at the break. It was pretty much even-Steven from there as La Crosse pushed it to 25 at one point. It was some pretty ugly ball at the end. The Eagles were leading 70-47 with just over 4 minutes to play and the only and last score made was with 33 seconds left. Ragland lead the visitors with 13 on just 3-10 shooting. He coughed it up 4 times as the Blue Devils committed 18 turnovers. Reggie Kujak grabbed 8 rebounds, while Hank Kujak lead Stout with 3 steals. Trent Schmidt and Skylar Cameron each scored 15 in limited minutes, while Zuiker was held to 5 points. Jared Staege lead the hosts with 10 rebounds.

Superior 54 at Stevens Point 77

Superior kept it close for most of the 1st half until Point pulled away for the easy win. The Yellowjackets were within reach for most of the half. The host turned the screws and built their lead to 13 with 3 minutes to go, but Superior cut it to 9 at 36-27 at halftime.  That's basically as close as they would get as the Pointers stretched their lead immediately and lead by as many as 28. Brian Lindblom lead 4 players in double figures for Superior with 15 and 5. Schradle,  Ketz and Brooks each scored 10. Point had 5 players in double-figures,  lead by Richard's 16 and 4 steals. McGann came ofd the bench and scored 15, while Ryf had 14 pts, 4 rebounds and 4 assists. Pelkofer and Ritchay had 12 and 10, and each had 3 steals and 3 assists.

River Falls 65 at Eau Claire 59

In the closest game of the night, Eau Claire went toe to toe with the Falcons but ended up on the short end. It was still a 1-point game with just under two minutes to play, but Grant Erickson hit a big three and River Falls made 5 of 6 free throws to seal the deal. Erickson hit 13-19 free throws on his way to 22, while Christensen was held to 4 points, but contributed 9 rebounds. Connor Goodwin was the only other Falcon in double-figures with 11. The Falcons also showed off their bench depth as 4 players played 12 or more minutes while all of them scored points.

Platteville 60 at Whitewater 76

Platteville ended up just not having enough firepower to keep up with Whitewater. The Pioneers battled and kept it close for about 8 minutes until the Warhawks built a double-digit lead. It looked like the hosts were going to blowout the visitors when they went up 16 at 31-15, but Platteville made a little run, cutting it seven in about 2 1/2 minutes before they went into the locker room down 11. Platteville failed to get their deficit down to single digits the whole second half. KJ Evans lead the way with 21 and 10. Xzavier Moananu had another great game off the bench, scoring 14 points and grabbing 12 boards. Young, Odegaard and Patten also scored double digits. Boston Johnson lead Platteville with 19, while Jake Manning had a solid 10 and 12. Trevor Wittwer was the only othe Pioneer in double figures.

[Greek Tragedy]

http://www.d3hoops.com/top25/index

Whitewater back to #1

Stevens Point up two spots to #21

[Greek Tragedy]

Stevens Point (2-0) at Stout (0-1)
Obviously I've never to been to a Stout game that hasn't involved Stevens Point, but what I can tell you is that Point must bring out the best in Stout. Even when the hosts aren't that good, they seem to give the Pointers headaches. Point won by just one last year and needed overtime the year before to win by 2. I can see Point struggling to a single-digit win tomorrow night.

La Crosse (1-1) at River Falls (2-0)
It's getting full on the Falcons' bandwagon after wins at Superior and at Eau Claire. La Crosse comes in after taking out their frustrations on Stout, so it won't be a cakewalk for the home side. The Eagles have the Zuiker/Cameron threat while River Falls counters with Christensen and Erickson. If we cancel them out, it'll be down to the likes of Schmidt, Staege and Finco vs. Goodwin, Deppe and CJ Lewis. I'm taking the former in another single digit win for the visitors.

Superior (0-2) at Eau Claire (0-2)
Eau Claire lost to Point by 14 while Superior lost by 23 to the same Pointers. I'm not sure what happened to Eric Hjelter, but that could be a key factor in this game. With that said, even without Hjelter, Eau Claire nearly pulled out the victory over visiting River Falls. If Hjelter fails to play again, Tyson Kalien is more than capable of helping out (22 points on Saturday). Eau Claire with about a 13-point win.

Oshkosh (0-1) at Platteville(1-1)
Oshkosh comes off an "impressive" win against winless Bethany Lutheran, but Platteville is licking their wounds from their Whitewater beatdown. I'm going to feel sorry for Oshkosh like I did for Stout when they had to play La Crosse after their narrow loss to Platteville.  Got all that? I don't see Oshkosh putting up much of a fight with the Pioneers out for blood. Look for Stocki, Manning and Boston Johnson to have their way in a rout.

[Greek Tragedy]

Any CCIWers wanna give us WIACers a scouting report on Augustana?

[augie77]

Any CCIWers wanna give us WIACers a scouting report on Augustana?

Small, slow and unskilled.  Warhawks don't need to bring their A-game.   

[Titan Q]

Any CCIWers wanna give us WIACers a scouting report on Augustana?

A quick version...

* Grey Giovanine's Augustana teams play a lot like Bo Ryan's Wisconsin teams.  The Vikings are always big, physical, and are known for playing great defense and rebounding well.  They play blue collar, hard-nosed basketball.  Having enough offense is usually the question.

* This team is more dangerous than some past Augie teams in my opinion because they have a quick little 5-9 PG, Hunter Hill (12.6 ppg, 2.0 rpg, 3.0 apg), who can do a lot of damange offensively.  Hill is really quick off the dribble, and can shoot the heck out of it from all over.  Seems to me Augie has usually been one good perimeter scorer away from being great...and now they have that piece.

* Augie's biggest mismatch is 6-6 wing Tayvian Johnson (9.7 ppg, 4.1 rpg), who is crazy long and athletic.  Most D3 teams will struggle to deal with Johnson.  During the Bradley/Augie radio broadcast, the veteran Bradley radio crew stated many times that the DI Braves could use Johnson.  He looks like a D1 player on the floor.

* The Vikings have really strong starting posts in 5-man Nic Hoepfner (13.0 ppg, 5.0 rpg, .707 FG) and 4-man Ben Ryan (8.9 ppg, 6.4 ppg, .569 FG).  Neither guy is really a threat to step out and shoot a 3, both are very good on the blocks, back to the basket.  In today's D3/college basketball landscape, it's actually rare to have 2 guys this good with pure low post skills.

* And Augie is deep - they play 10 guys or so and the bench guys are all solid.  Not a lot of drop off at most spots.  Worth noting that the Vikings recently lost one of their top reserves to injury for the season - 6-8/261 Kevin Schlitter.  But I think they have other bench players ready to fill that void pretty well.


If UWW can handle Augie's pressure defense and not turn it over, the Warhawks have a great chance to win.  Rebounding is also key - Augie can just crush teams on the boards (+9 per game coming in).  That is a stat to watch.

[Greek Tragedy]

Thanks Bob!