MBB: Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[bulk19]

John Gleich asks about the conference race as we head down the stretch: Lots of information there... but not a lot of obvious conclusions. Thoughts?

I'm going to say UWL wins the conference. Since they last did so when I was but a wee bitty bit bulk (who grew up but three blocks from Mitchell Hall), that would be awesome.

But with the way this crazy season has gone, I would not be surprised if a lower seed in the conference tournament wins it, plus the automatic NCAA bid, while UWL, and the rest of the WIAC, get shut out of a second berth.

UWSP and UWW have been generally been the conference measuring stick over the last decade or so, but both are just happening to have down years this season. Thus, it's hard for me to measure how good the teams in front of them, like UWL and UWEC, might be. I think it would be great, and neat, to find out if the Eagles and/or Blugolds could get a shot in the NCAA tourney...

[bulk19]

John Gleich asks:
Anybody have any idea when the last time was a conference team hit 100 pts in a conference game?

Maybe it has happened more often than it seems... but it feels rare.

Here's something to chew on a for a while. Check these WIAC team records, from the WIAC site stats:

HIGHEST SCORING AVERAGE
1) 97.4 -- Platteville, 1990-91
2) 94.3 -- Whitewater, 1988-89
3) 90.3 -- Oshkosh, 1967-68
4) 89.7 -- Whitewater, 1967-68
5) 89.6 -- Stout, 1968-69
6) 89.5 -- Whitewater, 1987-88
7) 87.5 -- Eau Claire, 1971-72
8) 86.0 -- Stevens Point, 1967-68
9) 85.9 -- Whitewater, 1993-94
10) 85.6 -- Eau Claire, 1970-71

When was the three point play adopted? Mid-1980s?

[chmarx]

I think the key this season is the purple ones having an off year.  I certainly didn't foresee Lax being in the driver's seat late in the season.

[badgerwarhawk]

Nobody did chmarx

[Hoops Junkie]

Here in my opinion is the difference between this year and the past several.  There is no dominant team or teams.  That has recently been the case with whitewater and Point.  All of the teams are pretty evenly matched and even though Stout has yet to crack the win column they have played most teams tough. 

But lets chew on this and i mean no offense to Superior but lets put them back in the conversation.  Give the top two teams each another 2 wins and take away two tough non-conference games off their schedule and everyones record looks a bit better.  UWL is 11-2 and 17-5 with 2 w's against Superior and take out the two losses in Iowa.  UWL would have a legit shot at 20 wins if they still had superior on the schedule. 

For the top teams that is a relevant point.  Superior won 3 games last year including a sweep of Stout and a win at Eau Claire.  That means in theory that they would have won 3 or 4 league games this year.  They already lost to Point and River Falls and beat Stout.  So in theory they sweep stout and sneak one game somewhere else.  That gives everyone 2 more wins. 

So i cant remember who said it but maybe it really was Superior holding it all together. 

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

On the women's side, we have said that the departure of Superior made both the UMAC and the WIAC better conferences.

Yes, on the men's side it opened up two more non-conference games which it seems everyone really tried to load up with tough competition... maybe back off and go for middle-teams in the future. North Central has shown that really tough non-conference play isn't always the best route to take. However, I wouldn't assume that just because they are gone that the top teams would automatically have two more wins. I think the conference has shown, and even Superior out of conference, that anyone can beat anyone this season. You probably still have a very tough race in the WIAC and no clear front-runner this season.

[Greek Tragedy]

Unfortunately, the WIAC has virtually no shot at a Pool C. Even if La Crosse runs the table and loses in the conference tourney final, that puts them at 18-8 (the Viterbo win basically doesn't even count). Of the eight regionally ranked opponents, three come from the CCIW, two from the NACC and two from the MWC and then UAA rep Chicago. That would mean 5 Pool Cs have to come from our region for La Crosse to have a shot, and this is the assumption La Crosse is #9. My fear is that the WIAC rep won't even make it out of the 1st weekend. If it's not the Pointers, I still want the conference to represent well.

[AppletonRocks]

When was the last time the LaCrosse Indians had a shot to win the WIAC 

[cubs]

When was the last time the LaCrosse Indians had a shot to win the WIAC 

Around the same time LU last made the MWC Tournament? 

[John Gleich]

Point 74 EC 63
WW 83 Stout 70
RF 96 Pville 88
Osh 62 LaX 60

Doing this from my phone so it won't be formatted...

SCHOOL   WIAC   OVERALL
UW-La Crosse   9-3   15-8
UW-Oshkosh   8-4   15-8
UW-River Falls   8-4   14-9
UW-Eau Claire   7-5   14-9
UW-Whitewater   6-6   15-8
UW-Stevens Point   6-6   13-10
UW-Platteville   4-8   10-13
UW-Stout   0-12   4-18

[AppletonRocks]

When was the last time the LaCrosse Indians had a shot to win the WIAC 

Around the same time LU last made the MWC Tournament? 

Cubs=Tool 

[cubs]

When was the last time the LaCrosse Indians had a shot to win the WIAC 

Around the same time LU last made the MWC Tournament? 

Cubs=Tool 

For a guy that makes asinine posts on a regular basis, you really need to have some thicker skin....  I guess maybe the truth hurts sometimes though? 

LU last made the MWC Tournament in 2008-09 and La Crosse was last in contention to win the WIAC in 2006-07 when they finished in a 2nd place tie with Oshkosh behind Stevens Point.  (La Crosse would also lose in the WIAC Tournament Championship to Stevens Point.) 

La Crosse also finished just a game out of first in 2001-02 when they went 10-6 in WIAC play, although that was only good enough for 4th place.  Oshkosh, Whitewater and Stevens Point all finished tied for the regular season championship that season at 11-5.

[badgerwarhawk]

Stout: 70
WARHAWKS: 83

The WARHAWKS opened the game with a 14-0 run on baskets by Cole VanSchyndel, Trinson White and Marquis Turner, three pointers by White and Haki Stampley and a pair of free throws by Nate Hensel before Hank Kujak got the Blue Devils on the board with a three pointer six and half minutes into the game.  The Blue Devils would counter the WARHAWKS run with a 22-11 run of their own over the next six minutes to pull within three points, 25-22.  However the WARHAWKS responded with another run of 19-5 over the last six and half minutes of the half to hold a comfortable seventeen point lead 44-27 at halftime.  Haki Stampley's 17 points paired with Trinson White's 9 points and 7 points from both Cole VanSchyndel and Marquis Turner paced the WARHAWKS who shot 47% from the floor including 6 of 12 from beyond the arc.  Stampley and White each pulled down 6 rebounds for the WARHAWKS who out rebounded the Blue Devils 24-16.  The Blue Devils, who were held to 33% shooting were led by John Keefe's 10 points and John Lahti's 4 rebounds.   The WARHAWKS lead was never less than twelve points and reached a high of eighteen  in the second half. 

WARHWKS
Stampley: 24 points, 8 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 blocks, 1 steal
White: 18 points, 10 rebounds (fifth double/double), 3 assists
VanSchyndel: 16 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal
Turner: 7 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals
Mitchell Pfeifer: 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal
TEAM: 22-30 free throws, 3 turnovers, 13-3 points off of turnovers, 19-10 second chance points,

Blue Devils:
John Keefe: 16 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal
Jalen Patterson: 12 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist
Hank Kujak: 11 points, 4 rebounds
Issac Elliott: 11 points, 3 rebounds
John Lahti: 9 points, 5 rebounds, 1 block
TEAM: 6 players with at least 4 rebounds, 58% shooting (2nd half), 20-13 bench points

[John Gleich]

When was the last time the LaCrosse Indians had a shot to win the WIAC 

Around the same time LU last made the MWC Tournament? 

Cubs=Tool 

For a guy that makes asinine posts on a regular basis, you really need to have some thicker skin....  I guess maybe the truth hurts sometimes though? 

LU last made the MWC Tournament in 2008-09 and La Crosse was last in contention to win the WIAC in 2006-07 when they finished in a 2nd place tie with Oshkosh behind Stevens Point.  (La Crosse would also lose in the WIAC Tournament Championship to Stevens Point.) 

La Crosse also finished just a game out of first in 2001-02 when they went 10-6 in WIAC play, although that was only good enough for 4th place.  Oshkosh, Whitewater and Stevens Point all finished tied for the regular season championship that season at 11-5.

And, if I recall correctly, the 01-02 Eagles lost their last 2 WIAC games (and maybe 3/4?).

[cubs]

When was the last time the LaCrosse Indians had a shot to win the WIAC 

Around the same time LU last made the MWC Tournament? 

Cubs=Tool 

For a guy that makes asinine posts on a regular basis, you really need to have some thicker skin....  I guess maybe the truth hurts sometimes though? 

LU last made the MWC Tournament in 2008-09 and La Crosse was last in contention to win the WIAC in 2006-07 when they finished in a 2nd place tie with Oshkosh behind Stevens Point.  (La Crosse would also lose in the WIAC Tournament Championship to Stevens Point.) 

La Crosse also finished just a game out of first in 2001-02 when they went 10-6 in WIAC play, although that was only good enough for 4th place.  Oshkosh, Whitewater and Stevens Point all finished tied for the regular season championship that season at 11-5.

And, if I recall correctly, the 01-02 Eagles lost their last 2 WIAC games (and maybe 3/4?).

Lost their last two regular season games to Oshkosh and Whitewater, and then also lost their WIAC Tournament opener to River Falls....