MBB: Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[WLCALUM83]

Noticed Hicklin of Stevens Point was 7-10 from 3-pt range tonight vs. Edgewood. Anyone on WIAC's end think that was unexpected?

(This poster figured the Pointers would get their revenge tonight at home anyway. Boy, did they ever!)

[Greek Tragedy]

I think anyone going 7 for 10 from 3-pt. land can be surprising, even Rortvedt.  I thought Hicklin doesn't usually take that many 3s.  Last year, he was 4th on the team in 3s behind Rortvedt, Bauer, Krull and El-Amin.  He was 22-71 for just 31%, while the first three all shot over 100 3s. 

Looking at this year's stats, I was actually surprised to see how many he has shot.  He's 18-33 through 8 games (Edgewood game included) behind Rortvedt's 56 attempts, with Krull and El-Amin having 31 each.  So, prior to the game, I guess Hicklin was 11-23.

[Mr. Downtown]

It was nice to meet the Stout gang this past weekend. Thanks for stopping by at the press box Stoutguy, Bluedevil Bob, and Rico21.

Hicklin had a big game against Oshkosh as well. So I have seen him play very well. What's surprising to me is that he can score 20 points in one game, and then score 4 in the next.

Kinda reminds me of Andy Jahnke, although Jahnke was consistent, he was a much better offensive player outisde the three point line.

Though, when you have 5 players that can score at anytime on the floor, perhaps the Pointers don't need Hicklin to score 20 every night.

[John Gleich]

Hicks was just ON tonight, and Point did a great job of getting the ball to the hot hand. 

One of the things I really appreciate about Hicklin is that he can definately score, but he is unselfish enough (as is everyone on this Point team) to not HAVE to take his 15 shots per game, even if they're not falling. 

Point came away with 12 steals, 16 assists to just 8 TO's and they outrebounded Edgewood 37-26, including 17 (!?!) offensive rebounds. 

The funny thing is, that even though Point won the game by 22, I didn't think that, aside from Hicklin, they were particularly crisp.  Many of the guys seemed tired on their shots, and I think it showed in their shooting percentage.  Point ran some pretty good offense tonight and seemed to be getting open shots, but they just weren't necessarily knocking them down.  Point also (AGAIN) missed some high percentage shots, missing some layups (albiet not uncontested) especially in the first half. 

In the second half right before the the starters got pulled with about 7 mins to go, Drew Jackson made about as athletic a play as I think you'll see on the D-3 level.  He managed to poke away the ball on defense, he ran it down, stumbled right outside his offensive top of the key, but regained his balance and exploded for a nice two-handed dunk. 

Drew definately has some hops.  He's been one of Point's best offensive rebounding threats, usually sweeping in from the perimeter and outjumping the bigs in the trenches.  He has SO many upsides, I think the future of Point really lies on his, as well as Beamish's shoulders.  Point is going to get consistent play from the likes of Krull, Hicklin, El-Amin, and Rortvedt, and teams are going to match up against each of these guys with their best four defenders, because these are the biggest scoring threats, but when you have a pair of slashers like Beamish and Jackson, it going to put you over the top.  Guys like these are the ones who really can step up and make plays, but also take advantage of match-ups that will almost always be in their favor and they can put Point over the top.

I kind of equate these guys with Kyle Grusczynski during the championship years.  Often times, it was Bennett and Kalsow making the steady plays that you knew they were going to make, but it was KG making the EXTRA play that brought Point over the top.  Many times this isn't something that you can quantify, but to have this type of player in not one but two guys, this really makes Point dangerous.


Oh, and a few thoughts about the LaX game from Saturday... Krull redeemed himself again after not playing as well against some of the better big guys and he really outplayed Werner.  That's not to say that JW played poorly, but Jon just neutralized him for the most part and it was Krull making the plays that his team needed for the victory, not Werner.

And I was very, very impressed with Ask.  He was much better than I had remembered.  It seemed like he was where he needed to be whenever he needed to be there, and it seemed like he couldn't miss.  .... now, he did, and that enabled Point to pull out the victory, but it seemed that whenever Point had the opportunity to slip a bit, it was Ask making the strike to push La Crosse ahead.  Coach Koelbl really has the Eagles playing very well right now.

... One other comment, and then I'm gonna hit the hay.  I felt that Edgewood ran their form of motion really well.  They seemed to be getting lots of open shots, they just couldn't knock them down.  Though Point was winning the game by about 15 at the time, I felt that, if they were playing a more talented team, then they could have been in trouble.


Ok, one last comment, I swear.  I think that, even though Point doesn't seem to have much of an inside presence in the form of a true post, they really DO cause defensive struggles for teams with that true post because all 5 starters can hit the three, and the first two guys off the bench, Moses and Jackson can too.  So when you've got 5 guys on the floor who are threats to hit from deep, and you've got a team that spreads the floor and passes well (like Point) then you're going to give up open shots to a good shooting team or passing/driving lanes to guys who can pass well or take it all the dribble.

After Wednesday's game at Viterbo, Point plays two straight games against D-II foes on the road.  Not knowing a ton about these teams will make it hard to figure out what Point is up against, but I think Point's got a good shot against these teams.  Regis is 5-3, but two of their wins are against Johnson and Wales Denver, and NAIA team who is just 1-8, and they only won by 8.  They also beat D-3 Colorado College, also 1-8, by 17.  NMU is 3-5, with a win over St. Norberts by 16, and their other two wins coming against Minnesota Duluth and Saginaw Valley.  Actually, taking a look at this, Regis has beaten UMD as well, 67-61, and UMD is 6-3... Hmm...

Ok, bedtime.

[chmarx]

I'm jealous, Old School.  San Francisco is one of my favorite cities.

[Greek Tragedy]

I'm jealous, Old School.  San Francisco is one of my favorite cities.

San Fran was awesome. 

It's been argued that Stevens Point has been one of the most unselfish teams with it's great passing, team defense and all-around play.  With that said, it's ironic that a Pointer has just picked up the 3rd of four WIAC Player of the Week honors.  Congrats this week to Bryan Beamish for his heroic buzzer beater against Whitewater.  He joins Jon Krull and Pete Rortvedt.  Stevens Point had no Player of the Week honors last year.

Player of the Week honors

[Greek Tragedy]

Any reason why two WIAC games are playing on a Tuesday the week after New Year's, while the other two are played on the traditional Wednesday?  Just curious.

[fredfalcon]

RF   picked up its third win, 96-74, over a decent Bethany Lutheran team tonite. With only a slim 35-31 lead at half, the Falcons shot 62% second half and 22/25 throws for the game to win going away. Jontae Koonkaew with 9 was the only starter to not finish in double figures. Davis with 19 second half points finished with 21, Robertson with 15, Thompson with 13, Kelly with 11. (All stats are unofficial.)

It was probably RF's best game this season, although I haven't seen them all.

[fredfalcon]

Two stats I missed:  Robertson got 10 rbds, and therefore has back to back double/doubles (enuf 4 player of the week?), and the Falcons hit 10/19 threes.

[EagleAlum]

Any reason why two WIAC games are playing on a Tuesday the week after New Year's, while the other two are played on the traditional Wednesday?  Just curious.

I think this is why. The matchups are the same matchups of the final weekend of the year. Because the next meetings fall on a weekend, those will be played as double-headers with the women. Therefore on this week back the men's and women's teams need to play at the same location. Example- LaX and Stout finish the year at Stout, therefore in this early January meeting both the men's and women's games have to be at La Crosse. Since it's a mid-week game, the league doesn't require a doubleheader (even though it seems like they could because school won't be in session). So it's up to the schools to decide if they want to play a doubleheader which LaX-Stout/Point-Superior apparently decided to do ... or play the men on Tuesday and the women on Wednesday, as the rest decided.

Otherwise with the rest of the schedule you are either playing two doubleheaders against a school or two single-game weeknights.

[BDB]

Nice to meet Mr. Downtown and titansrus last weekend. 

I have met about 20 D3Football/Hoops.com posters now and it's always fun.

Anyone making the trek to Johnson Fieldhouse this winter let me know.

I'll drag Rico21 and stoutguy along to meet you. 

[UWPSUPERFAN77]

Dear Blue Devil BOB: I will take you up on this if I come up. Thank You for your kindness. Guys like you keep this a good site and not a knucklehead site like some of them. Blessings to all WIAC fans! PS email when any of you are in Platteville as well!

[buf]

Lax just loses in OT at Carleton after leading almost the entire game.  21 turnovers for UWL.

Can somebody besides Point win a big non-conference game?

[cubs]

Lax just loses in OT at Carleton after leading almost the entire game.  21 turnovers for UWL.

Can somebody besides Point win a big non-conference game?

Doesn't appear so as Stout drops one to Northern Michigan 95-71 tonight.  Point however beat up on Viterbo 75-49 to help the WIAC avoid being shut-out tonight.

I'm curious to see how UWO does over the next week as they have three games in five days as they host St. Nobert (Saturday,) Lawrence (Monday,) and Carroll (Wednesday.)  I would hope they could go 3-0 but they have lost to Lawrence in three straight seasons, so it will be tough.

[frodotwo]

Interesting that Stout gets blown out by 24 but St. Norbert's by only 6 up in Marquette. SNC only lost to Elmhurst by 2 (Same team Oshkosh lost to by 3, albeit on the road) Could be a very tough week for Oshkosh. Kind of like the Pointers first few games against ranked teams, it looks like any of these could beat the Titans. What's going on with Stout???