MBB: Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[mythicalbird]

Ryan Shea drops 31 as EC beats Finlandia 78-76 up in the Arctic Circle today.

[BuckyC]

Point beats Ripon 71-67 after being down at half 33-28. The Pointers bench was the difference.....outscoring Ripon's bench 32-8.

[Greek Tragedy]

Point 71, Ripon 67 Game Story with Boxscore link

Well, it wasn't pretty, but at least we got a win at Ripon.  Point, IMO, played one of thee worst halves I've seen in the last five years or so!  It was horrible and to hear they only coughed the ball up 6 times in the first half was shocking.  I thought for sure they had 10 TOs in the first 20 minutes. 

Point looked in command with a 26-19 lead and then the wheels fell off and Ripon went into the break with a 33-28 lead.  The coach's son, Scott Gillespie was unstoppable (11-19 FGs) for 31.  I don't understand why Point had such a hard time getting help defense on him.  Time and time again SG would go around the high screen and hit the midrange jumper. 

Point came out and let the deficit get to 11 before they went on a 9-0 and then it was back and forth from there.  Matt Moses came up big with clutch free throws and some great rebounds, some on the offensive end.  Ross Rortvedt also hit some big time shots with the clock shot running down and the game on the line.  Louis "The Hurt" Hurd came in and did a good job on #44 Esters as Jerome SWATachek had a hard time keeping up with his quickness. 

It wasn't what I expected by any means, but it was a great character builder for the team to come in and get a win, even though Ripon was only 1-4.  A great traveling crowd of Pointer fans made the trip and that was real nice to see.

Augustana is next.

[Greek Tragedy]

C'mon OS,  you should have had some faith in UWW.

Stagg Bowl Final

UWW 31
Mount Union 21

Believe me, I'm happy for Whitewater and the WIAC.  When Point isn't in any post season tourney or they get knocked out, I'm on the WIAC bandwagon.  I just didn't think they'd win and I'm more than pleasantly surprised they pulled it out.  Now my friend Brad can be drunk the rest of the night (Whitewater Alumn).  He also happens to be a Rams fan, so hopefully his dreams won't come true tomorrow...just today! lol

[Greek Tragedy]

As I have stated in the past, it's Oskosh's starting lineup or bust.  You get Marsh or DSA into foul trouble and I think Oshkosh becomes a different team because they lose their "go to" guy and their inside presence.  JJ (Jordan Johnson) is an underrated inside guy that can really crash the boards but doesn't have that extra offensive gear that DSA has.

Augustana 59, Oshkosh 54

Boxscore

Dane Secker-Anderson: 5 fouls
DJ Marsh: 5 fouls
Bench points:  4 pts (all on free throws)

[Greek Tragedy]

WIAC Weekly release

Mon 12/10/07
UW-Stevens Point 91, Viterbo 83 
UW-Superior 101, Finlandia (MI) 79; Boxscore 

Tue 12/11/07
Michigan Tech 57, Stout 54

Wed 12/12/07
Carleton (MN) 69, La Crosse 67 (OT)   
River Falls 79, Crown (MN) 34   
UW-Stevens Point 77, Edgewood 59   
Finlandia (MI) 99, Stout 84  
Northwestern (MN) 86, Superior 73; Boxscore
   
Thu 12/13/07
Platteville 82, Dubuque (IA) 50
 
Sat 12/15/07
UW-Eau Claire 78, Finlandia (MI) 76; Game Story
Augustana 59, Oshkosh 54; Boxscore   
UW-Platteville 65, Clarke (IA) 50   
UW-River Falls 66, Bethany Lutheran (MN) 64   
Point 71, Ripon 67 Game Story with Boxscore link
UW-Superior 98, Martin Luther (MN) 87 

Sun 12/16/07
UW-Whitewater @ Olivet (MI)

[OshDude]

As I have stated in the past, it's Oskosh's starting lineup or bust.  You get Marsh or DSA into foul trouble and I think Oshkosh becomes a different team because they lose their "go to" guy and their inside presence.  JJ (Jordan Johnson) is an underrated inside guy that can really crash the boards but doesn't have that extra offensive gear that DSA has.

Augustana 59, Oshkosh 54

Boxscore

Dane Secker-Anderson: 5 fouls
DJ Marsh: 5 fouls
Bench points:  4 pts (all on free throws)

I wouldn't say this was a bust. With all the weirdness surrounding this game, taking the No. 9 team, even if it was missing its leading scorer, to the final seconds was amazing.

As I was walking to the gym, the Augie team bus passed me at 6:40. I don't know if Augie takes a team nap in the locker room before games, but they didn't have to postpone the tip two times. They certainly could have been upstairs before 7:10.

I have never seen an Oshkosh team shoot as poorly as it did tonight. They weren't even tough shots, for the most part. And it was everybody. Didn't matter if it was a layup, free throw or 3; no one was on tonight (except Matt Miller in the second half). When it wasn't poor shooting, Oshkosh would have an unforced turnover. One possession UWO had five point-blank shots and missed them all. UWO had four FGs and shot 50% from the line (went into the game at 87% clip) in the first half.

The recaps say how long UWO went without a FG, but the team also went scoreless for 10 minutes. Augie scored 17 in that stretch, which included a UWO assistant coach getting T'ed up by the ref farthest from the bench. Another ref was literally 3 feet from the coach and decided to let the coach have his say, by the way.

On the other bench, Grey was being Grey. The man can coach, I'll give him that. Not many teams can/will do what Augie did to DJ tonight. But Grey is also always on the brink of getting T'ed, which should have happened at least twice tonight, especially after UWO got T'ed for less.

The first was when Grey and Jordan Johnson were wrestling each other for a dead ball. Grey's got good hands, though. JJ couldn't get the rip for 10 seconds. Neither could the ref for a while. He was whining the whole time he had the ball, of course. Anyway, no T nor delay of game warning. There were a few times Grey should have needed a uniform to be where he was. I respect the man, but he's one of those guys who you love to hate unless he's on your team's sidelines.

And when it says Augie hit free throws to ice it, you should have seen those things! Probably the ugliest free throw shooter you will ever see. Shaq has nothing on this guy. Your 5-year-old niece, if you have one, has nothing on this guy. Dude banked one – HARD – to put Augie up three with about 40 ticks remaining. A different joker with an ugly stroke dented the backboard on a made 3 during one of Augie's runs. Just one of those nights.

Augie is very, very skilled and well coached. There's no doubt that neither team played that great tonight, but for all the things that could have and did go wrong for Oshkosh, for UWO to have a shot to tie in the last 30 seconds, or take the lead with two minutes left, against the No. 9 team told me a lot.

I'm not sure anymore that Oshkosh will lose if DSA and DJ foul out, DJ goes scoreless for a half, JJ is missing layups, DJ has more turnovers than points or FG attempts and Schrimpf is a nonfactor. It's easy to assume that would happen. But for the first time this season we got to see what would happen if UWO faced the worst-case scenario. Not to get all Donald Rumsfeld on you, but you don't know until you know. The worst happened and it was almost a pick 'em in the last 2 minutes.

P.S. I feel sorry for Defiance and Tri-State next week. DJ looked like one frustrated dude tonight, and it showed with at least two offensive fouls. I have a feeling he goes off at the expense of those two teams next week and gets this game out of his system. I'll put the over/under on his points in those two games at 52, assuming he plays anything close to his normal minutes.

One statistical nugget that gave me a chuckle: Grinnell's David Arseneault had more assists in one game (34) than either the UWO (27) or Augie (33) team leader has the whole season. That's through eight games for UWO and nine for Augie, both top-15 teams. I'm sure they are not the only teams, either.

And no, the UWO PA announcer did not report the Whitewater football score.

[stoutguy]

Point 71, Ripon 67 Game Story with Boxscore link

Well, it wasn't pretty, but at least we got a win at Ripon.  Point, IMO, played one of thee worst halves I've seen in the last five years or so!  It was horrible and to hear they only coughed the ball up 6 times in the first half was shocking.  I thought for sure they had 10 TOs in the first 20 minutes. 

Point looked in command with a 26-19 lead and then the wheels fell off and Ripon went into the break with a 33-28 lead.  The coach's son, Scott Gillespie was unstoppable (11-19 FGs) for 31.  I don't understand why Point had such a hard time getting help defense on him.  Time and time again SG would go around the high screen and hit the midrange jumper. 

Point came out and let the deficit get to 11 before they went on a 9-0 and then it was back and forth from there.  Matt Moses came up big with clutch free throws and some great rebounds, some on the offensive end.  Ross Rortvedt also hit some big time shots with the clock shot running down and the game on the line.  Louis "The Hurt" Hurd came in and did a good job on #44 Esters as Jerome SWATachek had a hard time keeping up with his quickness. 

It wasn't what I expected by any means, but it was a great character builder for the team to come in and get a win, even though Ripon was only 1-4.  A great traveling crowd of Pointer fans made the trip and that was real nice to see.

Augustana is next.

Regarding how tough it was to stop Gillespie, I had Coach Semling on our Western Wisconsin Sports Sat. show this week and he told me that he felt that Gillespie was one Wis. player who could have signed a d1 sholarship but chose to play for his dad.  He also would not be drawn into any "looking ahead to Oshkosh showdown talk" by telling me that WIAC championships are won in late Feb., not Jan.  He also made an interesting point about how his offense is predicated on how many times the ball gets into the post, not by how many post players score as his concept of good shots is "inside-out".  It was a fun conversation.  Your coach is a class act.

[Mr_Downtown]

I totally forgot about the PA announcer.

The delay was nice, I got a chance to watch the end of the football game in the SID's office. (Congrats to Whitewater, and Justin Beaver. I'm sure Palmyra, WI is one happy place right now.)

Great game recap by Oshdude. I think the biggest story is Greg Schrimpf. Yes, he does have great games (Elmhurst, Stout) and then their are games like last night it seems he is no where to be found (Same thing against Whitewater).

Last night it just seemed that he was a little bit afraid to put up some open shots, and rather would pass around the perimeter. I know the kid can shoot, so he needs to shoot! Too many open shots passed up last night, and really, Oshkosh had two options because of that : Matt Miller and Jordan Johnson. Those two guys offensively and defensively led the Titans back to a point after a 20 point defecit.

This loss is only going to push this team harder in practice and in the Tournament in Orlando. They were going to be blow outs to begin with, and they will. Finlandia is playing a lot better these days, but I don't suspect them to be a challenge on the 2nd.

Which brings up the next mega-match up for Oshkosh, and that will be on Jan. 5th at Quandt. I expect both Point and Oshkosh will only have one loss going into that game, and that both teams will be in the top 15.

And for the doubters out there about Oshkosh, and wondering if they are that "good". Remember, Augustana was the team to knock off then #1 Washington U and they were predicted to finish #1 in the CCIW. Last night, in the first half, Augustana showed why they are considered one of the best teams in the nation. The second half, showed that Oshkosh is that good running on half strength, to cut a 20 point lead down to one.

So yes, even in a loss, and even scoring significantly lower then the season average, Oshkosh is that good.

[Titan Q]

Regarding how tough it was to stop Gillespie, I had Coach Semling on our Western Wisconsin Sports Sat. show this week and he told me that he felt that Gillespie was one Wis. player who could have signed a d1 sholarship but chose to play for his dad. 

There are two Division III freshmen guards in Wisconsin playing for their fathers who are really lighting it up right now...

Scott Gillespie (6-0), Ripon - 24.5 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 3.0 apg, 45-99 FG (.455), 12-25 3-pt (.480), 45-61 FT (.738)

Steve Djurickovic (6-3), Carthage (6-3) - 22.4 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 3.6 apg, 56-115 FG (.487), 3-17 3-pt (.176), 64-83 FT (.771)

[Greek Tragedy]

(Congrats to Whitewater, and Justin Beaver. I'm sure Palmyra, WI is one happy place right now.)

The $64,000 question is:  WHEN IS JUSTIN BEAVER DAY IN PALMYRA?? LOL.

Which brings up the next mega-match up for Oshkosh, and that will be on Jan. 5th at Quandt. I expect both Point and Oshkosh will only have one loss going into that game, and that both teams will be in the top 15.

Point has to travel to the same Augustana team next Saturday.

There are two Division III freshmen guards in Wisconsin playing for their fathers who are really lighting it up right now...

Scott Gillespie (6-0), Ripon - 24.5 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 3.0 apg, 45-99 FG (.455), 12-25 3-pt (.480), 45-61 FT (.738)

The guy can play.  The thing is, he's not super quick, he's not a tall guy, and he's not flashy.  He just gets the job done and gets the job done well.  A very fine player for sure.  It's early, but maybe Ripon will get it turned around.  They have 5 losses and four of them have been by 6 points or less.  Little G just needs some help!

L at La Crosse 70-69
L at Knox 96-90 (2 OT)
L at Illinois College 89-76
L v St. Norbert 61-59
L v Stevens Point 71-67

Ripon's version of the game 

[Greek Tragedy]

I think it's important to note that, even though he was in warmups and didn't play one second of the game, PETE Rortvedt was still credited with a turnover!  What a scrub! lol 

[Stout survivor]

I am also happy UWW football won and it was a good game to watch, go WIAC ... now back to my blue devil ways.

Stout giving up 99 to Finlandia is crazy to me, I know Eddie prides himself and his team on defense.  It will be a grind in the WIAC in Jan and I am still wishing that stout can get it together to al least be competitive this year ( I am not puting money on it though)

Freshman of the year.... really .... thats the poll, can we at least wait till half way through conference year before we talk about that, these coaches will get these guys figuered out soon and then we will see who is for real

[stoutguy]

I am also happy UWW football won and it was a good game to watch, go WIAC ... now back to my blue devil ways.

Stout giving up 99 to Finlandia is crazy to me, I know Eddie prides himself and his team on defense.  It will be a grind in the WIAC in Jan and I am still wishing that stout can get it together to al least be competitive this year ( I am not puting money on it though)

Freshman of the year.... really .... thats the poll, can we at least wait till half way through conference year before we talk about that, these coaches will get these guys figuered out soon and then we will see who is for real

Great point about the Freshman award.  We have seen what happens the second time around the conference to many good Frosh.  Good coaches always notice these things.  Regarding Stout, they are not a very good team right now.  Eddie has had plenty big coaching obstacles in his great career.  Getting this bunch to play together and well might be one of his biggest.

[Greek Tragedy]

It's called EARLY SEASON Freshman of the Year for a reason guys.