MBB: Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[Greek Tragedy]

I missed this morning's radio show with Stoutguy, Bennett and Andrist.  I'm assuming there isn't a archived webcast, so I can't go back and listen to it.  It'd be interesting to get some cliff notes on what all they said about the conference, what the Bennetts are up to and how bad Andrist ripped my rankings (remember, those are for entertainment purposes only!!! LOL).

Anyway, the big game, obviously, is Oshkosh at Stevens Point.  Point still has that bad taste in their mouth after blowing a 15-pt half time lead against Cal. Lutheran and losing in OT.  Oshkosh lost to Defiance, but bounced back the following night. 

Oshkosh's starting five may be the best in the league, with Point's bench the deepest in the WIAC.  It's going to be a battle for sure with the likes of DJ Marshmallow dazzling with his quickness and Pistol Pete launching from shots from Junction City. 

Little Guy Miller has been a big surprise, IMO, with his shooting and leadership.  I didn't think he'd be scoring as well as he has.  Last year he just came in off the bench to launch 3-pters, but this year he's doing a whole lot more than that.  At the start, El-Amin will get the defensive duties.  I anticipate a taller Ross Rortvedt and even Matt Moses to come in and try to slow down the Little Guy.  In the end, I think the latter two are better defensive players and in Rortvedt's case, you don't lose much offensively (even though Moses can score when needed).  I do think El-Amin has more leadership value though.  When Point has the ball, I think it's straight up with El-Amin v Miller, but advantage Point with Rortvedt in there.

DJ Marsh will most likely be unstoppable, as he has been nearly all year.  If The Prince starts ahead of SWATachek, that creates matchup problems as Brian Beamish will move over to guard DSA.  The Prince is probably the quickest of the Pointers and with Drew Jackson in there, Point's offense takes a hit, though Jackson gives you the quickness, rebounding and simple intangables that you like to see.  Anyway, I don't think there is anyone defensively that will matchup well against The Marshmallow.  I wouldn't be surprised to see Ross "The Horse" Rortvedt take a shot at guarding him.  On the other side of the ball, I think Marsh lacks a little defensively.  I could see him guarding Beamish.  If the Beamer can stay out of foul trouble, I think he will have a pretty good game.  He's been hit and miss this season, so this is the big stage to come through on.

I think Hicklin will be the star of the game.  He's the senior leader on the team and I don't see Schrimpf being able to stop him.  I'm hoping Hicklin's midrange jumper is there today and he'll also be getting his share of rebounds.  I don't want him just shooting 3-pters all game, we have Pete to do that.

Speaking of...Rortvedt may have a quiet game if TVD goes with the recently talked about Box and One.  Pistol Pete will really have to work for his shots, something I think Nick Bennett did a better job of.  In the last year, though, Pete has improved his inside/post game, so if he can confuse the Titan defense with some inside presence, he'll be fine.  I don't want Pete taking 15 3-pters today...unless me make 10 of them!

DSA is may be too quick for SWATachek, so Jerome's minutes may be limited.  Louis "The Hurt" Hurd will have is hands full with the taller Seckar-Anderson, but may be more suited to play against him. 

I think Point will get outrebounded again with Jordan Johnson crashing the boards, along with a taller DSA and a leaping Marsh.  Point has to limit the Titans offensive rebounds with Beamish staying out of foul trouble, Jackson cleaning up and the little guys like Hicklin, the Rortvedts and Louis Hurd boxing out.

With the lack of a dominate inside game, Point's 3-pt attempts will match their 2-pt attempts.  Point's bench will have to tire out Oshkosh's starting 5 because their bench isn't very deep at all.  It's going to be a great game.  I do think the game is going to be close the whole way with one of them winning by 4-8 points.  Let's see if Point can actually hit some free-throws because I know Oshkosh can.

[stoutguy]

Old School,  Jack was awesome as usual.  A great update on the basketball Bennett's, old and new, and a nice conversation about strength of conference now compared to "back then".  Jack was careful to not make it sound like he was just one of us old guys talking about the "good old days" but still made some great points about why the nonconference record this year is 60% and not the 90% that we have come to expect.   He mentioned loss of redshirts as one big factor and we also both wondered about the affect of doubleheaders and how diffucult they are for everybody.  He did, however, get me into a bit of a pickle when he mentioned stopping somewhere after the games.  My wife said to me when I got home that two hours of morning show, five hours of doubleheader basketball isn't quite enough basketball talk because I hear you are going out after the games.  Picky, picky, picky.  Janesvilleflash, how do you pull off your schedule?

[BoBo]

Whitewater 88 River Falls 82 OT box score.

[badgerwarhawk]

WHITEWATER shoots lights out (65.5%) in the first half and opens a lead as large as 18 points, 34-16 (7:00), before settling for a 46-30 lead at the intermission.  After going back up by 18 by making the first basket of the second half WHITEWATER appeared to on cruise control but River Falls wasn't about the call it in as the Falcon systematically cut into the lead until it was headed to the last possession.  Missing four straight free throws down the stretch the WARHAWKS opened the door and a three pointer by Reese at the buzzer left the two teams deadlocked 74-74 at the end of regulation.   

WHITEWATER opened the OT with a 9-1 run to go up 8 and sank 5 of 6 free throws after that to preserve the 88-82 win.

Rob Perry led WHITEWATER with 23 points.  Matt Goodwin was good for 22 and Myles McKay totalled 15.  Perry and Josh King pulled down 9 rebounds apiece as WHITEWATER had a 44-33 team advantage.  Both teams took good care of the ball as WW had 12 turnovers and River Falls only 8. 

Winning the first of three road games was critical and it gets us off to a good start.  Karges hasn't been very hospitable to us in the past so it was a good road win.   Much like the North Central game we were untouchable in the first half and then looked like a different team in the second one.  It's been a bit of a habit this year and must be driving the staff bonkers.  Some how we've got to put 40 minutes together.   If and when we do, look out. 

[buf]

UWO defeats Point, 73-62.  It wasn't even close in the 2nd half.

Superior defeats UWL.  Good games by Jake Smith for Sup. and Fehrenbach for UWL

UWP easily over Stout, 83-64.  UWP had 10 3s in the 1st half

[phoenix_rising]

Whoever has Fehrenbach (Lacrosse) and Smith (Superior) on their fantasy teams had a good night. Fehrenbach, I believe, ended up with 31 points and Smith with 28. Smith is really maturing right before our eyes. Roeder still out; Headley out tonight with a rumored sprained ankle, but he was in a boot. Probably Culy's, since he's not wearing it anymore. Culy didn't start but did play. He was a little rusty; seemed to be getting his shot back toward the end of the game. Superior is still capable of some real boneheaded play, but it's fun to watch them 90% of the time. Even the goofy play is often entertaining. Of course, the upside is that by and large, this team will be together for three more years. I hope.

[phoenix_rising]

By the way, one of the assistant coaches for Lacrosse is named Bonnett, but he looks an awful lot like a Bennett. Is this some clever attempt to hide the true identity of a ringer as an assistant coach?

[Mr. Downtown]

I don't think anyone (including Oshkosh) thought the Titans would be this good.

[Mr. Downtown]

I know it's only a 1/4th of the season completed, but take a look at the conference tourney

1 Oshkosh
8 River Falls

4 Eau Claire
5 Stevens Point

3 Platteville
6 La Crosse

2 Whitewater
7 Superior


I think everyone can agree, that Point will not be the 5th seed at the end of the year, but if the conference race continues the pace that they have started, you are looking a very competitative conference tourney that we could be looking at.

Along with some of the top teams in the country also being upsetted ( 4 top 25 teams have lost today), it might give the WIAC a chance to put multiple teams into the tourney. Or, the WIAC could beat themselves up so much, that again...only one WIAC team makes into the dance.

Platteville coming into Oshkosh Wednesday night should be a great battle. This year's Pioneers hope that they fare better than they have the previous 5 seasons@ Kolf.

After winning at Kolf for 6 straight seasons (from the 96/97- 01/02), the Pioneers have lost the last 5 games at Oshkosh with an average score of 78 - 60, with the closest game in 03/04, when Oshkosh started freshmen Jim Capelle and Kerry Gibson to knock off the Pioneers, 72-64.

I know, that the past means nothing concerning this game, but it's something to note that Coach Paul Combs has never won at Oshkosh, and has a record of 2-6 against the Titans, losing the last 4.

[Greek Tragedy]

I don't think anyone (including Oshkosh) thought the Titans would be this good.

Even you?

Oshkosh 73, Stevens Point 62

Tough loss for Point tonight.  Sometimes your shots go down and sometimes they don't.  Tonight was one of those nights when shots just didn't fall.  I don't want to take anything away from Oshkosh though.  They played a great game and executed better than Point.  But, sometimes there are games when you feel you should've won or you got hosed by the refs or some other reason but come out feeling real bad.  Tonight, in my opinion, was not one of those nights.  I guess I accepted the loss a little better because the shots just didn't go in.  I wouldn't say we missed OPEN looks, but we had good looks at the hoop and missed those shots while Oshkosh seemed to make everything.  Great credit goes to Matt Miller for nailing some 3s and DJ Marsh wrecking havoc. 

Matt Moses had a real solid game.  Beamish got into foul trouble and it went down hill from there.  It was close until he got into foul trouble.  Point was down by 11 at half and never threatened.  After being down by as many as 18 or 19, they did cut it to 12, but I never felt we'd get that big run. 

Everyone has a bad night and it just wasn't Point's night.  Congrats to Oshkosh.  We gotta get it together soon with a tough River Falls team coming into town on Wednesday.

[Greek Tragedy]

NEW WIAC RANKINGS-note, these are my own rankings for entertainment purposes only, not to be confused with Mr. Downtown's bracket rankings.

1. Oshkosh (10-2, 4-0):  Dominating win at Quandt.  Will they survive a hangover against Platteville on Wednesday and a long trip to Superior on Saturday?

2. Whitewater (10-2, 3-1):  Survives in River Falls having to go to OT after blowing big lead.  Keep your bags packed with trips to La Crosse and Eau Claire this week.

3. Platteville (9-3, 3-1):  Easy win up in Menomonie.  Toughest week coming up with trips to Oshkosh and Stevens Point.

4. Stevens Point (9-3, 1-2):  Drops second straight at home to Oshkosh.  Where is the 3-pt. shooting?  Needs to be answered against River Falls and Platteville at Quandt this week.

5. Eau Claire (7-4, 2-1):  Huge win against that tricky "bye" team.  No time to dwell on the win with a trip to Superior and a visit from Whitewater on the horizon. 

6. Superior (5-6, 1-2):  Gets a big home win against La Crosse.  Sounds like Culy is back, though other injuries are a concern.  Eau Claire and Oshkosh are headed to Canada this week, passports in hand.

7. River Falls (7-6, 1-3):  Takes Whitewater to OT after big comeback to tie it.  DiJon Reese does very well in the start.  Can show it wasn't a fluke with a good showing in Point for their only game.

8. La Crosse (6-6, 1-2):  Tough to drop them two spots in the rankings, but they did lose and River Falls' loss was "more impressive."  Have a chance to prove me wrong against WW and a trip to ST.

9. Stout (3-9, 0-4):   It wasn't even close in Platteville.  They have time to think about it with a NC trip to Ripon before hosting La Crosse on Saturday.

[Mr. Downtown]

Even you?

Yep. Even me.

Toughest week coming up with trips to Oshkosh and Stevens Point.

I wonder, is this the most difficult week that any team in the WIAC has had, or will have this season?

[stoutguy]

Two things amaze me right now when I look at the WIAC:

1)  Stevens Point and Superior are tied in the standings.

2)  Ed Andrist has a team playing this badly.

[stoutguy]

And while I am in this rotten mood, when is someone else besides me going to complain about this doubleheader concept?  The fans hate it, the players hate it, the coaches hate it, the media guys really hate it, it does NOT save any money for anyone, and I wish it would just go away.  There, now I feel better.  I am going to do one more next  Sat. and then fly to Mexico for two weeks and not worry about it  Maybe a few Coronas will clear my brain and I will be have a better attitude about the concept.

[phoenix_rising]

Personally, I used to like the double-headers. If you're going to drive halfway across the state for a game, you might as well watch two.

then fly to Mexico for two weeks

What's Mexico got that Wisconsin doesn't? It's balmy out there right now--and I'm not talking about the people, although...--and we have really good beer. In most parts of the state, contrary to popular opinion, you don't need a passport. And you can drink the water. What's not to like?

Happy trails anyway.

In real sports:
It's nice to see that Buchanan can have three Yellowjackets sitting on the bench and still put together eight players who can have an effective game. Jason Proue may have looked like he got into foul trouble--and I guess having three or four fouls IS trouble--but at least one was for having a Lacrosse player draped over his back. That's a tough call. He played well. Smith and Hill were outstanding, even though Hill doesn't seem to realize he's not 6'9". The guy will see three players collapsing on him and STILL try to drive to the basket. Sometimes he makes it; sometimes he just disappears. Who turned out the lights? The surprise, for me, was to see Jake Smith drop two 3s. Whoda thunk? You see the big guy out on the line and think, well, he's not sneaking under the basket for a wide-open layup, and then he arcs a 3. I love that guy.

I can't find a box score anywhere for the game. I suppose UWS won't be able to post it until a work study student with computer skills gets back from break.