MBB: Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[phoenix_rising]

Superior knocks off Eau Claire 68-59....

Yes they did, and it would have been a more impressive score if Jake Smith hadn't gone into some kind of coma in the first half. He couldn't buy a bunny. Things looked a little slow for the Jackets at the start and then it was touch and go until the very end. Seesaw game. Everybody suited up, but only limited number of players got on the court--seven? Eight? Youngsters.

Ray Byrnes may not get enough credit for what he does. He does the things that don't make the stat columns, and Shane Manor was quick on his feet tonight; forced a couple of EC turnovers.  Dwight Hill stepped up, again, and iced the game with a series of free throws in the final minute. Nice win for the Supers before having to face Oshkosh. It would be pleasant to win Saturday. Maybe the Os will be so rattled by tonight's game, they'll carry it into the weekend. Here's hoping...

Nice crowd to see the game. Plenty of EC fans, and an older crowd, in general. Students still sleeping in at home(s).

[buf]

Also wondering what happened in LaCrosse as Whitewater steals a win 65-62.  How did this one finish exactly?  Looked like the Eagles were up big at one time.

From the play by play it said that Perry hit a 3 to tie with about a minute left.  Mane hit a shot to tie it with a few seconds to go.  Goodwin then hit a 3 at the buzzer.

[Brian Carroll]

Matt Goodwin canned a 3 at the buzzer to allow WW to escape with a 65-62 win at Mitchell Hall. WW was lethargic in the 1st half, but managed to stay close to the Eagles, who led by 5 at the half. In the second half, LC turnovers were the result of WW's superior athleticism. I may have more to say after reviewing the box score. Also, sophomore forward Nick Frederick has left the La Crosse team. I don't know the reason.

[buf]

Superior knocks off Eau Claire 68-59....

Nice crowd to see the game. Plenty of EC fans, and an older crowd, in general. Students still sleeping in at home(s).

Freshman standout Ryan Shea is from Duluth and I believe Probst is from a small town by somewhere near there.  I'm sure both of these players had numerous fans from their hometowns.

[phoenix_rising]

I thought the Probst name sounded familiar. Ran out of programs before we got there--15 minutes before game time--so we could only glance over people's shoulders to check names and biographies. That gets kind of creepy after a while.

[John Gleich]

Can't wait to hear a recap of the Point/RF game...

Here's the box score

Point hit 21/25 free throws in this game after shooting just 7/14 in the previous two losses.

This makes Saturday's matchup between Point and Platteville another huge one... after Pville knocks off Oshkosh on the road, can they turn around and do it again at the Quandt?

4-1 Oshkosh
4-1 Whitewater
4-1 Platteville
2-2 Point
2-2 Eau Claire
2-2 Superior
1-3 La Crosse
1-4 River Falls
0-4 Stout

Looks like quite a bit of parity in the league this season!

[OshDude]

Platteville gets a big win.  Live stats dont do justice.  Would like to hear some info from someone that was there.  My wife said UWP made final 11 shots and last 8 FT's.  Platteville didn't go very deep in their bench, now that I made mention of it earlier this week, but Nick Allen and Mike Shaw and Jeff Skemp seem to be what carried them late.

It may have been Allen and Skemp thrown in there, but after Miller hit a 3 to tie it at 47 with 10 to play it was all Shaw all the time. I thought it was over when Matty hit that shot. Turns out it was ... PV went on a crazy run until the end, and UWO never threatened.

UWO just couldn't get over the hump. Seemed like PV always had a 5-to-8 point lead. Just a weird feel to it. Miller was scoreless on two shots (maybe three) in the first half, and DJ sorta shut down after he didn't get a call on a 3-point attempt (he was obviously hit on the elbow) somewhere in the middle of the game. The Pioneers deserved the win. They definitely played harder.

Good team down there in Platteville, as usual. Glad Lohoff came back for the second half. I didn't think that would happen. He went down hard but looked OK after the break.

[Greek Tragedy]

So how was Marsh shut down?  Great defense (3-11 shooting, right?) or just an "off night"?

They must have kept Matt Miller in check too, he didn't score until the 2nd half.  Skemp "sounded" like he was dominant.  DSA gets his 4th with 13 minutes to go, did I read that right? 

Sounds like Platteville had a good game plan, probably from reading our posts!! LOL. 
1. Stop DJ,
2. get DSA into foul trouble,
3. slow down Miller.

[Greek Tragedy]

Also, sophomore forward Nick Frederick has left the La Crosse team. I don't know the reason.

Wow.

La Crosse misse Brandon Brown like River Falls misses Koonkaew.  Any word when the former is coming back?

Everybody suited up, but only limited number of players got on the court--seven? Eight? Youngsters.

I read in today's USA Today, the Arizona (?) women's basketball team ended the game with just TWO players on the court!  I think they only suited up 6 because of injuries, academics etc.  They had a 13 point-lead or so with 11 minutes to go and then the fouls started coming.  I think the paper said they were short-handed for the last 11+ minutes of the game...1 minute of regulation and two 5-minute overtimes...they lost in 2OTs

[Greek Tragedy]

Point feels good about themselves again!

Dominating performance by Point tonight.  Nice to see the boys hit their shots.  Started out fast, ended the first half with a 27-pt. lead.  Two (3?) dunks by Drew Jackson including a laser pass alley-oop from El-Amin. 

I'll let you guys read the rest.  Time for bed.  Hope they can continue their good shooting against Platteville.  Looks like we'll need it since Skemp will be manning the middle. 

Had a quick chat with Jack AND Dick Bennett at the game tonight. 

Ripon tops Stout on buzzer beater 82-80!

[bgbacker]

impressed by Superior tonight.... 5 straight W's at home... Hill was CLUTCH! Jake Smith was not comatose in the first half...he was shut down by very good defense. Unfortunately, the 'Golds didn't play as well at the other end. Yes, I give Sup's zone some of the credit, but EC missed four easy layups and, then at times ...looked totally out of sync.

Shea makes magic...but also makes some rookie mistakes, like his 3rd foul.

It still shapes up as a great WIAC race ahead.

[bgbacker]

By the way, BadgerWarhawk, check your facts before you criticize. Combined record of Eau Claire's non-conference opponents is 59-57 (and, yes, that's counting Finlandia three times):

   Grinnell     8-2
   Aurora     10-3
   Hamline     6-6
  Finlandia    5-9
   St. Scholastica  3-8
   Finlandia    5-9
   Marian       7-5
  Jamestown 10-6
  Finalndia    5-9

Just for reference, let's check the records of the mighty Warhawks' NC opponents:

   Eureka      2-9
   MSOE        7-6
   Carroll      6-3
   Olivet       4-7
   Cardinal Stritch  6-8
   St. John's   7-5
   Rockford    0-12
   North Central  6-6

   TOTAL        38-56!!

I stand by my statement.

[chmarx]

Must have been a good game in Mitchell tonight.  I am out of town, so I missed it.

[phoenix_rising]

Jake Smith was not comatose in the first half...he was shut down by very good defense

I won't argue there was tremendous EC defense, but there were, minimum, four shot attempts when Smith was right THERE in his usual spot and couldn't quite hit the hole. He's made the shots before and he started making them in the second half, but it just wasn't dropping early on. If I were to analyze it--and you who read these things know I always do--I would attribute it to coming off the outstanding game on Saturday where everything he put up seemed to seek out the basket. My thought is that he figured he had discovered and would be back in his 'zone.' And, maybe we're arguing semantics here, but I believe adjustments have to be made for every team because every team brings its own game style--and perhaps that's rightly defined as "good defense"--but that would make it sound like other teams don't play "good defense." There's lots of good defense out there.

Lest anyone think I believe the Supes are unbeatable, I am very cognizant of the fact that these two wins were on our home court against similar teams. I'm just relishing the fact that we've already equaled the number of conference wins for the past two seasons, combined.

[phoenix_rising]

read in today's USA Today, the Arizona (?) women's basketball team ended the game with just TWO players on the court!  I think they only suited up 6 because of injuries, academics etc.

I thought there was a minimum number of players required to constitute a 'team' on the court. In everything else, there's a quorum, I can't believe basketball doesn't have one. In one league tournament my older daughter played in as a youngster, the officials let her play after she fouled out, because her team didn't have anyone left to replace her. I think she got about eight fouls in that game (once they let you play with five, what's the incentive to stop fouling?).