MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Jim Matson]

I am impressed with Wheaton's efforts in tonight's game.  Augie got some strong leadership from Harrigan down the stretch and pulled it out, but kudos to the Thunder for making this a real game!

What a great league this is!  And I'm eating my words form a week ago when I thought Wesleyan would storm through this league undefeated.  They could be sitting at 0-3 right now.  But it's early, so we'll see how things look in another week or two.

[Mr. Ypsi]

Hiker,

Right on!  I still am hoping that the Titans will go 13-1, but 11-3 might be good enough to win this year!

The WIAC and UAA may argue, but I think the CCIW is THE toughest league this year.

[Jim Matson]

On the other side of the wall, the Augie women almost pulled out an upset of the Wheaton women tonight.  It wasn't quite as close as the men's game was down the stretch but the Lady Vikes played a great game and gave the Thunder quite a scare.

[kenoshamark]

Here is the Carthage Box Score:

http://www2.carthage.edu/athletics/mens/basketball/ec1.htm

Can't remember Bosko having a technical while at Carthage...and what a time to pick it up.

Like to know what happened with Schlemm tonight - more turnovers (5) than points (3) and only 13 minutes of action.

[Jim Matson]

Ypsi, who in the UAA could make that argument?

[iwufan32]

//

good game tonight titans way to go keelan for a great game... thought u had it at the end... but yea good game..!!!

go titans!

[Jim Matson]

So now comes the North Park/Wheaton game in 3 days.  At Wheaton, given the performance out in Rock Island, the Thunder should be able to win this one.  Any thoughts Greg?

[Titan Q]

What a great league to follow. 

* The #5 team in the country has to scratch and claw to win in overtime @ Millikin -- the same Millikin team that had just lost at home to the team projected to finish last in the league, North Park.

* The #10 team in the country was down 7 with 2:05 to play at home to a Wheaton team in full-blown rebuilding mode.

* The D3hoops.com preseason #15 team, Elmhurst, was down 4 with 3:39 to play to Carthage...one of the best 4-9 teams you'll ever see.


All 3 of the "favorites" find a way to win behind big plays by seniors (Rick Harrigan, Adam Dauksas, Keelan Amelianovich, Chris Martin) down the stretch.

The 2006 CCIW race is going to be really confusing for the scoreboard watchers around the country!

[Titan Q]

The IWU/Millikin boxscore...

http://www.millikin.edu/athletics/mbasketball/m-mil14_013.htm

Not a pretty game, but an incredibly hard-fought contest where both sides left it all on the court.  Adam Dauksas did not score a field goal in regulation, but hit 2 huge 3's in overtime -- the first to make it 62-58 IWU with 2:39 to go in OT, and the second to seal it, making it 65-58 with :47 left.

Zach Freeman was probably IWU's player of the game.  Millikin sent Freeman to the FT line 19 times...he connected on 16 of the attempts and finished with 22 points.  Zach played very strong and tough this evening.

Keelan Amelianovich had a huge game as well - 21 pts and 7 rebounds.  With IWU down 48-47 and 3:07 to play, Amelianovich hit a 3-pointer to make it 50-48.  Then with IWU down 54-53 with 1:03 remaining, he made a 15 footer to put IWU back up 1. 

It took all three of IWU's stars coming up big for the Titans to defeat Millikin this evening.  The Big Blue got big games out of Reid Jones (18 pts, 4-7 3-pt), Lance Brooks (12 pts, 6-7 FG), and Mike Gavic (11 pts, 3-4 3-pt).  Freshman Drew Gensler was just 5-15 from the field, but made some big shots down the stretch.  Gensler reminds me a little of Kent Raymond -- he's going to be a 1st Teamer in the CCIW sooner than later.

It doesn't get any easier for IWU - it is off to Elmhurst to face Chris Martin and the Bluejays Saturday.

[veterancciwfan]

A defensive game at Griswold, or maybe just lack of offensive execution, especially in the 1st half which ended 25-20 in favor of Millikin. IWU has lost something. I think it may be the lack of great defense. IWU used a  smothering zone in CA in the 1st half of both games against very good teams to deny good shots and to create easy transistion baskets. IWU has played more man defense since CA and the intensity has been inconsistent to say the least. See the good write-up on the Scoreboard release from Millikin. Dauksas hit the big 3 in OT after a Freeman miss of the 2nd half of a 2 shot FT to stretch the lead to 4. After a Millikin miss, Dauksas hit another 3 to give IWU a 7 point lead with under a minute.

[armywife]

Wow, interesting night. I'm sorry I slept through it all. I don't think there is going to be any nights where these teams can let down, everyone is fighting hard. I'm glad Augie pulled it out, but way to go Wheaton for playing hard and almost taking home a win. I wonder if there are going to be any blow out games this season.

[Gregory Sager]

As Mark E. said, a prior commitment forced me to miss the NPU game tonight. But from looking at the box score, it appears that NPU lost this game on the boards; North Central outrebounded the Vikings by a whopping 39-22 margin, and the Cardinals got 15 of those boards at the offensive end, where forwards Anthony Simmons, Chris Drennan, Adam Krumtinger, and Dan Walton went 24-36 between them in terms of two-pointers. Simmons finished with 26 and 9, Krumtinger 12 and 8, Walton 12 and 7, and Drennan and Ray Vicario also had twelve apiece. For NPU, Brett Mathisen had his second straight solid outing after a slow start to the season (12 pts, 6 rebs, 5 steals), and Jason Gordon led the Vikes with 19 points.

Mark's absolutely right that North Park has to make a concerted effort to get the ball into Mathisen's hands on every possession. Their young backcourt has to show the patience and the skill to get it to him, rather than settle for just another outside jumper or an ill-advised drive on every play. Mathisen is a proven scorer in the low post, and as a team with only two seniors they have to make use of their most experienced player whenever he's on the floor.

I feel badly that the Vikes were the only one of the four underdogs in the league who weren't able to hold up their end in terms of taking the favorites down to the wire this evening, but consistency is not the trademark of a young team. At least the Vikings are continuing to address their most serious problem by cutting down on their turnovers -- their 11 TOs tonight mark their third-lowest total of the season, and this follows on the heels of their best effort of only 7 TOs against Millikin. Now it's a matter of shooting better (they were a hair below 40% from the field on the evening) and improving the rebounding and interior defense.

Other thoughts:

* Bosko's had some technicals called on him since he came to Carthage, but they're still very rare occurrences. I wonder if Reuben Norris was the ref who handed Bosk the T-bone with 3:15 left and the Red Men up by three? Ol' Reuben don't take no mess.   Still, so much for the idea put forth in this room that Carthage got fired up last Saturday just because they were playing Wesleyan, and that they'd lose by twenty this evening.

* Wesleyan's inability to dominate as manifested in the CCIW season's early going is absolutely mystifying. Just think what would've happened if Drew Gensler had made both of his FTs with 31 seconds left in regulation rather than just one. The Titans would've been playing that last possession to avoid a loss rather than to avoid overtime.

* Augustana has issues. They did beat NPU last week without ever being seriously threatened, but they couldn't put them away -- and they were certainly trying their best to do so. The Doggies haven't shown anyone yet that they have more than two options on offense, and Harrigan in particular seems to be carrying the team on his shoulders. Having to come back from a six-point deficit in the last ninety seconds of a home game against an inexperienced and crippled Wheaton team speaks volumes about Augie's vulnerability.

* Jim, I don't know how Saturday's game between our two respective alma maters will pan out. All bets are off the table at this point, given how weird the majority of CCIW games have played out in the first two weeks. Standard is apparently not going to be ready by then, but that's of limited consolation to me. Wheaton is eminently beatable, but as they proved tonight they can't be taken for granted by anyone -- and NPU has certainly not earned the right to take anything, anybody, or any place for granted. I think it'll require them to play as well as they did on Monday in the Griz for them to beat the Wheaties on Saturday.

[Mr. Ypsi]

Ypsi, who in the UAA could make that argument?

Well, for starters, all of the computer rankings I've seen (the only one I pay any serious attention to, Massey, has UAA the #1 conference).  

But with CM, NYU, Rochester, Chicago, WashU - they are a SERIOUS contender for #1 conference ths year.  I think we still have them beat, but I'm not sure that the WIAC can say that THIS year.  It is USUALLY WIAC, then CCIW, then (insert conference here), but THIS year it is looking like CCIW OR UAA, then WIAC, then whoever.

[Gregory Sager]

Well, for starters, all of the computer rankings I've seen (the only one I pay any serious attention to, Massey, has UAA the #1 conference).  

But with CM, NYU, Rochester, Chicago, WashU - they are a SERIOUS contender for #1 conference ths year.  I think we still have them beat, but I'm not sure that the WIAC can say that THIS year.  It is USUALLY WIAC, then CCIW, then (insert conference here), but THIS year it is looking like CCIW OR UAA, then WIAC, then whoever.

Frankly, I think this is overstated. I do think that the UAA is improving from top to bottom, but I'm not willing to go so far as to put them in the same class as the WIAC and the CCIW. I think that there may be something of an aberration at work here.

Fortunately, I have ready access to a UAA gym, and I plan to use it. I'll be seeing a lot of April's beloved Ratner Center ductwork over the next two months as I investigate this 2005-06 UAA phenomenon further.

[Mr. Ypsi]

Greg,

Note that I stressed THIS year.  I seriously doubt that they are a threat in general, but THIS year the UAA may (and I stress 'may') be better than the WIAC.