MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Gregory Sager]

FINAL

Wash U 64
Wheaton 62

Great ballgame.

[Mr. Ypsi]

If I were a bettin' man, I might take that +9.

Perhaps you oughta be a bettin' man!  WashU survives by 2.

[usee]

Contrary to some people elswhere on these boards I believe Wheaton continued to show they are a top 20 (or better) team tonight with a tight game at Wash U.  A great effort by the Thunder and a disappointing loss against the #1 team. Disappointing in that this game was winnable but WashU executed down the stretch and iced the game with free throws.

[John Gleich]

In my estimation,

Wheaton lost this game when they were up 2 with 1:18 to go and they let Thompson turn the corner and get it to Kelly for the easy layup.  It's a simple ball screen.  If you hedge and make him go wide, then he can't turn the corner and your single defender doesn't have to help.

And Wash U won the game by getting the rebounding edge... they were down 2 at the half and ended up with the 31-26 edge.  That and the fact that Wash U kept getting easy bucket after easy bucket, mostly by Gay. 

[Gregory Sager]

Wheaton went toe-to-toe with Wash U, and I think that the Sonic Atmospheric Disturbance actually outplayed the Bears slightly, but I think that there were three things in this game that tipped it in Wash U's favor:

1. The Wallis factor. He can create for his team in so many ways, and Wheaton just doesn't have anybody who can do that sort of thing for its offense. Of course, the number of D3 teams that have a Wallis-type player can be counted on one hand, with fingers left over.

2. Depth. The player who came up big tonight was Wash U reserve forward Spencer Gay, who had 12 second-half points and made the two most crucial FTs of the game in the waning seconds with the score tied. Wheaton just doesn't have the personnel on the bench who can change the balance of a game like that.

3. Physical strength. Gay and Alex Toth ripped the ball out of Wheaton players' hands at several points on rebounding battles. Of course, the fact that Wheaton's big men have to play heavier minutes might enter into that one, too.

I'm with USee on this one regarding Wheaton's ranking. I think that Wheaton earned some respect tonight. Sometimes when you go into the final minute of a tie ballgame you can sense which team is going to win it. I didn't have that decisive sense that Wash U was going to win it, two-time national defending champs or not, and that's a testament to how well Wheaton was playing.

[Titan Q]

Wheaton played very well vs Wash U.  The Thunder play outstanding defense and tonight, they really made it difficult for Wash U to score.

Did Ben Panner intentionally foul Gay after the missed shot with 25 seconds left (with the game tied)?  I was watching the video and not there live, but it looked to me like he tried to foul.  Or was he just trying to steal the ball?

[andrewmp]

I have to agree with you Point.  Giving up that easy bucket in the last minute to let Wash U tie it was the point where they lost it.  If Wheaton played defense and forced them to use a little bit more time on the clock, they could have let the clock run down and taken a shot a winning, or go into overtime.  
Wash U had a very well run offense and wondered at times why they didn't run away with it.  
I was  impressed with the way McCrary played down the stretch.  Big points and big free throws.
I was surprised and thought it was a poor idea to put someone on the line in a tie game.
Good game to watch, even if it was online.  Hoping that no one gets injured in our next game.  

[Titan Q]

The beauty of streaming video.  I'm in Columbia, Mo, but have already watched North Park (vs Carroll, Trinity Intl), North Central (@ Albion), Wheaton (vs Chicago, @ Wash U), and Augustana (@ Knox)...not to mention several non-CCIW Top 25 teams.  Quite a luxury.  I believe next week I can watch IWU @ Illinois College.

[WUPHF]

Did Ben Panner intentionally foul Gay after the missed shot with 25 seconds left (with the game tied)?  I was watching the video and not there live, but it looked to me like he tried to foul.  Or was he just trying to steal the ball?

Panner clearly fouled Gay after the missed shot, but that would have been hard to see on the video.

[Mr. Ypsi]

To no one's surprise, Augie is getting destroyed by Gonzaga - 40-14 at the half.  Still, they are actually looking pretty good.  I think intimidation may be a factor, as they have missed a bunch of shots that were NOT due to Gonzaga's defense, but they have also held down Gonzaga's scoring pretty well.

Much of their scoring problems obviously are due to Gonzaga, but, assuming they would shoot better on their open shots, I don't think there are very many d3 teams that would be leading them right now.  Their positioning, ball-distribution and defense have been excellent, given what they are up against.

Given the mismatch it is hard to tell, but I think they are a legitimate top 25 team.  The game against WashU should be a better indicator.

[Titan Q]

Did Ben Panner intentionally foul Gay after the missed shot with 25 seconds left (with the game tied)?  I was watching the video and not there live, but it looked to me like he tried to foul.  Or was he just trying to steal the ball?

Panner clearly fouled Gay after the missed shot, but that would have been hard to see on the video.

It was obvious on video he fouled him...but was he trying to?  (It seemed to me like he was...and I couldn't believe it.)

[John Gleich]

Wheaton played very well vs Wash U.  The Thunder play outstanding defense and tonight, they really made it difficult for Wash U to score.

Did Ben Panner intentionally foul Gay after the missed shot with 25 seconds left (with the game tied)?  I was watching the video and not there live, but it looked to me like he tried to foul.  Or was he just trying to steal the ball?

I think he intentionally fouled him.  It happened so quickly it was really hard to tell, you're right.  I didn't notice if it came from the bench or not, and I haven't any idea what kind of FT shooter Gay is.  I know he hadn't shot any all game yet, and he's coming off the bench...  If he had missed them, then it would look really good!

As it was, it gave Wheaton the opportunity to try to tie or take the lead, as opposed to giving Wash U the chance to hit the game winning shot or tip...  Interesting strategy if it was intentional, though.

[Titan Q]

To no one's surprise, Augie is getting destroyed by Gonzaga - 40-14 at the half.  Still, they are actually looking pretty good.  I think intimidation may be a factor, as they have missed a bunch of shots that were NOT due to Gonzaga's defense, but they have also held down Gonzaga's scoring pretty well.

Much of their scoring problems obviously are due to Gonzaga, but, assuming they would shoot better on their open shots, I don't think there are very many d3 teams that would be leading them right now.  Their positioning, ball-distribution and defense have been excellent, given what they are up against.

Given the mismatch it is hard to tell, but I think they are a legitimate top 25 team.  The game against WashU should be a better indicator.

It is hard to take much from this game.  It is just such a talent mismatch, and Augie is having to try to play a little different style just to survive, that it's tough to get a real feel for Augie (good or bad).

[Gregory Sager]

I was surprised and thought it was a poor idea to put someone on the line in a tie game.

I thought that it was an astute move by Panner. Spencer Gay was 2-6 from the line on the season when he toed the stripe for that one-and-one.

[WUPHF]

3. Physical strength. Gay and Alex Toth ripped the ball out of Wheaton players' hands at several points on rebounding battles. Of course, the fact that Wheaton's big men have to play heavier minutes might enter into that one, too.

I agree with this analysis more than any of the other posts except for point three.  I was surprised how much physical strength Wheaton possessed tonight (backing our big guys up for example).  And, live, in person, you could see that the ball was a hot potato tonight.  A lot of players on both sides struggled to hold on to it.  

If you are a Wheaton fan, I can understand why you would want to point to one play or one sequence of plays and use that to explain away the loss, but the game is 40 minutes long.  Both teams played tough and both made their share of mistakes.