MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Gregory Sager]

Wheaton 75
North Park 52

Tim McCrary: 24 pts, 9 rebs
Jeremy Pflederer: 18 pts (6-8 trey)
Tyler Peters: 13 pts

Mike Gabriel: 14 pts
Ro Russell: 11 pts

Finally, two-thirds of the way thru the season, the North Park student body at last got a chance to see the Vikings. Yes, as incredible as it sounds, this was the first home game for NPU that did not take place when the students were on break. But, after today's debacle, I don't know how many of them will bother coming back again this year.

There's really not much for them to see. I've said this all before, so it's same-old, same-old: The Vikings just don't have enough guys who can put the ball in the basket. When Dylan Howard is forced to play two, sometimes even three, players simultaneously who can't shoot, it makes his team ridiculously easy to defend. Add in the fact that they don't rebound well (once again the Vikes got killed on the boards, this time by nine) and don't hit their FTs (12-21 today), and you're talking about a team that didn't even give itself a chance -- and, considering the talent gap between Wheaton and NPU, at best all you could hope for the Park was just a chance.

The Vikings actually started out well, running up an 11-5 lead six minutes early into the game. But then Mike Gabriel had to go out after picking up his second foul -- have you heard this one before? -- and the Vikings O bogged down. Tim McCrary, who was silent for the first stretch of the game, started to come alive, and Wheaton pulled out in front. Still, the Vikings were competitive all the way down to halftime.

In the second half, however, NPU was never in it, and Wheaton slowly pulled away. The Vikings did play hard and never quit on themselves, but you don't get any brownie points for that. The game's lingering picture is of Jeremy Pflederer hitting yet another open trey from the far left corner for what seemed like the umpteenth time.

Dylan Howard really deserves a mulligan for this season, and it's a good thing, as NPU has a date with 3-11 or 2-12 coming by the end of February. Just waaay too many guys on this team whose box-score lines are filled with zeroes. NPU needs a serious truckload of CCIW-ready talent to appear on campus between now and late August. That's really all there is to it. Just that simple, eh?

Also, this was the first time that NPU has hosted Wheaton in a Saturday afternoon game that I can recall. I sincerely hope it's the last time. There was absolutely no energy in the crackerbox today, not even when the Vikings were ahead early on. I realize that the schedule has to be designed in a way to accommodate the women's team, but accommodate them with afternoon starts when Elmhurst or North Central or Carthage or somebody is in town. Not Wheaton. This is a rivalry game, and it should be played at night.

[matblake]

Tre Kronor, one could argue, is the place to go before a Viking game, surpassing The Pit, aka, Charcoal Delights.

Bite your tongue. Yeah, Tre Kronor is a great restaurant, with the best Swedish pancakes in town, and, like the Pit, it's a sponsor of NPU men's basketball. But, still ... bite your tongue, Mark.

Even your last name doesn't give you a pass on this one.  Dead wrong, IMO.

[Gregory Sager]

MB, you'll be happy to know that the Wheaton team had its postgame meal at Charcoal Delights. It's nice to see Wheaton maintaining its rep as the CCIW's brainiest school.

[TitansIWU]

For some reason, the IWU-Elmhurst game video from Elmhurst isn't synched with their own audio.

It's like watching two games for the price of one.

I wonder why it is so hard to stream video at the D3 level. Must be budgetary or bandwidth constraints.

I haven't seen a team yet that really does it well, it is either grainy, too far away, isn't synched, cuts out, goes blank, freezes, etc.

I swear if a company could bundle a decent, AFFORDABLE software package that is consistent, user friendly, and takes into consideration the home viewer's experience, they could market it to so many places.

I just felt like venting.

[Gregory Sager]

Augie is going to continue to struggle unless they can get some decent perimeter shooting.

See my notes above. Augie shot 7-17 (41%) against NPU on Tuesday. Having Roth out there for 25 minutes as a third guard made a huge difference. Expect to see a lot more of Roth paired with DeSimone and Rorer in a three-guard lineup for Augie henceforth.

Yet Roth was 1/8 against North Central, including 0/7 from 3. He does like to shoot though. Those 8 shots came in only 7 minutes of action.
Maybe he isn't used to shooting against a zone?

Don't make too big a deal out of that, Mark. The only off-night Roth's had besides the NCC game was his 2-6 effort from downtown against Millikin. Even the greatest shooters have a bad game every now and then ... and Roth hasn't had that many this season.

Roth has really lit up Carthage in the first half of tonight's game.

[augie_superfan]

Augustana's broadcasts don't seem to be too bad.  Maybe a bit too far away but I think it's decent quality video and the audio is synched up nicely.  There is one team, I think on the east coast, that has a great setup with multiple cameras and replays....I just cant remember who they are

[augie_superfan]

Are the live stats correct for the NCC - Millikin contest?  25-0 NCC run to start the 2nd half!!!

[TitansIWU]

Augustana's broadcasts don't seem to be too bad.  Maybe a bit too far away but I think it's decent quality video and the audio is synched up nicely.  There is one team, I think on the east coast, that has a great setup with multiple cameras and replays....I just cant remember who they are

Yep, Augustana is pretty good. Wash U. is decent too. At times, it might even be my own bandwidth availability I guess.

[Gregory Sager]

Final from the Griz:

North Central 74
Millikin 37

Believe it or not, this was a four-point game with a minute to go in the first half. But it took MU ten whole minutes before it scored even a single point in the second half, and by that point it was a laugher.

[Gregory Sager]

Final from the QC:

Augustana 90
Carthage 70

This one was never close. Tonight, Augie looked like the Top Ten team everyone thought it was going to be. Augie shot the lights out ... and those are five words I didn't think I'd use in the same sentence this season.

[AndOne]

Are the live stats correct for the NCC - Millikin contest?  25-0 NCC run to start the 2nd half!!!

Final from the Griz:

North Central 74
Millikin 37

Believe it or not, this was a four-point game with a minute to go in the first half. But it took MU ten whole minutes before it scored even a single point in the second half, and by that point it was a laugher.

From Decatur:

NCC    74
Millikin 37

North Central led by only 8 at the half in a place where they have traditionally not played that well. The Cardinals then began the 2nd half with a 33-0 run. Millikin didn't score their 1st point of the 2nd half until only 10:03 remained to be played, and totaled only 14 points in the entire 2nd half.
NCC was led in scoring by Aaron Tiknis with 15, Landon Gamble with 12. and Derek Raridon with 11. Leading rebounder for the Cardinals with 7, was Ryan Broyles off the bench. Ryan collected his 7 boards in only 8 minutes of action.
Not a whole lot else to say. This was a case of minnows vs sharks.     

[Gregory Sager]

Final from Faganel:

Illinois Wesleyan 77
Elmhurst 60

EC had an early eight-point lead, but the 'jays offense went into cold storage from that point onward as they got trampled by IWU. The 'jays did cut what had been a 20-point deficit down to 11 late in the game, but you never had the feeling that EC was going to get back in it. Wesleyan seemed to be in firm control throughout after the ragged start.

All three CCIW leaders remain deadlocked at 5-1.

[Gregory Sager]

Are the live stats correct for the NCC - Millikin contest?  25-0 NCC run to start the 2nd half!!!

Final from the Griz:

North Central 74
Millikin 37

Believe it or not, this was a four-point game with a minute to go in the first half. But it took MU ten whole minutes before it scored even a single point in the second half, and by that point it was a laugher.

From Decatur:

NCC    74
Millikin 37

North Central led by only 8 at the half in a place where they have traditionally not played that well. The Cardinals then began the 2nd half with a 33-0 run. Millikin didn't score their 1st point of the 2nd half until only 10:03 remained to be played

Mark, is there any particular reason why you felt compelled to quote me and then repeat almost word-for-word what I had said? I mean, what's the point?

[iwu70]

Good road win for IWU, over EC, 77-50.  Many players in double figures.  Zimmer 18.  4-5 from trey.  Another breakout game by Parker Musselman, with 13, good rebounding.  Musselman really sparked the team tonight.  Different contributors each game, the bench depth on display again.  Ziemnik with 13 and Davis with 12 had solid games.  Reed with 8 points. 

Gotta keep pace . . . now 5-1.  Millikin at home next.  This season good medicine for any CCIW team.  Other games playing out as most of us expected.

Keep it going TITANS.

IWU70

p.s.  Yes, K-man had a weak game, but he and Dortch do contribute on defense in ways that don't show up on the score sheet.  ms

p.s.s.  The night of the Newt.  Who would have thunk it? 

[AndOne]

Are the live stats correct for the NCC - Millikin contest?  25-0 NCC run to start the 2nd half!!!

Final from the Griz:

North Central 74
Millikin 37

Believe it or not, this was a four-point game with a minute to go in the first half. But it took MU ten whole minutes before it scored even a single point in the second half, and by that point it was a laugher.

From Decatur:

NCC    74
Millikin 37

North Central led by only 8 at the half in a place where they have traditionally not played that well. The Cardinals then began the 2nd half with a 33-0 run. Millikin didn't score their 1st point of the 2nd half until only 10:03 remained to be played

Mark, is there any particular reason why you felt compelled to quote me and then repeat almost word-for-word what I had said? I mean, what's the point?

Greg--

* You made no mention of the exact halftime differential.
* You made no mention of the historical performance of the Cardinals in Decatur.
* You made no mention of the actual number of points in the NCC run to begin the 2nd half.
* You made no mention of NCC's leading scorers and rebounder.
* You stated it took MU 10 minutes to score when, in actuality, it only took them 9:57. While the difference is only a mere 3 seconds, over the years you have corrected miniscule mistakes by a plethora of posters on numerous occasions. I only stated the facts.
* You quoted only the part of my post that you felt would serve your purpose rather than include the entire post which gave a more complete and accurate picture of the action.
* I can understand that the combination of the way your beloved Chicago Vikings are currently playing, plus the fact that you are obviously home tonight as opposed to being out enjoying a usual night of debauchery in the Big City, have you in a foul mood. 
* If my post contributed in any way to your malaise, why don't you just delete it if that will help? You have the power do you not?