MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[cardinalpride]

If anything, coaches, players and officials seemed a little more cautious following the crash that ended with Schweer bouncing his head off the court leaving the game with what may turn out to be a broken nose.  Really nothing overall with the officiating to complain about.  Two good teams played really hard to win.

The Jones twins were shoving NCC players and going over the back all night long.  The play in which Schweer got hurt, Simmons was pushed in the back on a rebound and ultimately landed into schweer knocking him onto the floor.  Amazingly, the foul went against schweer.  I'm still trying to figure that out.  However, it was a great game!  NCC players need to learn to push and shove more, but with lack of depth upfront, they probably can't afford to.

[Pat Coleman]

Back when Elmhurst played Platteville, it was noted that on Mapquest they were 204.63 miles apart.  The official NCAA program is Microsoft's Streets and Trips.  At the time Pat responded that he would check, but there was no further post.  Since it is still listed as in-region, I assume that the checking showed it was - BUT, do we have any hope that Elmhurst actually has one less in-region loss than we think??!

I am about 95% sure I double-checked that when the original post came out, after checking S&T'04 when the original schedule came in.

I am on the road and do not have S&T on this laptop, but the 'shortest possible distance' setting on Mapquest gives me 161.75 so I think we're secure that it's a regional game.

[79jaybird]

The Elmhurst Geography Major in me would think that Platteville would be an in-region game.
Greg- Al taught me a lot about basketball and helped me see what the CCIW has to offer back when I was looking at schools.  Al and his wife are good friends with my Mother.  Funny you mention track.. Amy ( eldest daughter) was a track star at North Central.
"What infuriates IWU fans more  IWU not undefeated and Augie is"    I don't look at this as much as... This season is so enjoyable and exciting because the intradivisional parity is the highest it has been in a long time and there are 4-5 teams that have a good shot at reaching post season.  It is not just IWU's tiara.  Every game thus is exciting and worth watching.

[79jaybird]

In case Jim and Ben don't make the trip down to Bloomington for the game, is the EC/IWU game going to be web broadcast on an IWU station?? 

[Titan Q]

79jaybird, the game will be on WJBC2.com.  I will be doing play-by-play with former Titan Mark Aubry ('95) on the color.  Pregame at 7:15.

I will have the women's game on WJBC2.com at 5:15.

[Titan Q]

Here is the boxscore from the Jan. 14 72-64 Elmhurst win...

http://www.iwu.edu/~iwunews/sports/mbb2006/miwu14.htm

In that game...

* IWU played a ton of 2-3 zone, forcing Elmhurst into 25 3-pt attempts.  EC made just 7 (28%).  The problem with the zone however, is that it tends to take IWU out of its offensive rhythm...it slows the game down too much.

* Elmhurst took Keelan Amelianovich completely out of the game, holding him to just 2-5 from the field and 5 points.  The Bluejays kept him from scoring in the entire 1st half.  They primarily used smaller guards on 6-6 Amelianovich, instead of big guys like 6-6 Chris Martin.

* IWU stayed in the game behind a big performace from Adam Dauksas from the perimeter.  Dauksas tied an IWU single-game record, connecting on 8 3's (in 13 attempts), finishing with 28 points.  With the offense sputtering, Dauksas tried to take the game over - and nearly did - but this led to him only having 1 assist in the game...his season low.

* The Titans went on a 13-2 run from 14:27 to 7:36 in the 2nd half to erase a 9-point deficit and take 2-point lead.

* Elmhurst went on a 15-4 run from 7:15 to 3:43 to take command for good.  The run was led by 3 absolute bombs by Chris Martin -- probably each at least 24 feet.  Nick Michael had the other 3 baskets during that stretch.


The Titans will have to adjust to what Elmhurst did to them in that game.  3 keys I see:

1) They have to get Amelianovich shots...and Keelan has to counter how physical they will defend him and create his own shots.  Neither happened at Elmhurst.  Keelan is coming into this game off a 23 point performance (9-13 FG, 5-7 3-pt) vs Carthage and 28 points (10-16 FG, 6-11 3-pt) at North Central...the NCC game may have been his career best.

2) The Titans have to get everyone involved in the offense and move the ball...IWU plays much, much better when Dauksas has 7 assists vs when he has to be a scorer because nothing else is going right.

3) IWU has to find a way to somewhat contain Martin.  That 2 minute stretch at Elmhurst was the first time in 3 seasons Martin has gotten to the Titans.  We'll probably see a combination of defenses again.

Should be a great game in front of an enormous crowd. 

[Titan Q]

National QOWI Top 100 posted by Pat Coleman...

http://www.d3sports.com/post/index.php?topic=4232.60

#1 Augustana 11.765
#13 Illinois Wesleyan 10.786
#30 North Central 10.077
#73 Elmhurst 9.313

The Pool C cutoff is probably at about #45 when you factor in all of the Pool A and B teams.  (There will be 37 A's, 4 B's, and 18 C's in the 59 team field.)

[Titan Q]

Approximate QOWI impact of the IWU/Elmhurst game tonight...

Titan win
IWU 10.867
Elmhurst 9.18

Bluejay win
IWU 10.333
Elmhurst 9.65

[bluejaybacker1]

Q- Looking forward to coming down to your place tonight, as our meeting last year was missing your student section, should be a lot of fun and another great match-up in the CCIW. Hey whats the word on Schweer? I know he got hurt in the game at NC and I figure you'd be the best person to ask. Well good luck to all tonight.

[Titan Q]

backer, Schweer has a broken nose but will play with a mask.  That makes two masks now for the Titans (Zach Freeman also has a broken nose).

http://www.pantagraph.com/articles/2006/02/04/sports/105670.txt

[Hoosier Titan]

Hey whats the word on Schweer?

The Pantagraph says he will play, bluejaybacker, and I saw him earlier today on campus.  

The play that ended with the broken nose and a foul called on Schweer happened pretty much as cardinalpride described it--there was an IWU foul there, but it wasn't committed by Schweer.  It was one of the most egregious calls I've ever seen, especially given that it literally added insult to injury.  Overall, though, the officiating was good for that game.  

[joehakes]

Former Wheaton assistant Mike Schauer has Gordon Collge at 10.412 in QOWI, good for 24th on the national list.

[iwumichigander]

The play in which Schweer got hurt, Simmons was pushed in the back on a rebound and ultimately landed into schweer knocking him onto the floor.  Amazingly, the foul went against schweer.  I'm still trying to figure that out.  However, it was a great game!  NCC players need to learn to push and shove more, but with lack of depth upfront, they probably can't afford to.

Cardinalpride, I think everyone in the gym except the officials were trying to figure out that call.  I was under that basket.  I think the officials may have felt it was a block on Schweer's part.  It was really a situation where 3 guys were going for the ball.  I did not think Simmons had full possession of the ball.  I could have also seen a foul call on Jones, Simmons or Schweer.  However, with Schweer hitting the deck not likely the officials would have made a no call (and I could have seen it go that way as well).  I believe the official actually started to signal a call before Schweer hit the deck. 

The whistle was a little late.  A tough situation for an official because their real concern at that point has to be the player on the floor.

You are probably right on the depth.  It is certainly a different NCC team when Simmons is not on the court.

[armywife]

Great article in the Quad City Times about the Swetalla family at Augie.

www.qctimes.net/articles/2006/02/03/sports/doc43e30880e4602681515672.txt

I'm glad that they decided to transfer this year. They've been an important asset to the team.

[79jaybird]

TitanQ thanks  and I will be tuning in.  Very observant keys to the game mentioned also.   I think Martin and Amelianovich are going to be the difference(s) today.  These are the two guys I am focusing on.
Historically, Elmhurst hasn't played well at the Shirk and IWU has revenge on their minds.  EC has their tournament seedings and slim CCIW title hopes riding on the game.  This is a recipe for a great game.
earlier poster "Does Carthage have any shot vs. Augie"  Of course!! what better motivator than a chance to erase a 0 in the loss column as an underdog?
I think every game teams have a shot.  Look at lowly Indiana St. ending SIU's longstanding home winning streak, etc.   every dog can have his day. 
Personally,I don't see Augie losing and having a let down, but you never know.