MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[iwu70]

Great game, WC is for real, 66-64 over Wash U.  Greg, you are again correct, a great game to watch.  Two very good teams. 

NCC all over Simpson.  Gamble with a huge game in the second half.

IWU70

[jaybird44]

Great game!  Tough to watch if you're a Bears fan, but kudos to Wheaton for disrupting a lot of passes in WashU's half-court sets and shooting well from the perimeter.  Also hung tough inside on rebounds.

The Bears had several chances off several missed Wheaton shots in a row to get points on the other end between the 10-minute mark and the 5-minute mark.  Gotta have some of them put in the basket on the road.  And, a golden opportunity to take the lead was squandered when Haynes missed a dunk and was called for a technical foul.  Bears made only 1 of 2 technical-foul free throws, and did not get a basket from the inbounds play.  That hurt muy much.

[Gregory Sager]

I'm convinced that Mike Schauer gives the best postgame interviews in D3. Zero coachspeak, and you always get a unique twist or two on the game from him. He started out tonight's interview by stating openly that he thinks Wash U's a "slightly better team", but that he felt beforehand that the home-court advantage for Wheaton was going to balance that out and force the game to the wire. He also sent out a lot of kudos to Wash U coach Mark Edwards, saying, "I was afraid to call a timeout down the stretch, because I was afraid he was going to outcoach me."

That kind of candor is really refreshing, because it's so uncharacteristic of head coaches in general, but of course I think Mike's natural humility came out a bit as well. He's not too shabby a coach himself, after all.

[jaybird44]

I thought it would come down to a buzzer-beater...I didn't think either team would let the other pull away outside of the final minute of regulation.  Fun, fun game.

[Gregory Sager]

This was in yesterday's Carthage press release following the loss to Coe:

Starting center Luke Johnson (So., Naperville, Ill./West Chicago-Wheaton Academy) didn't accompany the team due to back trouble, and backup Steve Jaskulske (Sr., Racine, Wis./Case) is out for the year after tearing an anterior cruciate ligament in last Friday's game versus Hope College at the CCIW/MIAA Classic in Wheaton, Ill.

Jaskulske is eligible for a medical redshirt if he chooses to go that route.

[Gregory Sager]

The CCIW is now 38-21 (.644) in non-con play.

[Mr. Ypsi]

It will be interesting to see if a close LOSS AT #7 UWSP will be what finally nudges (#26) Augie into the Top 25!

[Jim Matson]

Nice win for Wheaton tonight. Over the years, the Thunder have let a few too many close games slip away in the final minutes. It was good to see them hold on and win against a very good Wash U team.

[Titan Q]

Video...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sjzOvXYL_9Q&feature=youtu.be

[Titan Q]

I watched the entire Wash U/Wheaton game via WETN last night.  I was already 100% sold on Wash U as a legitimate national title contender heading into this game...I'm now convinced that both teams are Top 10-type teams.

Wheaton was picked 5th in the CCIW preseason coaches poll, and I think that was fair at the time of the vote.  The Thunder lost so much and had so many new pieces to work in.  But we are at the time of the season where we can completely throw the preseason poll away and just evaluate 2012-13 on its own merits.  When you do that I think you have to conclude that Wheaton is right there with North Central as the CCIW favorite in 2013.

A few observations from last night:

* Tyler Peters is a no-brainer 1st Team All-CCIW player.  Last night Wash U tried to take away Peters as a scorer...so he turned into a passer.  Peters had 10 assists last night -- it's not often you see double digit assists.  Peters can beat you by dribble penetration or by passing, and that's a tough combination to deal with.

* Michael Kvam might end up being one of the elite 3-point shooters in Division III this year.  After 5-6 last night, he's 27-52 (.519) on the season.

* Michael Berg was a small school IHSA stud and, in time, is going to be a CCIW stud.  He is very talented.

* Mike Schauer is a very good coach -- when you watch Wheaton play you immediately say, "They are well-coached."


My biggest question about the Thunder moving forward is...

- Is Wheaton too reliant on 3-point shooting to win?  (What happens on the road against good teams, in tough environments, when the 3s aren't falling?  Like at North Central, or IWU, or Augie.  Do they have enough low post scoring to survive some of these games?)

We know that this Wheaton team is really good at King Arena -- just need to see how they perform on the road now against good teams.

The win last night over a Wash U team that is sure to have a monster season has set the Thunder up for a special season if they capitalize during CCIW play.

[Titan Q]

Among the four current favorites to make the conference tournament this year, three return most of their nucleus next year.  Wheaton (center Nate Haynes), Illinois Wesleyan (center Kevin Reed), and Augustana (center Brandon Kunz) each only start one senior this year. 

And Wash U also only loses one starter (center Robert Burnett).

[Titan Q]

Video...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sjzOvXYL_9Q&feature=youtu.be

If you are a Wheaton opponent, and you open a Youtube video shot from that corner down near the end up Wheaton's bench, click it off immediately...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tsw28ZxBoH4

[blue_jays]

Wheaton has made a number of buzzer-beaters the last 4 years or so from my recollections. Twice versus Pomona-Pitzer to force double OT, once against NCC to force OT, once to beat IWU, comes to mind.

[CCIWchamps]

I watched the entire Wash U/Wheaton game via WETN last night.  I was already 100% sold on Wash U as a legitimate national title contender heading into this game...I'm now convinced that both teams are Top 10-type teams.

My biggest question about the Thunder moving forward is...

- Is Wheaton too reliant on 3-point shooting to win?  (What happens on the road against good teams, in tough environments, when the 3s aren't falling?  Like at North Central, or IWU, or Augie.  Do they have enough low post scoring to survive some of these games?)

We know that this Wheaton team is really good at King Arena -- just need to see how they perform on the road now against good teams.

The win last night over a Wash U team that is sure to have a monster season has set the Thunder up for a special season if they capitalize during CCIW play.

Wheaton has a few guys that can get streaky on threes to give them some flexibility there.  Peters adjusts well from scorer to passer, and could adjust the flow enough to get them different looks- probably more mid-range jumpers than low-post scoring certainly.  Will that be enough?  I think it's close.  I don't think they rely TOO much on threes right now, but instead get those looks on good ball rotation and drive-and-dishes.  Which is to say that they have them built into their system pretty well.  Another big concern: what happens if Peters gets into early foul trouble?  He's carrying a lot of the stats on his back right now and opens the offense up so much, as well as hits the boards a significant amount.

[Gregory Sager]

Video...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sjzOvXYL_9Q&feature=youtu.be

My favorite part of the video is my boy Jeff Pearson calmly walking off the floor, tucking his whistle into his striped shirt as if to say, "I've seen it all before."

When you do that I think you have to conclude that Wheaton is right there with North Central as the CCIW favorite in 2013.

I still give NCC the edge, on experience if nothing else. But Wheaton is certainly a legitimate threat to upend the Cardinals' two-year reign.

- Is Wheaton too reliant on 3-point shooting to win?  (What happens on the road against good teams, in tough environments, when the 3s aren't falling?  Like at North Central, or IWU, or Augie.  Do they have enough low post scoring to survive some of these games?)

That's a good point, but last night erased for me any doubts that I had about Wheaton's low-post defense. They were up against a bigger, more experienced front line last night, and handled them very well. They fronted the post a lot and ended up forcing a lot of turnovers by either grabbing lob entries out of midair or by forcing the lobs to go too long. And they were able to get a lot of blocks from behind (seven of 'em, in fact) by timing their jumps perfectly after a completed lob entry. Wheaton's not exceptionally big up front, but it is exceptionally athletic.

In fact, that's my summation of the game: Wheaton out-athleticed Wash U. I realize that that's not a real word, but a game that entertaining certainly calls for a neologism.