MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Gregory Sager]

I attended ISU grad school from fall of 68 to spring of 70.  68-69 ISU team made the final small school tournament in Evansville, IN.

Not sure what you mean by "the final small school tournament," unlesss you meant that it was the final small school tournament for the Redbirds. That '69 Illinois State team defeated CCIW champion North Park in the opening round of the NCAA College Division tournament, 87-82. That was the best Vikings team prior to the advent of the Harper/Greer/Thomas threepeaters (or so I've been told), as they were led by Greg Crawford (24.6 ppg), Jim Carroll, and future Houston Oilers WR Paul Zaeske.

After beating North Park, Illinois State then went on to crush Valparaiso in the regional championship, 103-87, before losing to Ashland in the quarterfinals, 41-35.

They were one of the highest scoring teams in the country and lost to the school that claimed to have the world's greatest defense as they gave up about 40 points a game (can't remember the name, but Bill Musselman was the coach).  That defense held them down and ended that season.

Their claim was no lie. Ashland held opponents to 33.9 ppg. That's still one of the lowest opponent scoring averages by any NCAA team ever. Ashland did it cleanly, too, as the Eagles averaged only ten fouls per game, still an NCAA-record low for a season. Ashland went on to finish fourth in the College Division tournament that season. Musselman was still only 29 years old when he coached Ashland in 1968-69.

I'm sure it would be embarassing, but why not schedule it at least as one of the exhibition games instead of Quincy?  It wouldn't hurt the post-season chances then.  Is Illinois State often fighting for at-large bids to the big dance?   Is IWU and ISU often fighting for the same recruits?  Is a single November loss really going to hurt recruiting, no matter who you lose to?

There is absolutely no good reason for Illinois State to schedule such a game, even as an exhibition. Quincy at least makes a bit of sense as an exhibition opponent, since the Hawks are a D2 program.

[Gregory Sager]

In the opening round of Elmhurst's tournament yesterday, Ripon dumped the sputtering Bluejays, 87-77. Elmhurst actually had a 16-point lead late in the first half in this one, and went into the locker room at the intermission up by nine. However, in the last ten minutes of the game, the visitors outscored EC by a whopping 30-14 margin to erase a six-point Elmhurst lead. Nick Sanford finished with 25 and 8, Bryant Ackerman had 13, and Alex Morgonov chipped in 12.

The 'jays did manage to recover today by winning the consolation game over Wabash by an 80-66 margin, leading from wire to wire. D'Ante Foster had 20 points and six steals, Sanford had a 12 and 12 double-double, and Ackerman added a dozen points as well.

EC finishes the non-con slate with a 4-7 record. I'm pretty sure that that's not what Mark Scherer was looking for when activities commenced back on November 15.

[Gregory Sager]

The feel-good story of the day today was Millikin's 78-75 nailbiter win over Rockford up in the Forest City. Trent Windemuller led Millikin with 26 points, including 7-12 from downtown.  Elijah Kinmon scored 19 points and had five rebounds. Tommy Pilackas tallied 10 points and grabbed a team-high six rebounds.  The Big Blue's leading scorer, T.J. Griffin, scored only eight points, but he dished out 13 assists. That's one shy of the Millikin record of 14 assists in a game set by Roy Mosser 38 seasons ago. (I'm guessing that Leon Gobczynski was the recipient of the lion's share of Mosser's 14 dimes.)

Millikin thus finishes the non-con slate with a 4-7 record. For Elmhurst, 4-7 is a disaster. For Millikin, 4-7 is a breakthrough.

[D-3 watcher]

Iwu and Isu do not recruit against each other. I wouldn't say never, but I can't remember the last time. Very few kids that play in the CCIW could start on a Missouri Vally team. There has been some that I believe could have played a little in the valley, but not as many as you would think.

[Gregory Sager]

Illinois College 100
North Park 45

I'm stumped.

[Gregory Sager]

North Central 80
UW-LaCrosse 72

[Gregory Sager]

This was the most lopsided loss in NPU history, and I certainly didn't see it coming. I was under no illusions that this was a good Vikings team this year, but ... Illinois College? By 55 points?

The Vikings got sliced apart by some absolutely huge Blue Boys runs. It was a two-point game (IC 26, NPU 24) with five and a half to go in the first half, and then the Blue Boys finished off the opening stanza with a 27-5 run. It got worse from there: IC went on a 21-2 run early in the second half to make it a laugher, and at that point it was simply a matter of NPU trying to get out of the building and onto the bus as quickly as possible. Tom Slyder threw in the towel fairly early and put in the JV squad out of disgust; when you see the likes of Pat McCarthy playing more minutes than Aaron Weaver, and Craig Welch and David Johansson playing double-digit minutes, it can't be good.

I'll bet that Tom Slyder will be yelling at them for the entire four-and-a-half-hour bus ride home.

[Mr. Ypsi]

Illinois College 100
North Park 45

I'm stumped.

Stumped is an understatement.

IC had lost to Cornell and 2-9 Monmouth, for heaven sakes!  (Though they did beat 7-2 Grinnell.)  Considering that last score, perhaps it was as much Jeckyll-and-Hyde IC as it was NPU?

But THE most lopsided loss in NPU history?  To Illinois College?  You're not the only one stumped!

[Gregory Sager]

The CCIW will have four teams post losing records in non-conference play this year. Of course, that's barring the unlikely scenario of one of those four teams getting hot and winning the CCIW tourney, thus qualifying for the league's Pool A berth, and then rectifying matters in the D3 tourney in terms of non-con record.

Four CCIW teams posting losing non-con records doesn't happen very often. The only other times in the modern era of CCIW basketball (1968-present) that four or more teams posted losing non-con records were 1996-97, 1995-96, 1980-81, and 1973-74. I say that without knowledge of what Carroll did in non-conference play from 1968-92, however, since the Pioneers do not have online year-to-year records that cover the seasons prior to their transition from the CCIW to the MWC in 1992.

Oddly enough, the CCIW will still finish the season well ahead of the last two years in terms of non-con winning percentage, regardless of how the league does in the D3 tourney. That's because the top four teams have been as sparkling (39-4, .907) as the bottom half has been horrendous (17-26, .395).

[Titan Q]

Illinois College 100
North Park 45

Oh my goodness.  Wow.

[ExBBaller40]

Illinois College 100
North Park 45

I'm stumped.

That is very surprising since the beat a very good UW-La Crosse team not that long ago...and has been said IC is definitely nothing to write home about

[veterancciwfan]

Doug Collins was recruited by Jim Collie and was a freshman in the 69/70 season. Freshmen could not play varsity b'ball then (as I recall), but Collins did play for the ISU freshmen team against the IWU junior varsity prior to the final ISU/IWU game in Jan. 1970. To add insult prior to injury, IWU won that game.

Important game for the Titans tomorrow in Indiana. My memory (and it is not as good as it used to be!) is that in the majority of nonconference games (not including D3 tournament games) IWU has played on the road against IN teams, a cascade of fouls have been called. It's my opinion that IN D3 refs tend to call the game like a high school game and allow very little contact. We'll see if that is the case tomorrow. If so, IWU might need a full and healthy roster. Marberger would help a lot. Zimmer too, but I imagine IWU will be very cautious with his PT.

IWU finished 9-2 in nonconf. play during the last 2 seasons and without those 9 wins, IWU may have been denied a D3 tourney berth in both 2011 and 2012 (in which IWU went 5-2-- 1-1 in 2011 and 4-1 in 2012). With the CCIW loaded at the top and Millikin now a threat, especially at home, going 10-4 in league play (as IWU did last year) will be a real challenge in 2013.

[veterancciwfan]

Regarding the final IWU/ISU game in 1970, Dennie Bridges devotes an entire chapter to it in his book "A Dunk Only Counts Two Points." The last page in the chapter shows the Tom Gramkow winning shot nestled in the net with this inscription: Final Basket, Final Second, Final Game  IWU 69 ISU 68.

IWU played Ashland College when Musselman was the coach. Ashland furnished IWU several scuffed-up warm up balls. Ashland had padded chairs for its bench and IWU had a single wooden long bleacher with no padding for its bench. IWU jumped to an early significant lead but Bridges told Musselman after the game that he was not going to hold the ball (long before the shot clock) and stall. IWU lost. IWU fans who witnessed the game were not surprised when Musselman had all sorts of ethics problems at Minnesota (didn't he?). Is he still alive and coaching somewhere? I doubt it.

[sac]

Illinois College 100
North Park 45

I'm stumped.

ladies and gentlemen,  Greg Sager has been rendered postless, the internet is over.

[dahlby]

Per google. Bill Musselman passed away on May 5, 2000.