MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[devildog29]

Andrew Ziemnik went scoreless for the first 35+ minutes, but has 8 hugely clutch points down the stretch.  (Make that 9 with under 1 minute left).

[devildog29]

Great 2nd half by WashU, but IWU seems to find continuous answers.  Final, IWU wins 71-67.  Huge games by Dylan Overstreet, Kevin Reed, and Andrew Ziemnik to finish the game.

[TitansIWU]

CCIW is guaranteed an Elite Eight appearance...hopefully that team will be wearing green. 

[iwumichigander]

Final NCC 64 UWW 60
Looks like a CCIW 'Battle of Death' in Naperville next weekend!

[TitansIWU]

Final NCC 64 UWW 60
Looks like a CCIW 'Battle of Death' in Naperville next weekend!

Maybe NCC has another indoor track event, and by default, it will have to be played in the Shirk.

[iwu70]

Great game by the Titans, to hold off a very determined Wash U team. 

Titan scoring:  16, 14, 11, 10, 7

Reed a monster at 14 and 14, Davis close behind at 11 and 9.  Zman made the difference in the last four minutes after not scoring up to that point.  Overstreet is the straw that stirs the drink.

Give alot of credit to Wash U, playing hard, coming back to take the lead with about 4:50 to go.  Titans gutted it out.  Horrible night from the line, about 45%, so that could come back to bite us at some point.  Just couldn't make a FT for a time.  Finished I think 9-19. 

Sweet Sweet Sixteen.  NCC also wins, so we're back at the Hangar for the rubber match of the season, with CCIW pride and a spot in Salem and the Elite 8 on the line.  Should be another great game in the "bracket of death." 

For tonight, Titans and NCC live!

IWU70

Unless a miracle, looks like WC loses at Tommies, but a pretty ardent and strong effort against the 27-1 Tommies. 

[iwu70]

It won't show up much on the stat sheet, but a key to tonight's TITAN win was the tough defense of Eric Dortch, hounding Aboona much of the night, with the Wash U shooter, scorer held to 4-12 shooting.  Eric also had 7 points and a monster dunk late in the game off a quick, alert outlet pass by Victor Davis following a rebound.  Great highlight for Eric, again! 

Some pretty good in-game coaching by Coach Rose tonight.  Mark Edwards must see green and Zman's flying hair in his nightmares.

Congrats to Coach Rose and all the Titans!  Another great DIII dance win in St. Louey!  Love it!

IWU70

[Mr. Ypsi]

I about had a coronary when, protecting a small lead, Pat Sodemann (a 92% FT shooter for the season) missed BOTH FTs!!  Fortunately, they survived.

I guess I shouldn't have been so nervous.  In tournament play, we are now 5-0 against the Bears (including when they were ranked #2 in 2003 and #1 in 2010; both years, like this year, they beat us in the regular season).  Some day that streak will end, but I sure hope it isn't any time soon!

[NCF]

Final NCC 64 UWW 60
Looks like a CCIW 'Battle of Death' in Naperville next weekend!

Maybe NCC has another indoor track event, and by default, it will have to be played in the Shirk.

Unfortunately for IWU, indoor season is over and outdoor season doesn't start until March 28th.

[NC_baller]

NCC was just the more clutch team down the stretch with Tiknis and Kmiec hitting huge threes late.
That was a crazy game between what could have been the top 2 teams in the tourney.

It must have been NCC's goatees that put them over the top.   

[NC_baller]

Also Brandon Williams had one helluva game to really propel NCC. Huge 13 points and some big offensive boards.

[Titan Q]

Illinois Wesleyan 71
Washington U 67

* Dylan Overstreet: 16 pts, 4 reb, 8 assists
* Kevin Reed: 14 pts, 14 reb, 3 assists
* Victor Davis: 11 pts, 9 reb
* Andrew Ziemnik: 10 pts, 7 reb

* Chris Klimek: 19 pts, 6 reb
* Alan Aboona: 14 pts, 5 reb, 3 assists
* Tim Cooney: 11 pts, 6 reb

http://bearsports.wustl.edu/Stats/TeamStats/basketball-mens/2012-2013/ncaa2.htm


Anyone who saw the Titans play for the first time tonight got a great look at exactly who this IWU team is:

- An incredibly physical team
- A team that turns it over too much
- A really balanced and deep team
- A team prone to bad nights from the FT line
- A team with a lot of heart and character

Despite turning it over 17 times and going an awful 9-19 from the FT line, I thought the Titans played extremely well tonight overall on the road against a great team.  The Titans took control of the game in the 1st half, in what was just a very, very physical affair.  After watching games in live stream land all season long, I forget just how bruising some of these games are - there were some big, strong kids really getting after it tonight in St. Louis.

IWU maintained control of the game in the 2nd half and looked to be in pretty good shape at 57-50 with 6:56 to play.  But the Bears battled back, and a Tim Cooney "and one" gave Wash U its first lead since 1-0, at 58-57 with 4:16 to play.  It really felt like the Titans were in trouble at this point - momentum had completely swung in favor of the Bears.  IWU had controlled the first 36 minutes, yet the Titans found themselves down all of the sudden.

During a media timeout after Wash U took the lead, Matt Hoder (former IWU player who I was sitting next to, and guy I have often compared Andrew Ziemnik to) and I were talking about the fact that 1st Team all-CCIW performer Andrew Ziemnik was scoreless in the game, and how the Titans desperately needed something from him.  Ziemnik delivered in a big way, drilling a 3-pointer from the right wing on the possession following the timeout, putting IWU up 60-58 at the 3:44 mark.  At 2:25 Ziemnik hit another enormous basket, and was fouled - the 3-point play put the Titans up 5.  Wash U missed a 3-pointer on the other end, Victor Davis pulled down the rebound, and passed ahead to a wide-open Eric Dortch for a dunk to make it 65-58 Titans with 2:04 to play.  The Titans shot themselves in the foot with some really bad FT shooting after that, but Ziemnik just about sealed it with a FT with :23 left, putting IWU up 4.

Dylan Overstreet was IWU's most valuable player tonight - the sophomore PG was just outstanding, making big play after big play (baskets and passes).  He really controlled the game so well for the Titans.  It's hard for me to believe this is the same kid I watched in the same gym on December 2.  He's just become such a good point-guard.

Again, I just felt this performance by IWU really epitomized exactly who this team is.  Without anything that resembles a "go-to guy", the Titans just rely on a number of different guys to make big plays.  Ziemnik certainly did that, with 10 huge points in the final 3:44.  I mentioned Overstreet.  Kevin Reed was solid all evening on both ends of the floor - he was just a horse on the boards.  Victor Davis had his second consecutive really good NCAA tournament game, and Eric Dortch played key minutes defensively for Ron Rose's team, guarding Alan Aboona. 

I'm really glad I made the trip and got to see the Titans play - I really appreciate and respect this IWU team.  They have a ton of heart and are really fun to watch.

This is IWU's 16th trip to the Sweet 16 since joining NCAA Division III 30 years ago.

[Titan Q]

The On Demand video of the post-game press conference can be found here - http://client.stretchinternet.com/client/wustl.portal#

I'd like to thank Wash U S.I.D. Chris Mitchell who texted me out of the blue this afternoon to let me know he was leaving a pass for me at the door.  And also Jay Murry, Wash U's play-by-play man, who had me on at halftime.  I've listened to Jay call so many games over the course of the last few years - it was a real honor to be on with him.

I really appreciate it, Chris and Jay.

[Mr. Ypsi]

One indication of just how deep and versatile these Titans are: Brady Zimmer (who led in scoring more times this season than any other Titan) fouled out with 2 points, 1 rebound, and 3 turnovers - and they won.

On to (hopefully) avenge the loss in Naperville.  It's gonna be really tough, but at this point of the season, it's supposed to be.

Q, I was really sorry to miss your interview at halftime (my video feed was buffering for 30 minutes straight before I finally thought to just reboot it, after which it was somewhat OK)) - do you know if that is archived anywhere?

[Titan Q]

The Pantagraph's article - http://www.pantagraph.com/sports/college/illinois-wesleyan/titans-top-washington-university-will-face-n-central-in-sweet/article_4b6d31b0-8934-11e2-ab96-0019bb2963f4.html