MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[toooldtohoop]

Congrats to NPU.  You are sure having more fun cheering for these guys than you have for awhile.

Run the table!

[AndOne]

Teuscher also went to the line 8 times in his previous game against NCC on Sat., 1/31.

[AndOne]

It's pretty easy to imagine and in fact, likely, that a Moten-less or Moten-impaired NCC goes 0-2 this week with 2 roads game in Rock Island and Bloomington. So if Carthage(vs EC, @Augie), Millikin(vs IWU, vs NP) or N Park (vs WC @ MU) can go 2-0 this week (MU/NP play each other), then it's all knotted up for 4th going into the final 2 weeks (3 games).  It's not out of the question to me that 6-8 might be good enough to tie.

Well, not quite!  . Maybe, not at all. 

[kiko]

North Central 72
Augustana 70    OT FINAL

Great win for the Cards tonight -- the Sons of Warden led by as many as 18 in the first half, and though Augie tied it toward the end of regulation, the Cards led for all but the first few moments of the OT.  Augie is tough under any circumstances, and to do this sans Mr. Moten is really impressive.

Between losing to Millikin in the Hangar and beating the Augie Doggies at Carver, this is easily the most Jekyll an Hyde team I can remember in the CCIW in a long time.

[AndOne]

QC Online article on Augie/North Park...

http://www.qconline.com/sports/college_sports/after--point-loss-north-park-shocks-augustana/article_202c1828-cd6a-5458-9a8c-d6cae6697153.html

"Our front line was solid,'' said Giovanine, "but our back-court guys just didn't get it done. Teams are getting to where they aren't guarding us on the perimeter and somebody needs to step up and make a shot. Tonight, nobody did that.''

Dante had his version of hell. Milton had his. My version of hell is three hours on a bus in a snowstorm with a fuming Grey Giovanine after you've lost a game to a program that he doesn't respect.

I pity Augie's North Central's next opponent.

In terms of the CCIW tournament race, and that 4th spot, the ending in Naperville Rock Island last night was huge for NCC.

Fixed it for you guys. 

[veterancciwfan]

Regarding IWU/MU: IWU did a Carthage (road game Jan. 31) 1st half imitation in Decatur, leading 40-26 at half, shooting 15/30 FG; 8/16  on 3s and out-RBing MU 21-14. IWU's depth was a huge factor. For the game, IWU's bench contributed 43 (53.75% of the total of 80) points compared to 29 for MU. Overstreet did not have his typical game (3 points) but it didn't matter as Nelson, Sodemann, Dolan & Rose scored 26 of the 40 1st half points by going a combined  9/17 FGs and 8/13 on 3s. The largest lead was 77-49 with 4:00 left. IWU had 8 players who made at least one 3, including a "it feels fantastic" 3 by Brandon Heyen who played 5 min. After the first 21, IWU has 5 players shooting .418 and above on 3s, topped by Bausch's .600 and Stempel's .464. Nelson has the made 3s lead by one over Dolan, 45 to 44. Good to see Fritz Larsen tonight but I understand this year is his finale. He has been a very good official in CCIW for many years. If you see him, tell him thanks for all his efforts.

[kiko]

I think it's established that Wheaton has somewhat more to overcome in recruiting than the rest of the league- significantly more in some cases. 

I always assumed that being one of the best evangelical Christian institutions in the nation was more blessing than curse when it came to recruiting, but maybe not.

I think that helps them get some recruits who value the christian experience, high quality education, and top athletics as a package but that funnel is decidedly harder to populate. Wheaton coaches don't get to go around Chicagoland to every catholic league school or the top suburban leagues and draw students. They must have a national recruiting base to find enough prospects who 1-Love their christian faith, 2-have academics for a top 100 school, 3-are good enough to compete in the CCIW. That prospect list is narrower than most other schools. I think their hit rate on prospects is better when they find that profile though.

I agree with USee that the faith identity can cut both ways but it generally narrows your pool, further evidence of which is simply the # of Wheaton applicants(about 2,000) annually which is far less than other CCIW and peer institutions(IWU for example at approx 3,500, Augie 5,800, WUSTL 30,000).  A 4th factor to add to the list is the relative scarcity of merit aid available at Wheaton which others here have prior noted.

From my perspective, it's hard to say whether Wheaton's recruiting challenges are more or less difficult than the other CCIW schools, since it's such an apples-and-oranges comparison.  Are they easier or harder?  I dunno -- they're mostly different.  The Wheaties do have to cast a wider net, but to the comments above, when they find a kid that fits their profile, the chances of landing them are much higher.  Most of the rest of the conference can stay local in whom they target, but they're often fighting against a bigger pool of competitive schools that have a comparable profile.

I think this is reflected in the numbers you cite above -- 2000 applicants is a smaller pool, but the academic credentials of those who are accepted are as good as or better than that of every other school in the conference.  Perhaps I'm naive, but relative to others in the conference, Wheaton's challenge to me seems less about landing recruits and more about surfacing them, if that makes sense.

I'm not one to cheerlead for Wheaton as it would be a-okay by me if they broke NPU's football losing streak.  But their gridiron success is particularly impressive given the narrower recruiting profile that frames up their sweet spot.  Basketball teams can get better in a hurry with just a couple of key recruits.  Football is far more of a numbers game, and having sustained success against some exigencies that would intuitively seem to work against you is pretty impressive.

[AndOne]

Michael Berg getting the flagrant 2  technical and ejection with 4 minutes left really hurt.  He did foul Henry pretty hard but as I was only watching the feed, I will defer to Mr Sager's objectivity as to whether flag2 was justified- it was quite obvious Mike Schauer didn't think so.  Berg was having a very effective game up to that point with 12 and 10.

Some anti-social agent must have gotten into Berg's orange Kool-Aid lately. At the close of last Saturday's loss to North Central, Berg was jawing with some NCC fans seated behind me as he walked off the court on the way to the locker room. Now, his evident hammering of Henry. Chill Michael.     

[Titan Q]

IWU 80
Millikin 61

http://www.cciw.org/custompages/CCIW_Links/MBasketball/Stats/1415/MIL21.HTM

http://www.pantagraph.com/sports/college/basketball/dolan-provides-spark-as-iwu-men-handle-millikin/article_18a56802-09e2-5b54-a33c-04316444740a.html

http://www.stationcaster.com/player_skinned.php?s=711&c=3911&f=3957393

* Bryce Dolan: 12 pts, 2 reb, 4 assists
* Alec Bausch: 11 pts, 9 reb
* Pat Sodemann: 11 pts
* Brady Rose: 10 pts
* Tyler Seibring: 8 pts, 11 reb

* Zach Long: 12 pts, 5 reb
* Tommy Pilackas: 10 pts, 4 reb

IWU: 16-34 3-point (.471); +13 rebound margin; 19 assists on 30 FG


A work trip to Bloomington gave me the opportunity to see the Titans in person last night.  A pretty simple formula for IWU in the win over Millikin - the Titans moved the ball well, made shots, and rebounded.  When the Titans shoot the basketball well from the perimeter, they are very hard to beat.

IWU has so many weapons on the floor at all times and is a very good offensive team.  In CCIW play, IWU is leading in scoring average (78.9), FG% (.481), 3-point% (.419), and assists per game (16.9).

The Titans (8-2) host North Central (6-4) Saturday in another "must win" type of game in the pursuit of a CCIW title.

[iwu70]

Good summary, Q.

Trevor Seibring, not "Tyler." I think Tyler is the youngest of the long line of Seibring clan roundballing talent, playing now as, I think, a senior for Normal Community.  He's a terrific 6'8" wing player who can really shoot the 3.  I think he's bound for DII or a low DI.  Not sure.  Others can apprise.  Wish he'd come to IWU and bring a Peacock with him -- he'd be a great 3 in the D3 setting.

Agree the next two games at The Shirk are "must wins" for our Titans.  Gotta protect home court. 

IWU70

[Titan Q]

Trevor Seibring, not "Tyler."

Tyler is committed to DI Elon.

[79jaybird]

Was good to see EC avenge a home loss by winning on the road in dairyland yesterday. I hope that home loss doesn't come back to be the key game that EC (would want back) that prevents the Jays from perhaps tying for the title.  No matter what happens John Baines is doing a WONDERFUL job getting Elmhurst back into the upper 1/3 of the conference. 

[Naperick]

Was good to see EC avenge a home loss by winning on the road in dairyland yesterday. I hope that home loss doesn't come back to be the key game that EC (would want back) that prevents the Jays from perhaps tying for the title.  No matter what happens John Baines is doing a WONDERFUL job getting Elmhurst back into the upper 1/3 of the conference.

Baines has done a great job!  Glad he is back at Elmhurst and I hope he stays for a long time.

[Naperick]

I know the 1st set of regional rankings don't come out until February 11.  Does anybody have a link to any projections up through last night's games?  I forgot where to find that.  Maybe it's a little early for that?  As an Elmhurst fan, I would like to see where the 'Jays and the other CCIW teams stand.

[Naperick]

North Central 72
Augustana 70    OT FINAL

Great win for the Cards tonight -- the Sons of Warden led by as many as 18 in the first half, and though Augie tied it toward the end of regulation, the Cards led for all but the first few moments of the OT.  Augie is tough under any circumstances, and to do this sans Mr. Moten is really impressive.

Between losing to Millikin in the Hangar and beating the Augie Doggies at Carver, this is easily the most Jekyll an Hyde team I can remember in the CCIW in a long time.

Big win for the Cards last night.  A loss would have put them just 1 game in front of North Park with 4 to go.  The recent surge by North Park has been very impressive!