MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Gregory Sager]

If 12-10 is how you define "dominant," then, sure.

(Incidentally, my pick for tomorrow's score is UWSP 57, Augustana 55.)

[Greek Tragedy]

If 12-10 is how you define "dominant," then, sure.

(Incidentally, my pick for tomorrow's score is UWSP 57, Augustana 55.)

That was my lame attempt at dry humor.  Incidentally, the WIAC did gain 2 wins in the series in a matter of 36 minutes!

Well, we gained a win and lost a loss.

[Mr. Ypsi]

Did you book at Holiday Inn? Neither did we.

We enjoyed the Comfort Inn in Salem, .4 miles to the arena.  Did you stay where all the action is (Hotel Roanoke)?

[magicman]

UWSP vs. Augie should be a great national championship game. These are clearly the two teams that have played the best in this tournament. Augie's had one nailbiter, against DePauw, but has otherwise been dominant. UWSP has been dominant all the way, although Virginia Wesleyan made the Pointers work for it tonight.

Wish I could watch it, but, alas, I have to call a baseball doubleheader tomorrow. Maybe I'll put it on the press box computer with the sound turned down.

How will you do that Greg? From what I read earlier in a D3hoops article, there will be no webcast, since CBS has the rights to the televised game on the CBS sports channel.  D3hoops  said there will be a video to watch a few days later. All we can get on the computer is live stats. Unless you know something I don't...in which case please enlighten me.   

[magicman]

That's not really weird at all, Chuck, given the bent of the NCAA to construct geographically-based brackets for the D3 tourney since the very first one back in 1975.

Good point.  I'm not about to check 40 years of tourney results, but I wonder how many times one has knocked out the other.  Just last year, IWU was beaten in the semis by UWW.

We certainly knew you weren't about to check back through 40 years of D3 history.

So basically what follows is Greg getting Ypsied again.

I was curious myself, and, since this is bound to come up tomorrow, anyway, I looked it up:

1982: Augustana 70, UW-Milwaukee 63
1983: UW-Whitewater 63, Millikin 61
1984: UW-Whitewater 75, Illinois Wesleyan 67
1985: UW-Whitewater 72, North Central 53
1985: North Park 83, UW-Whitewater 81 (ot)
1986: Illinois Wesleyan 79, UW-Whitewater 75
1986: UW-Whitewater 89, North Park 73
1988: Millikin 101, UW-Whitewater 86
1989: UW-Whitewater 95, North Central 83
1993: Augustana 100, UW-Platteville 86
2000: UW-Eau Claire 74, Carthage 62
2006: Illinois Wesleyan 85, UW-Whitewater 71
2006: Augustana 77, UW-Stout 70
2009: UW-Whitewater 81, Elmhurst 79
2009: Wheaton 74, UW-Platteville 69 (ot)
2010: UW-Stevens Point 72, Illinois Wesleyan 56
2011: Illinois Wesleyan 83, UW-River Falls 76
2012: Illinois Wesleyan 69, UW-Stevens Point 61
2012: UW-Whitewater 67, Wheaton 56
2013: North Central 64, UW-Whitewater 60
2014: UW-Whitewater 87, Augustana 68
2014: UW-Whitewater 71, Illinois Wesleyan 63

The two leagues are deadlocked at 11-11. This will be the first D3 tourney meeting between Augie and UWSP.

[Pat Coleman]

UWSP vs. Augie should be a great national championship game. These are clearly the two teams that have played the best in this tournament. Augie's had one nailbiter, against DePauw, but has otherwise been dominant. UWSP has been dominant all the way, although Virginia Wesleyan made the Pointers work for it tonight.

Wish I could watch it, but, alas, I have to call a baseball doubleheader tomorrow. Maybe I'll put it on the press box computer with the sound turned down.

How will you do that Greg? From what I read earlier in a D3hoops article, there will be no webcast, since CBS has the rights to the televised game on the CBS sports channel.  D3hoops  said there will be a video to watch a few days later. All we can get on the computer is live stats. Unless you know something I don't...in which case please enlighten me.   

We'll have audio. http://www.d3hoops.com/videolink/2015-championships/augustana-stevens-point-broadcast

[Titan Q]

Congratulations to the Vikings on reaching the national title game.  This is the CCIW's first appearance since IWU vs Nebraska Wesleyan in 1997.

Augie vs UW-Stevens Point should be a tremendous game.  A few thoughts...

Numbers
These are two elite defensive teams.
  - UWSP:  Opp. Pts/100 possession = 96.3; Opp.PPG = 54.6; Opp. FG = .422; Opp. A/TO = 0.74
  - Augie: Opp. Pts/100 possession = 97.5; Opp. PPG = 64.3; Opp. FG = .409; Opp. A/TO = 0.80

(The opponent PPG stats are a little misleading, simply because these teams play at such different paces.  Augustana's opponents average 65.9 possessions per game, while UWSP's just 56.7.  The opponent points per possession stat indicates that the Pointer are only about a point better defensively than Augie every 100 possessions.)

These are also elite offensive teams:
  - Augie: Pts/100 Possessions = 121.0; PPG = 78.7; FG = .499; 3-point = .374; FT = .742; A/TO = 1.3
  - UWSP: Pts/100 Possessions = 117.1; PPG = 66.3; FG = .488; 3-point = .404; FT = .740; A/TO = 1.4

(Again, PPG numbers are a little misleading because of the pace differences - the Pointers are a great offensive team too.)

Not surprisingly, the bigger Vikings are a better rebounding team.  Augie is +7 per game, UWSP just +1.

Keys
Personnel and style wise, these are two very different teams and there will be some funky match ups on both sides of the floor.  Augustana's big 4/5 guys will have to chase UWSP's smaller, perimeter-oriented posts around, and on the other side of the floor UWSP will have to try to contain Augie's inside game, despite giving up a whole bunch of size.

I think Stevens Point has to be very good from beyond the arc to win this game - somewhere around their season average of .404 (which is a ridiculous season average by the way).  I think Augie has the personnel to defend the Pointers on the perimeter better than just about any team UWSP has faced this year.  And while it seems Stevens Point just always shoots the ball really well, on this kind of stage you just never know - sometimes jumpshots don't fall.  I'd much rather go into a game like this with the kind of inside/outside balance Augie has.

Augustana has to get the ball into their big guys (Ben Ryan, Tayvian Johnson, Nic Hoepfner, Brandon Motzel) in the low post consistently throughout the game.  Despite how much bigger Augie is than Stevens Point, this is easier said than done because the Pointers play ridiculously good defense, and they really deny the post.   

For me, the keys to Augie winning the national championship tonight:

  1) Pound the ball inside - commit to entering the post despite nasty UWSP perimeter designed to deny the post.
  2) Win the rebounding battle by 7+.
  3) Defend the 3-point line (hold UWSP to 30% or less).
  4) Push the pace/win the tempo battle - rebound and run.

I'm really looking forward to watching the game on CBS Sports Network.  This is a great X's and O's matchup featuring two great teams. 

My prediction: Augustana 63 UW-Stevens Point 59

Good luck, Vikings!

[Titan Q]

One team in Division III has wins over both Augustana and UW-Stevens Point -- North Central (both on the road).

Cardinals continue to look like a great Pool C pick.

[Titan Q]

How good is the Central Region?  In Massey order...

* UW-Stevens Point (WIAC co-champ/national title game) 
* Augustana (CCIW champ/national title game)
* UW-Whitewater (WIAC co-champ)
* St. Norbert (24-2/18-0 MWC)
* Illinois Wesleyan (CCIW #2, won at Augie)
* Elmhurst (CCIW #3, won at St. Norbert)
* Wash U (beat IWU)
* North Central (CCIW #4, won at Augie)

[Greek Tragedy]

One team in Division III has wins over both Augustana and UW-Stevens Point -- North Central (both on the road).

Cardinals continue to look like a great Pool C pick.

I know a lot of us have been over this and many agree they should've gotten a Pool C bid. As much as we look at the wins, we have to look at the losses. Obviously getting swept by Elmhurst was never going to rank NCC ahead of them.

[AppletonRocks]

Augie vs Point could be the match-up in the 2017 WIAC/CCIW challenge at Carroll.

[Titan Q]

I know a lot of us have been over this and many agree they should've gotten a Pool C bid. As much as we look at the wins, we have to look at the losses. Obviously getting swept by Elmhurst was never going to rank NCC ahead of them.

I don't think NCC should have been ranked ahead of Elmhurst in the Central region, but I think the Cards were a good pick in round #19...

AT - Brooklyn (.786/.507/2-3)
C - North Central (.667/.587/3-6)
E - Plattsburgh State (.704/.534/1-0)
GL - Hope (.680/.558/2-6)
MA - Franklin & Marshall (.769/.517/3-3)
NE - Springfield (.704/.584/3-5)
S - Centre (.800/.513/1-2)
W - Bethel (.679/.564/4-3)

In addition to the huge SOS number, and the 9 games vs regionally ranked, I felt like NCC's wins at Augie and at UWSP should have given them the edge vs this group.  Augie and UWSP were two of the highest seeds in the tournament going in.

Clearly NCC was down at the end of the bubble where you just live with whatever the committee decides, but they actually had a very solid case in round 19.

[sac]

NCC was 5-7 in their last 12.    Two nice wins but like Carthage last year not enough wins overall.

[AndOne]

One team in Division III has wins over both Augustana and UW-Stevens Point -- North Central (both on the road).

Cardinals continue to look like a great Pool C pick.

North Central's road win over Stevens Point was achieved primarily due to the fact that the Cardinals absolutely pounded the Pointers on the boards, winning the rebounding battle by a ridiculously lopsided 43-25 margin. Four Cardinals had at least 6 rebounds. The second most important factor was NCC's blanketing defense, particularly on the interior. Joe Ritchay was the only Point player in double figures (21), but he was only 9 for 22 from the field. Overall, NCC limited UWSP to 32.5% shooting (20 for 62)

The NCC win at Augie was especially noteworthy due to the fact that it was gained despite the Cardinals playing without 15.7 point per game scorer Jayme Moten, the Card's best guard and primary outside threat. For the season Moten made 82 of 181 three point shots (45.3%). The primary factor in the victory was the total domination of the Cardinal bigs, over the Augie bigs. The 4 NCC big men outscored their Augie counterparts by a hard to believe 60-13 margin. Charlie Rosenberg had 24, and Jack Burchett and kevin Honn both had 16. NCC also out rebounded Augie, a superior rebounding team, by 2.

As TQ pointed out, Augie has a distinct size/inside advantage. If they can combine this with good perimeter defense, they should be in good shape.
I could very well be wrong, but if Augie gets 11-13 points behind, I think they have the ability to come back. If UWSP suffers the same fate, I don't think a comeback is gonna happen.

[Titan Q]

Congratulations to the CCIW's two selections to the D3hoops.com 2014-15 All-American team...

* Hunter Hill, 5-9 Jr. PG (Augustana), 2nd Team

* Dylan Overstreet, 6-3 Sr. PG (IWU), 3rd Team