MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[AndOne]

North Central 77
Albion 63

The Cardinals won this game primarily on the basis of tight, in your face, switching defense, holding the Britons to 31% shooting, including 26% from three. The Cards attack was led by Alex Sorenson who hit 10 of his 15 shots, including 2 of 3 from distance, for 22 points. Sorenson has scored at least 20 in 5 of the Cards first 7 games. Alex also contributed 7 boards, 2 assists, 3 blocks, and a steal. His totals were achieved in only 21 minutes of action. After picking up his fourth foul, Alex played only 8 minutes in the 2nd half.
He was closely followed by Jagger Anderson with a season high 21 points. Anderson, who also had 5 rebounds and 2 assists, shot 75% (9 of 12) from the field for the evening, including 1 of 2 from beyond the arc, and went 2 of 2 from the line. Jagger also provided the "wow" factor for the night as several of his baskets came off twisting drives down the lane which he finished with underhanded, reverse flips high off the glass. The aforementioned duo was well supported by freshman Connor Raridon who added 16 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 assists. Fellow freshman Jaquan Phipps, who I sense may be headed for increased PT, added 6 points. Kevin Honn was the Cards 2nd high board man with 6. 

Today was a long day as the team reported to the airport at 4:30 AM for a 6:00 flight to Miami where they will participate in the 8 team HoopMIA D3 Holiday Shootout, hosted by Eastern University, over the weekend. The Cards face Hartwick (NY) on Friday, and Centre (KY) Sat.

[AndOne]

Naperville Sun article on NCC's Alex Sorenson and the above game:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/naperville-sun/sports/ct-nvs-mens-basketball-albion-north-central-st-1216-20151215-story.html

[Gregory Sager]

The MIAA CCIW series is 9 wins for the MIAA 8 for the CCIW with two games remaining  Millikin vs Adrian, Millikin vs Trine.

I'll be shocked if the MIAA doesn't end up winning the series by an 11-8 margin.

  It should be pointed out 7 of those MIAA wins come from Hope, Calvin and Alma and of those 9 wins 8 have come against Wheaton, North Park and Carthage.  It remains to be seen if any of those 3 will finish in the top 4 of the CCIW.

This reads very much like a dig at North Park, so in NPU's defense I'll point out that the Vikings are beating the overall tally in the Battle of Lake Michigan, as they're gone 2-2 against the Michiganders.

No one from the MIAA played Augustana or Illinois Wesleyan this year.

... and nobody from the CCIW got to feast on tasty Hornet pot pie, as Kalamazoo (1-5), whose only win came over a 2-11 NAIA team, won't face a CCIW foe this season.

[AndOne]

CCIW TEAMS THAT CURRENTLY RANK IN THE TOP 25 IN VARIOUS STATISTICAL CATEGORIES (OF 413 TEAMS)

* Note I did not include "most" or "fewest"  TOTAL  categories as teams have played a different number of games. Concentrated instead on per game averages.

AUGIE:

FG %--4th
Rebound Margin--9
Scoring Defense--12
Scoring Margin--4
3 Pt FG Defense--10

ELMHURST:

Assists Per Game--24
Defensive Rebounds P/G--24
FG% Defense--11
Rebound Margin--12
Scoring Margin--12
Rebounds P/G--12

IWU:

Assists P/G--8
Overall FG%--11
3 Pt FGs P/G--24
3 Pt FG%--5

NORTH CENTRAL:

Assist/TO Ratio--3
Average TOs P/G--3

[sac]

The MIAA CCIW series is 9 wins for the MIAA 8 for the CCIW with two games remaining  Millikin vs Adrian, Millikin vs Trine.

I'll be shocked if the MIAA doesn't end up winning the series by an 11-8 margin.

  It should be pointed out 7 of those MIAA wins come from Hope, Calvin and Alma and of those 9 wins 8 have come against Wheaton, North Park and Carthage.  It remains to be seen if any of those 3 will finish in the top 4 of the CCIW.

This reads very much like a dig at North Park, so in NPU's defense I'll point out that the Vikings are beating the overall tally in the Battle of Lake Michigan, as they're gone 2-2 against the Michiganders.

No one from the MIAA played Augustana or Illinois Wesleyan this year.

... and nobody from the CCIW got to feast on tasty Hornet pot pie, as Kalamazoo (1-5), whose only win came over a 2-11 NAIA team, won't face a CCIW foe this season.

I was actually downplaying what the MIAA schools have done.  For the most part the top half of the MIAA has been beating up on the teams picked in the bottom of the CCIW.   No disrespect to North Park, its just a fact that 8 of the 9 wins have come against those 3 schools and North Park was picked in the bottom half of the CCIW.

Even if the MIAA goes 11-8, they'll still have just 1 win against one of the pre-season top 4 favorites.

[iwumichigander]

Greg, I'll agree that 'cupcake' was too strong a term for Benedictine, but by your own post CCIW teams were 18-5 against them for the prior 8 seasons.  How about 'penciled in as a probable victory'?

That sounds reasonable, as long as probable is in italics.

Agree Benedictine is no "cupcake".  I think most CCIW teams expect to win but you better play Benedictine for all 40 minutes as the Titans have unfortunately learned experienced.

[AndOne]

Greg, I'll agree that 'cupcake' was too strong a term for Benedictine, but by your own post CCIW teams were 18-5 against them for the prior 8 seasons.  How about 'penciled in as a probable victory'?

That sounds reasonable, as long as probable is in italics.

Agree Benedictine is no "cupcake".  I think most CCIW teams expect to win but you better play Benedictine for all 40 minutes as the Titans have unfortunately learned experienced.

No cupcake indeed. Last night, Ben U absolutely pounded a good (ORV) Aurora team 90-62!
Prior to that game Aurora had only one loss by 2 points.
NCC will host BU on 12/22.

[markerickson]

OT:  Strangely, both Nordstrom products displayed on the front page are items requested by my better half for xmas gifts.  What is d3hoops telling me???

[Titan Q]

Illinois Wesleyan (4-4) vs Southwestern (2-4), 3:00pm in San Antonio, TX...

Illinois Wesleyan (4-4)
G - Bryce Dolan, 6-1/165 Sr.  (16.0 ppg, 2.0rpg, 3.6 apg)
G - Joel Pennington, 6-0/180 Sr.  (8.5 ppg, 1.6 rpg, 2.6 rpg)
F - Andy Stempel, 6-4/192 Jr.  (9.3 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 2.6 apg)
F - Rob Mahlke, 6-8/220 Sr.   (2.0 ppg, 6-8/220 Sr. 1.6 rpg)
F - Trevor Seibring, 6-8/235 Jr.  (16.0 ppg, 5.8 rpg)

Southwestern (2-4)
G - Connor Kim, 5-9/160 So.  (15.7 ppg, 0.7 rpg, 4.2 apg)
G - Chris Molina, 6-0/175 Jr. (12.8 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 1.8 apg)
G - Ben Stiver, 6-2/200 Jr.  (13.8 ppg, 6.8 rpg)
F - Ryan Ogden, 6-3/190 So.  (18.7 ppg, 9.7 rpg)
F - Nnamdi Akabogu, 6-3/225, So.  (2.7 ppg, 4.8 rpg)


Pantagraph - http://www.pantagraph.com/sports/college/basketball/men/ailing-iwu-basketball-team-to-play-two-in-texas/article_949ae49b-4df6-5f5f-9a75-8900f51be26a.html

Live Video/Stats - http://portal.stretchinternet.com/trinitytigers/

WJBC Radio - http://portal.stretchinternet.com/wjbc/

[petemcb]

New d3hoops.com Top 25 is out:

* Augustana remains a unanimous #1
* Elmhurst moves up a spot to #6
* Illinois Wesleyan drops some points, but is still among the ORV with 29 points
* North Central is now on the ORV radar with four points

Meanwhile, over in Massey World, this is what Ken's computer is telling us today:

    1. Augustana
  13. Elmhurst
  26. North Central
  35. Illinois Wesleyan*
  55. North Park
133. Wheaton
186. Millikin
198. Carthage

(*IWU's loss to Chicago, which Massey has at #21, is not yet reflected in the Massey Ratings.)

How long has he been doing that?  I'm wondering when the last time was that NPU was that high and Wheaton was that low, and when, if ever, in his rankings, NPU has been that much higher than Wheaton.

[Gregory Sager]

Ken Massey's been doing this since the mid-'90s, although I'm not sure exactly when he added D3 men's basketball to his menu.

Today's rating:

    1. Augustana
  13. Elmhurst
  22. North Central
  49. North Park
  59. Illinois Wesleyan
134. Wheaton
192. Millikin
193. Carthage

... is the highest that Ken's computer has ever had North Park, and it's the biggest Massey lead that NPU's ever had over Wheaton.

All well and good, but it's no substitute for winning. And if the Massey predictions play out, NPU will end the season a mere 12-13, 5-9. So I'm trying not to take it too seriously.

[Gregory Sager]

Illinois Wesleyan 85
Southwestern 77

[Gregory Sager]

North Central 84
Hartwick 67

[AppletonRocks]

Ken Massey's been doing this since the mid-'90s, although I'm not sure exactly when he added D3 men's basketball to his menu.

Today's rating:

    1. Augustana
  13. Elmhurst
  22. North Central
  49. North Park
  59. Illinois Wesleyan
134. Wheaton
192. Millikin
193. Carthage

... is the highest that Ken's computer has ever had North Park, and it's the biggest Massey lead that NPU's ever had over Wheaton.

All well and good, but it's no substitute for winning. And if the Massey predictions play out, NPU will end the season a mere 12-13, 5-9. So I'm trying not to take it too seriously.

Where was Alma in that list?  I don't subscribe. Thanks. 

[AndOne]

Ken Massey's been doing this since the mid-'90s, although I'm not sure exactly when he added D3 men's basketball to his menu.

Today's rating:

    1. Augustana
  13. Elmhurst
  22. North Central
  49. North Park
  59. Illinois Wesleyan
134. Wheaton
192. Millikin
193. Carthage

... is the highest that Ken's computer has ever had North Park, and it's the biggest Massey lead that NPU's ever had over Wheaton.

All well and good, but it's no substitute for winning. And if the Massey predictions play out, NPU will end the season a mere 12-13, 5-9. So I'm trying not to take it too seriously.

Where was Alma in that list?  I don't subscribe. Thanks. 

Appleton-

Alma is currently ranked #33 by Massey