MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[augie_superfan]

Good luck AUGIE!!!!!

and IWU

Off to the Transy regional...hope to catch the 2nd half of Augie on the radio

[dansand]

Benjy Taylor recruited a lot of these players, so you can't quite say that this is fully Todd Raridon's program right now and nobody else's. But Raridon has clearly put his stamp on this team in that the players Taylor recruited don't play a style of ball that's really much like Taylor's style. This is the second year in which Raridon has essentially written upon a tabula rasa as far as North Central basketball is concerned. His Cardinals don't look like, or play like, Warden's best teams any more than they resemble Taylor's. They're very much a team with their own appearance and style. If he stays at North Central, Raridon will be writing his own history, not adding to someone else's.

I think it was augiefan who posted earlier that North Central now had the best football and basketball coaches in the CCIW. The thought that struck me at the time, regarding Raridon, was that while there's no doubt he's a great X and O coach, particularly in respect to his offense (.526 and .529 team FG% in his first two years speaks for itself), to this point, if my chronology is right, he's won almost exclusively with Benjy Taylor's players. Chris Drennan, who looks like a terrific prospect, is the only one of Raridon's recruits that plays any real minutes. Raridon's definitely got the Cardinal program on a big upswing and I think they'll be the odds-on favorite to win the conference next year, but before he's proclaimed the league's top coach I think we have to see what kind of recruiter he is.

Heading over to Carver tonight to see my (and the) first Viking NCAA tourney game in 13 years. It's hard to believe the last one I saw was Kirk Anderson's 41-point explosion at UW-Platteville. I think his 12 three's in that game are still an all-division record for an NCAA tournament game. Aben Cooper also had 31 in that game which Augie won 100-86 over Bo Ryan's Pioneers to advance to the final four.

I'm cautious (as usual) but excited about this year's prospects. With Dain Swetalla playing as well as he has been, if the Vikes can get Harrigan and McAdams-Thornton back on track I think they could really have a nice run. The possibility of having a string of home games is also intriguing. But first things first. They have to get past a hot BV team and, possibly, a rematch with UW-Stout before that's even a possibility.

[Gregory Sager]

Here's a better link for that story about Michael Harper:

http://northpark.edu/news/story.cfm?ID=1377

[titanhammer]

I've had a lot of nervous tention the last few hours over the Titans and how they would play.  Nothing like kids for providing comic relief or gaining your attention.  Thought I would share.  I get home and the wife is upstairs and has the four week old in her arms and the 22 month old in the tub, "Which one do you want?"  I decide to get my son out of the tub - grab his clothes, then search for a diaper.  While I'm looking, he escapes.  I find him overlooking the stairs, doing #1 between the lattice and onto the landing.  All I could do was laugh as he thought it was the greatest thing, ever. 

Bring on the games!!!

[scottie]

Would anyone care to include the link for the IWU broadcast?

[diehardfan]

www.wjbc2.com

[Titan32]

Where can I get audio for the Augie game?

[titanhammer]

Go to the front page and click on "live audio".  It's mixed in with the other games.

[augiefan]

Or you can listen on WAUG. The D3 Hoops audio is more professional, but hopefully the Augie announcers will explain why Wessels is not playing.

[Brick]

Augie with the win looking forward to the rematch with Stout

[augiefan]

71-66 Augie wins. A really ugly effort, but Wessels absence had to hurt. Augie definitely needs Drew back for tomorrow night's game, as the perimeter and fast break defense by Augie sounded pretty bad.

[The Show]

Too many turnovers for BV to have had a chance in this one.  Their youth started to show at the end.

Hopefully your PG comes back tomorrow night for Stout or it may be another struggle.  Best of luck.

P.S.  Does anyone know if you'll have the same officiating crew?  It was consistent on both ends, but be ready for a lot of free throws again if so! Again, good luck!

[augiefan]

Brusveen 15 points
Harrigan 13 points
Delp 13 points, 6 assts. and 2 turnovers
Dain S. 12 points and 6 boards
McAdams Thornton 11 points

Rahn Franklin lead BV with 15 points.

The stats are already posted by Dave Wrath on the Augie website.

[Brick]

it's a constant joke on IM teams of who is the glue that holds the defense together, but Drew honestly is the glue that holds the Augie D together

[Brick]

Obviously a complete team effort by Augie tonight on the Offensive end