MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Titan Q]

#18-Illinois Wesleyan 72
Chicago 54

https://audioboom.com/posts/5419125-ron-rose-jaylen-beasley-iwu-basketball-12-20-16?t=0

http://www.iwusports.com/boxscore.aspx?id=4069&path=mbball

http://www.centralillinoisproud.com/sports/local-sports/iwu-cools-off-chicago/624123289

http://www.pantagraph.com/sports/college/basketball/men/long-range-shooting-defense-carry-iwu-past-chicago/article_0ab1aed2-f77a-51e3-ade1-ed8d3a6b6ba9.html

* Jaylen Beasley: 15 pts (4-5 3-point), 3 reb
* Brady Rose: 12 pts, 4 reb, 3 assists
* Andy Stempel: 9 pts, 9 reb, 6 assists
* Colin Bonnett: 9 pts, 3 reb, 2 assists
* Alec Bausch: 8 pts, 6 reb

* Blaine Crawford: 15 pts, 16 reb
* Waller Perez: 12 pts


Through the first 19 minutes of this game no team had a two possession lead.  IWU finished the 1st half on a 9-0 run, capped by an Andy Stempel halfcourt 3-pointer at the buzzer, to open up a 7-point lead.  IWU controlled the 2nd half.

Chicago came into this game shooting .550 from the field and .440 from 3.  IWU held the Maroons to .370 FG and .235 3-point tonight.  Sounds like the Titans were outstanding on the defensive end tonight.

Offensively, another balanced scoring effort for the Titans.  Game to game, you never really know with this group who the leading scorers will be.  Tonight Jaylen Beasley had the hot hand.

This was another big W for the Titans against a very good team.  Ron Rose called the Maroons "an NCAA tournament caliber team" in the WJBC postgame show and spoke quite a bit about how talented Chicago is.

IWU faces 7-1 Middlebury from the NESCAC next - 12/29 in New York.  In a 7-game stretch ending 12/29, IWU will have faced Ohio Wesleyan (road), North Central (road), North Park, Wash U (road), Chicago, and Middlebury (neutral). Quite a stretch.

[iwu70]

Pretty sure this is final now.  IWU 72 UC 54.  A big regional win over a very good team for the Titans.

Just after I had doubts about Jaylen Beasley, he has a break out game.  Good for him!

Beasley 15, on 4-5 trey shooting
Rose 12
Stempel 9 and 9 REBs
Others, 9, 9, 8, 8, 6, 5
Again good balance, pick your poison.

Blaine Crawford for UC 15 and 16, a monster night.

Seems the difference was good perimeter defense by the Titans, as UC shot less that 25% from three.  A tough shooting night for them.

Great win, Titans now 8-2.  This win and the Wash U win will be important later on, no doubt. 

Keep it rolling TITANS!

IWU'70

[4samuy]

No question a nice for IWU and a nice couple of days in the non conference for the CCIW.  7-0 and could have been 8-0 again, if NPU hadn't turned around.😉

[Gregory Sager]

No question a nice for IWU and a nice couple of days in the non conference for the CCIW.  7-0 and could have been 8-0 again, if NPU hadn't turned around.😉

Mildly funny the first time, now you're just forcing it.

[Gregory Sager]

Carroll whipped MSOE tonight in the Brew City, 87-70. Kyle Keranen had 23 points and five steals, and Ben Widdes (21 pts, 10 asts, 5 stls) had a big night as well. Tanner Zaeske added 13 and Kale Maupin chipped in 11 for the Pioneers, who for some reason didn't use (or perhaps even have) Tyler Ingebrigtsen tonight.

[Gregory Sager]

The CCIW improved to 41-20 (.672), with three more games to go before the Christmas break.

Wednesday's games

North Park (7-1) @ Albion (3-5)
North Central (7-3) vs. Wheaton (MA) (5-5) @ Ft. Lauderdale, FL

Massey predictions:

North Park 83, @ Albion 74 (NPU 79%, Albion 21%)
North Central 80, Wheaton (MA) 64 (NCC 93% Wheaton 7%)

(NCC's win over Wartburg hasn't been factored in yet.)

[iwu70]

Gentlemen:

At this stage in the season, what say you about the top four teams likely to be in the CCIW tournament. 

I'd say NPU, IWU, NCC and Augie, pretty much in that order.  Anybody else have a good shot?  CC or Carroll?  I think others unlikely, though WC has played well at points. I think EC and MU unlikely. 

Any views?

IWU'70

[Hoosier Titan]

I've been pretty silent here for quite some time, although I've been a lurker and have seen some board regulars at IWU games.  I'm moving on assignment (still affiliated with IWU), so I wanted to say goodbye "in person," so to speak.

My last game at the Shirk Center for a while was a beauty.  The first half was almost perfect on both sides--good ball movement and intelligent shots.  There was lots of good play that usually goes unremarked upon such as movement without the ball and boxing out.  Chicago's Waller Perez hit a couple of early threes but was stifled by Austin Amann's defense before he could do too much damage.  The little run at the end of the half, capped by Andy Stempel's half-court three as the clock ran out, felt like a huge momentum shift, and so it proved to be.  (That three triggered Titan memories of one by Sean Johnson and one by Adam Dauksas, although those were both at the end of the game and not at halftime).  The pace was slightly slower than that of a lot of games these days, and I for one thought it was an improvement.  So call me a dinosaur, a throwback to Hoosiers:"How many times are you gonna pass the ball before you shoot?" "Four." "How many?" "Four."  I didn't keep count, but it felt like that, and it was great.

Thanks all, for the updates.  I'll continue to lurk.  This promises to be a CCIW season even more crazy and interesting than usual.  Even though I wear green to games, it's great to see North Park back in the mix.  And I'm moving to Virginia, so I just might turn up if one of our teams makes it to Salem!

[Gregory Sager]

Gentlemen:

At this stage in the season, what say you about the top four teams likely to be in the CCIW tournament. 

I'd say NPU, IWU, NCC and Augie, pretty much in that order.  Anybody else have a good shot?  CC or Carroll?  I think others unlikely, though WC has played well at points. I think EC and MU unlikely.

Waaaaaaay too early to speculate about the order of finish with any sense of authority, Mark. Remember, everybody plays sixteen league games now, so it's almost as though we're still looking ahead at what used to be a full CCIW schedule in January and February.

We can say a few things about what the first third of the season has revealed thus far, though. Truth be told, we haven't really learned much of anything that we didn't already know coming in. The preseason presumption was that (in alphabetical order) Augustana, Carroll, Illinois Wesleyan, North Central, and North Park would be the five primary contenders for the four CCIW tourney spots, and that really hasn't changed. The only two revelations that have changed things are that North Central's not an obvious favorite to win the league anymore, now that Connor Raridon is looking at missing at least the rest of the first round-robin of league play, and that Carthage seems to be a genuine dark horse for one of the four spots. I still think that the Red Men are probably a year away, however, although I must repeat that senior Mike Stevenson (17.1 ppg, 5.7 rpg) is playing like a man who doesn't want his career to end with Carthage's 25th game and has the ability to say something about it. Likewise, senior PG Kevin Kozil (59:22 a:to), who leads the league in assists by more than a full assist per game and has the second-best a:to in the league behind Colin Lake of NPU, could conceivably become a pivotal player in a surprise run to the CCIW tourney for the Carthaginians.

Wheaton's probably a year away, too, although I don't think that the Sonic Atmospheric Disturbance has the balance or the experienced players like Stevenson and Brad Kruse to have the potential to make a dark-horse run like Carthage has. Elmhurst has a nice freshman class, and Caleb Mowry and Jalen Loving are having strong senior seasons, but the 'jays are much too turnover-prone, too streaky from the field, and too abysmal from the free-throw line to really make a go of it this season. Millikin's freshmen-dependent, too, but lacks Elmhurst's effective upperclassmen that help the 'jays compensate for the lack of experience among the class of 2020.

The bottom line is that it's still a five-team race for four spots, although, as I said, Carthage presents enough potential for a surprise if Stevenson and Kozil keep playing in January and February the way that they've been playing in November and December.

[Gregory Sager]

I've been pretty silent here for quite some time, although I've been a lurker and have seen some board regulars at IWU games.  I'm moving on assignment (still affiliated with IWU), so I wanted to say goodbye "in person," so to speak.

My last game at the Shirk Center for a while was a beauty.  The first half was almost perfect on both sides--good ball movement and intelligent shots.  There was lots of good play that usually goes unremarked upon such as movement without the ball and boxing out.  Chicago's Waller Perez hit a couple of early threes but was stifled by Austin Amann's defense before he could do too much damage.  The little run at the end of the half, capped by Andy Stempel's half-court three as the clock ran out, felt like a huge momentum shift, and so it proved to be.  (That three triggered Titan memories of one by Sean Johnson and one by Adam Dauksas, although those were both at the end of the game and not at halftime).  The pace was slightly slower than that of a lot of games these days, and I for one thought it was an improvement.  So call me a dinosaur, a throwback to Hoosiers:"How many times are you gonna pass the ball before you shoot?" "Four." "How many?" "Four."  I didn't keep count, but it felt like that, and it was great.

Thanks all, for the updates.  I'll continue to lurk.  This promises to be a CCIW season even more crazy and interesting than usual.  Even though I wear green to games, it's great to see North Park back in the mix.  And I'm moving to Virginia, so I just might turn up if one of our teams makes it to Salem!

Best of luck with your move, Linda. I'll miss seeing you when the Titans come to the crackerbox! I'm just sorry that we never had the chance to have a good pregame conversation about the Beatles.

[Gregory Sager]

Albion isn't providing either audio or video for tonight's game; the only remote access the Brits are providing is live stats. However, I'll be traveling with the Vikings today to provide audio play-by-play. Tipoff is at 6 pm Central.

[AndOne]

I'm really surprised the respect d3.com continues to give North Central

Perhaps yesterday's win over 1 loss and #19 ranked Wartburg will help abate your level of surprise to some degree. Especially when you consider it was accomplished without NCC's best all-around player who is out with a broken hand.

One problem the Cardinals do have is consistency. They win tough games against very good teams, but then lose to a couple of teams you figure they would beat. Today, they play a team thats not as good as the one they beat yesterday. They need to avoid a let down, and play at a level they are capable of as demonstrated by yesterday's win.

[AndOne]

NCC up over Wheaton (MA) 54-35 at the half.

Aiden Chang leading the way with 14. He is a perfect 4/4 from the field, and 5/5 from the line. He and Jsgger Anderson both have 5 assists. Erwin Henry and Matt Cappelletti both have 9 points.
The Cardinals have hit 7/12 threes.

[D3_Commenter]

Chicago blows out NCC preseason --> NCC beats IWU --> IWU blows out Chicago

D3 basketball is so confusing.

[AndOne]

NCC 89-77 over Wheaton MA.
Aiden Chang with 26, Erwin Henry 17, and Matt Cappelletti with 12 led the way in scoring.
Jagger Anderson with 7 assists.
Alex Sorenson and Matt Cappelletti with 7 rebounds.