MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[izzy stradlin]

I believe the teams still in contention.  Is this correct?
Augustana 11-4 at Illinois Wesleyan
North Park 10-5 hm vs Millikin
Carthage 10-5 hm vs Wheaton

North Central 9-7 done
Carroll 8-7 plays at Elmhurst; 1-1 vs NCC

Carroll would win tie breaker with NCC I think by virtue of 1-1 vs Augie, Carthage and NPU.  NCC is 0-2 vs NPU and Augie.

NCC split with North Park, so if the Vikings finish in 1st, NCC would wi the tiebreaker. If it's Augie, the Cardinals would be out since they got swept.

The Vikings can only tie for first with Augie.  NCC's record against Augie will eliminate them if it is a tie with only Carroll.     NCC needs one of the following:  a Carroll loss, a Wheaton win, or a Wesleyan win.

Wouldn't NPU win the conf by virtue of the tie breaker with a win vs millikin and Augie loss to IWU?
NPU IS 2-0 vs Augie hth this year, Correct?

NPU only has a way to tie for the conference title.  The only thing they can win by themselves is the right to host the conference tournament if they win with both Augie and Carthage loses.  The tiebreaker for right to host the conference tournament (if their is a tie for the CCIW Championship) does not impact the process of other tiebreakers (4th place).  If Augie and NPU tie and NCC and Carroll tie, NCC/Carroll H2H is a wash and then you would look at their records against both first place teams.  The first place tiebreaker is just for hosting rights.  They would be co-champs.

[Titan Q]

Remember, any teams that tie for the best record win the conference championship. Hosting the CCIW conference tournament is a great reward, but winning a CCIW title is a big deal. 

North Park has not won a CCIW title in 30 years (1987) and I'm sure NPU fans would love to get a piece...whether the hosting rights come with that or not.

[markerickson]

I sat next to Jordan Robinson's family tonight.  We chatted, and yes, 1987 is a looong time ago.

NPC '85

[tjcummingsfan]

Remember, any teams that tie for the best record win the conference championship. Hosting the CCIW conference tournament is a great reward, but winning a CCIW title is a big deal. 

North Park has not won a CCIW title in 30 years (1987) and I'm sure NPU fans would love to get a piece...whether the hosting rights come with that or not.

Absolutely!

[Gregory Sager]

Sorry about this but I have to say it.  If Carroll is going to invest in streaming the games live, is it too much to ask the camera operator to pay attention and keep the camera on the end of the floor where the ball is?

Agreed, that was pretty frustrating.

I watched a little bit of that game, and I saw that happen, too. It drives me crazy.

[Titan Q]

Sorry about this but I have to say it.  If Carroll is going to invest in streaming the games live, is it too much to ask the camera operator to pay attention and keep the camera on the end of the floor where the ball is?

Agreed, that was pretty frustrating.

I watched a little bit of that game, and I saw that happen, too. It drives me crazy.

I saw it too...and actually even felt compelled to tweet about it.

https://twitter.com/IWUhoopscom/status/833088846552244224

https://twitter.com/IWUhoopscom/status/833102306350604289

[Gregory Sager]

Sorry about this but I have to say it.  If Carroll is going to invest in streaming the games live, is it too much to ask the camera operator to pay attention and keep the camera on the end of the floor where the ball is?

Agreed, that was pretty frustrating.

I watched a little bit of that game, and I saw that happen, too. It drives me crazy.

I saw it too...and actually even felt compelled to tweet about it.

https://twitter.com/IWUhoopscom/status/833088846552244224

https://twitter.com/IWUhoopscom/status/833102306350604289

Somebody should tell Mike Schulist that his camera operator is neglecting his job. It makes the whole Carroll operation look bad.

[Viking Blue]

So, after 18 years (on and off) of doing the PA at North Park games, I attended my first game as a paying fan at the Crackerbox tonight.  That was....strange.  But if they all go like this one did, that's certainly 5 bucks well spent.

It was very fun for me to sit back from the scorers' table vantage point (directly between Greg and AC doing the play by play and Kevin Shepke running 400 things simultaneously--that's worth the price of admission in its own right) and enjoy the game as a fan.  I attended with a buddy of mine who is an Augie alum.  As overtime was coming to an end, he said, "That's a pretty big win for you guys."  I responded, "Probably the biggest in the last 25 years."

Glad I got to be there tonight.  I must say that I haven't had the chance to see much of Juwan Henry in person, which I regret.  I know he was far from 100% tonight, but it was clear that he was doing what a senior with only a couple of games left in his career should be doing...laying it all out there and doing what he could to help his team reach a place it's never been.

Colin Lake was amazing tonight.  Clearly, his point production was important.  But all things considered, I feel like his contributions all around were the difference in this game.

I'm proud to be a North Park Viking.....if they continue to play like this, we just might get that signature student section back.

Well done, men!

[Gregory Sager]

North Park 87, Augustana 82 (ot)

Colin Lake: 26 pts, 4 stls
T.J. Cobbs: 19 pts, 7 rebs, 6:0 a:to
Juwan Henry: 15 pts
Jordan Robinson: 14 pts, 12 rebs
Darius Brown: 7 rebs

Jacob Johnston: 22 pts, 6 rebs
Chrishawn Orange: 18 pts, 9 rebs
Micah Martin: 11 pts, 8 rebs

Persistence pays off, as NPU, which led the vast majority of the game and had double-digit leads in both halves, managed to overcome a late Augie run in the waning minutes of regulation to claim the victory. NPU really won it in the first minute of overtime; although Jacob Johnston won the tip, T.J. Cobbs squirted through three Augie players to pick up the tip, and 21 seconds into OT Jordan Robinson hit a trey. About 20 seconds later, Chrishawn Orange had his pocket picked by Colin Lake, who cruised in for a layup. NPU thus led by five within the first minute of overtime and never looked back, as the Park led by ten at a couple of junctures in the extra session to make it three different double-digit leads in three periods. Tom Slyder even took the opportunity to insert little-used senior Gavin Groszek onto the floor in the final minute of overtime, a Senior Night ritual that I don't think I've ever seen made in an overtime before.

Augustana burned itself at the free-throw line. Although Augie was shooting almost 78% as a team from the stripe coming into the game, the Grey Men were a horrendous 14-29 (48%) tonight, and several of those misses were at the front end of one-and-ones. But, despite what one irate Augie fan was screaming at me over his shoulder as he walked out of the stands (always enjoyable when an opposing fan feels the need to shout his way onto your broadcast in order to give his spin), the game was decided by more than simply Augie's inability to make foul shots. Augie also was a tepid 6-23 (26%) from beyond the arc, while North Park, by contrast, was a hot 11-20 (55%) from downtown. And, although the two teams were separated by only one turnover in that category, there was a huge qualitative difference in those turnovers. NPU's came on charges, errant passes that went out of bounds, stepping on the endline (poor Billy Kirby touched the ball not once, not twice, but three times before establishing position inbounds), that sort of thing. Many of Augie's turnovers were their guards getting their pockets picked or throwing perimeter passes that were jumped by Vikings defenders. Add the several instances in which NPU beat the press by releasing Cobbs long (you'd think that Grey Giovanine would've figured out by now that Cobbs is one of the fastest players in the league) for a long inbound and an easy layup, and you're talking about a 23-4 advantage in fast-break points for the Park that was every bit as big as Augie's putrid FT shooting.

Cobbs was magnificent. He seemed to be everywhere tonight, and now that's he's finally stroking the trey with confidence, the last piece of the puzzle to his game has fallen into place. If an opposing coach isn't game-planning for Cobbs at this point, his team is in trouble. Colin Lake rocked the house not only with his four treys but with a lot of shake'n'bake stuff in the first half that no doubt gave the Augie defenders a lot to think about. He has really stepped up his penetration game over the past couple of weeks. Jordan Robinson had what was for him a very quiet double-double. One of the encouraging things about this win was that he had three teammates take more shots than he did, and the Vikings still won. Juwan Henry, who played 35 minutes tonight and still seemed to have something left in the tank at the end of overtime, is clearly not back to 100% yet -- but he's getting close enough to be an important factor in the mix for North Park. I tell you, I had more fun calling his 2,000th point than I have for just about any non-victory moment I've had since I started broadcasting. How many times do you get to see someone score his 2000th point?

Jacob Johnston was tremendous tonight for Augustana. He's subtly put together a pretty fine senior year, and tonight he was really on around the basket. I think that he tied his career high tonight. Micah Martin was a handful, as he seems to have much better touch around the basket than fellow bigs Dollmeyer and Ferguson. Chrishawn Orange was Augie's do-everything guy tonight. He impresses me more and more every time I watch him play.

This sounds strange for a program that's won five national championships, but this actually marks the first time in school history that North Park has swept Illinois Wesleyan and Augustana in the same season. It also marks the first time that NPU has swept Augie since 1989, I believe.

Great, great night for NPU, as the Vikes finally -- finally -- break through and achieve a CCIW tourney berth. But there's still much more to play for.

Remember, any teams that tie for the best record win the conference championship. Hosting the CCIW conference tournament is a great reward, but winning a CCIW title is a big deal. 

North Park has not won a CCIW title in 30 years (1987) and I'm sure NPU fans would love to get a piece...whether the hosting rights come with that or not.

Yes, this is a big deal. But I think that college basketball fans have gotten so used to thinking in terms of conference tournaments that all everybody wanted to talk about after the game was NPU clinching the tourney berth, where the tourney would be hosted, and tiebreaker scenarios. The actual CCIW championship seems like an afterthought to most people. I guess that you and I are just old-school about this, Bob.

But the conference championship thing actually leads to a great story. CCIW commish Chris Martin was in the crackerbox tonight with the championship trophy. He sent an e-mail to North Park outlining the postgame trophy-awarding protocol, which I suppose is the standard league practice for such presentations ... and Tom Slyder read that e-mail to his team in the locker room before the game. When he was done reading it, Tom said, "That is not going to take place tonight. Not on our floor, and not on Senior Night." It was another one of his master psychological moves, as NPU clearly came to play in a big way this evening.

One of my favorite sights from the crackerbox tonight was seeing Chris Martin pick up the trophy from the scorer's table after the game and head out to the parking lot with it to take it back to CCIW headquarters in Naperville.

[Gregory Sager]

As I previously mentioned, I wanted to photograph Juwan Henry notch his 2,000th point, which is why I went to Elmhurst.  Juwan was in street clothes and again at the next home game versus NCC.  Henry sat out the next two road games, but tonight I sat in the SW section for the first time in probably decades as my usual NE section was filled with Augie folk.  How fortuitous as I am probably the only person in the gym to get the PERFECT shot of Henry elevating along the baseline, facing me with his #5 front and center, for a jumper that got him to exactly 2,000 points!!  Then I got point 2,001 on a FT that tied the game with 28 seconds left.

You ought to share that one with the school, Mark. That's a pretty monumental picture.

NP dominated the first half with the game's leading scorer, Colin Lake, netting 13 by halftime.  NP had a bunch of steals (Lake and Cobbs, of course) during the game.  Despite the significant mismatches in height during switches, Augie simply did not recognize and capitalize.

Very good point, Mark. NPU switched constantly, and with the size disparity between the two teams it led to a lot of absurd matchups (Lake guarding Johnston, Henry guarding Martin, etc.). Augie didn't take nearly enough advantage of those mismatches, aside from a few instances in which Jacob Johnston managed to make hay with a much smaller defender on him in the low post, recognizing that there would be no weak-side help coming over as long as Micah Martin was looming nearby.

North Park, in spite of being tremendously outsized all over the floor, outrebounded Augie, 43-41.

It was very fun for me to sit back from the scorers' table vantage point (directly between Greg and AC doing the play by play and Kevin Shepke running 400 things simultaneously--that's worth the price of admission in its own right) and enjoy the game as a fan.  I attended with a buddy of mine who is an Augie alum.  As overtime was coming to an end, he said, "That's a pretty big win for you guys."  I responded, "Probably the biggest in the last 25 years."

Yep. I'll agree with that.

Hat tip to former Vikings player and assistant coach Chris "Cousy" Edquist, who came in from the Twin Cities for the alumni game this afternoon as well as for the big showdown with Augie, for volunteering to operate the camera tonight. Because so much of the NPU game staff consists of Vikings baseball players, and the North Park baseball team opened its season in Arkansas today, the game staff was really shorthanded. My broadcast partner Aaron Coleman was forced to operate the camera with one hand and hold his mic with the other as he did double duty in the women's game. Cousy's stepping in to operate the camera saved AC from having to do two jobs at once for the men's game, too ... and I'll bet that Cousy never once failed to pan the camera from one end of the floor to the other. Perhaps he can visit Waukesha on his way back to the Twin Cities to give the Carroll guy a tutorial.

Glad I got to be there tonight.  I must say that I haven't had the chance to see much of Juwan Henry in person, which I regret.  I know he was far from 100% tonight, but it was clear that he was doing what a senior with only a couple of games left in his career should be doing...laying it all out there and doing what he could to help his team reach a place it's never been.

Colin Lake was amazing tonight.  Clearly, his point production was important.  But all things considered, I feel like his contributions all around were the difference in this game.

I'm proud to be a North Park Viking.....if they continue to play like this, we just might get that signature student section back.

Amen to that. Packed house, and the joint was jumping. (Great representation by the Augie fans as well.) It felt very much like the good old days.

[AppletonRocks]

It only took 2 pages to discuss the tie breaker scenarios.  You guys have worked on your brevity this year. 

[Gregory Sager]

I'm pulling for Wheaton to play spoiler in Tarble on Tuesday, for the obvious reason that NPU needs that Wheaton win as part of the scenario that gives the Vikings the CCIW tourney's #1 seed and hosting privileges. But as a secondary consideration I'd also like to see Wheaton win that game in order to give the CCIW seven teams that finish with winning records. It'd be a rare distinction, and, in a season in which the league didn't exactly cover itself with glory in non-conference play, it would also be a testament to the league's balance this year.

[Pat Coleman]

markerickson, we'd love a look at that photo, too!

[kiko]

Recognizing that gameday operations require a lot of bodies, that this is accentuated on senior night, that athletic directors and their staffs are pulled a million ways to Sunday, and that Gregory noted some extenuating circumstances in a comment earlier...

It sort of boggles my mind that NPU didn't have someone with a camera at the ready to capture Juwan Henry crossing the 2K barrier.   He's only the third Viking to do so in the program's history.  It's weird that the only photo of this will be from someone in the stands who took it upon themselves to make sure it was captured.

Given how ubiquitous cameras are these days it strikes me as really odd that my grocery store trip today is probably better preserved for history than a moment like that.

[GoPerry]

I'm pulling for Wheaton to play spoiler in Tarble on Tuesday, for the obvious reason that NPU needs that Wheaton win as part of the scenario that gives the Vikings the CCIW tourney's #1 seed and hosting privileges. But as a secondary consideration I'd also like to see Wheaton win that game in order to give the CCIW seven teams that finish with winning records. It'd be a rare distinction, and, in a season in which the league didn't exactly cover itself with glory in non-conference play, it would also be a testament to the league's balance this year.

Wow! Not exactly 'dogs and cats living together', but certainly further evidence of an unusual season . . . Will you be wearing Orange while calling the NPU-Millikin game?