MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[iwu70]

Yup, Q is right.  Tons of shooters.  Tonight it was Coleman and Rose.  Others had treys too.  Nice runs, games by Gregoire and Burdine.  Knoblach hitting more 3s as well, with that almost unreal quick release.  Never seen anything quite like it.  Beasley a very strong double-double 13 and 13.  The guy is a rebounding artist. 

Can't remember the first time I saw IWU have three games in the 90s coming out of the blocks like this, so you can see the offensive capabilities of this group.   So many weapons.  Much needed defensive improvements . . . so still more to work on.

Good to have some rest.  Looks like Bonnett had a ankle twist, and Brady Rose a tweak of some kind, but he came back in.  Good to have a week to rest and prepare for the tournament in Memphis, after 3 games in four days.

A great start, Green.  Keep it rolling.

Chatsters, I'm off to the Far Side soon -- back to my university perch in Hong Kong. I'll be following the TITANS and the season -- men and women -- all year, with games at 7:00 a.m. for me.  Instead of breakfast at Wimbledon, it's breakfast at Shirk.

Nice to meet some of the parents tonight -- always there, always loyal in following their kids and all the TITANS. 

Be well all, and happy holidays upcoming to everyone on the Board.

IWU'70

[4samuy]

Yep, that's what taking 49 threes, several of which should not have been taken, and hitting on only 22% will do. I'm not sure taking 49 threes out of 69 shots is the most expedient way for NCC to play.
Commit 27 fouls, and especially, 18 TOs on top of that, and the result is not surprising.
Hopefully a learning experience that will somehow pay dividends over the almost full season that's still left to play.

AO

Did you catch the game?  Looked at the box and it seems as if the 2nd OT was a combined 30 some
Points.   Yeah they'll learn from that.

Not sure if it was 30, but there were a lot of FTs in that 2nd OT and a couple of threes.  It's possible.  We were watching it here courtside to avoid looking at the drubbing Birmingham Southern was taking in front of us.

So it was FTs.  That game must have gone close to 2.5 hours.  Box score does show 33 pts in 2nd OT.

[robertthebruce50]

Thank you IWU70.  It sounds like you have an excellent offensive scoring team that can go 8 or so deep.  It would take a pretty good defensive effort to stop you guys.  Excellent job tonight as Augie and IWU complete A 4-0 record on the Illinois Michigan challenge.  This season is gonna be a great one.  NCC lost in 2 OT's's and Carthage also lost tonight.  Now, it's on to Champaign to take on the Fighting Illini.  I believe that Augie can give Illinois a great game.  Anyway, happy holidays to all.

[augie77]

What's the unofficial point spread for Augustana at Illinois on Wednesday?

[Titan Q]

What's the unofficial point spread for Augustana at Illinois on Wednesday?

17.5

[4samuy]

I know Giovanine and the new coach at Illinois have a relationship that goes way back, but for the life of me, I can't believe The Illinois coach agreed to that game.  That's an absolute no win situation for them.

[GoPerry]

Wheaton 75
Baldwin Wallace 74

Ricky Samuelson    29 pts, 10/11 shooting, 3/3 3pt, 5 rebs, Will Landry Tournament MVP
Aston Francis     22 pts, 6 asst, 1 blk, 2 stls – All Tourney Team
Luke Peters     6 rebs, 7 asst, 2 blk

Michael Quiring,   18 pts, 7/12, 4/6 3pt
Jay Battle,   17 pts, 2 asst    All Tournament Team
Jake Fetherolf,   14 pts, 11 rebs


This was a pretty tight game with neither team leading by more than 6.  After scoring 34 pts last night on 12/15 shooting and making 8 of 9 from three, Ricky Samuelson was sensational again tonight, converting the winning 3 point play to put the Thunder ahead for good with 7 seconds left.  Despite his 22 pts, Aston Francis' shooting was less than pedestrian for the second night in a row going 8 for 25 tonight after a mere 1 of 9 against Depauw.  However, he did make solid contributions distributing the ball with 6 asst as he still attracts quite a crowd from the defense. 

In these 2 games, Samuelson has been demonstrating an upgraded skill of scoring on the drive and even posting up some like he did on the deciding play tonight.  No doubt his stroke from the outside has been as pure as it's ever been.  As a catch and shoot scorer, creating his own shot has never been his forte.  But these first 2 games he's displayed plenty of willingness to get to the front of the rim which could really make him a very tough defensive assignment.

As for Francis, no real detectable issues that I could see.  He doesn't look injured and his shots look the same as last year.  And, like last year, there are plenty of them - from the contested fadeway jumper to the cross-dribble-step-back trey typically taken 2-3 feet beyond the arc.  They simply aren't going in like they did regularly last year -- so far.

Freshman Cade Alioth is going to be hard for Coach Schauer to keep off the floor as the season progresses.  He plays taller than he is, really rebounds well, and seems to have a sense for the ball.  A very good player.

I think Baldwin Wallace is a very good team and will win lots of games in the OAC.  They have lots of guys who can score and defending the constant screen/roll which the Jackets used practically every time gave the Thunder some real difficulty. 

[Titan Q]

Millikin won at Findlandia 79-62 yesterday. The Big Blue's rotation:

G - Michael Charles II, 5-11/159 Sr. - transfer from D3 St. John's
G - Levi Laws, 6-2/202 Jr. - transfer from Wabash CC
F - DeVante Harrell, 6-6/200 Jr. - transfer from St. Louis CC
F - Jordan Cunningham, 6-6/295 So. - returnee
F - Elijah Henry, 6-7/220 Jr. - transfer from Kirkwood CC

G - Tyler Pygon, 5-9/162 Jr. - returnee
G - Michael Beaty, 6-1/223 Jr. - transfer from Lincoln Trail CC
F - Jaylan Catledge, 6-2/185 Fr. - freshman

In the opener, Millikin was led by:
-Henry: 23 pts, 18 reb
-Beaty: 16 pts, 9 reb, 3 assists
-Cunningham: 14 pts, 6 reb
-Harrell: 9 pts, 7 reb

Mark Scherer is playing a couple Matt Nadlehoffer guys (Cunningham, Pygon) - outside of them, he basically brought in a whole new rotation via transfer. The Big Blue would seem to be the league's X-factor team right now. 

Will be interesting to see how Scherer builds the program. He's obviously going the transfer route out of the gate - that can get tricky.

[all blues]

Millikin won at Findlandia 79-62 yesterday. The Big Blue's rotation:

G - Michael Charles II, 5-11/159 Sr. - transfer from D3 St. John's

Mark Scherer is playing a couple Matt Nadlehoffer guys (Cunningham, Pygon) - outside of them, he basically brought in a whole new rotation via transfer. The Big Blue would seem to be the league's X-factor team right now.  Will be interesting to see how Scherer builds the program. He's obviously going the transfer route out of the gate - that can get tricky.

I get where you're going, TQ, but, in the interest of accuracy, Charles is at Millikin for his 3rd year and is not part of the "new wave" transfers.  It's also interesting to note, though, that Charles was primarily a bench player for Coach N.  In other Big Blue news, the name of Weston Nottleman has evaporated from the Millikin roster.  Nottleman evaporated from the Elmhurst roster last season, and, together with Tyler Bond, makes 2 players from the same (only one loss) high school team to declare but never play for Millikin

[newCCIWfan]

Millikin won at Findlandia 79-62 yesterday. The Big Blue's rotation:

G - Michael Charles II, 5-11/159 Sr. - transfer from D3 St. John's

Mark Scherer is playing a couple Matt Nadlehoffer guys (Cunningham, Pygon) - outside of them, he basically brought in a whole new rotation via transfer. The Big Blue would seem to be the league's X-factor team right now.  Will be interesting to see how Scherer builds the program. He's obviously going the transfer route out of the gate - that can get tricky.

I get where you're going, TQ, but, in the interest of accuracy, Charles is at Millikin for his 3rd year and is not part of the "new wave" transfers.  It's also interesting to note, though, that Charles was primarily a bench player for Coach N.  In other Big Blue news, the name of Weston Nottleman has evaporated from the Millikin roster.  Nottleman evaporated from the Elmhurst roster last season, and, together with Tyler Bond, makes 2 players from the same (only one loss) high school team to declare but never play for Millikin

Not sure if it has anything to do with it, any transfer within the CCIW has to sit for one year. Just a thought.

[Titan Q]

Not sure if it has anything to do with it, any transfer within the CCIW has to sit for one year. Just a thought.

The only transfers that have to sit out a year are those coming from another CCIW school.

[newCCIWfan]

Not sure if it has anything to do with it, any transfer within the CCIW has to sit for one year. Just a thought.

The only transfers that have to sit out a year are those coming from another CCIW school.

Thus the "any transfer within the CCIW"      Thanks for the clarification Titan Q!

[GoPerry]

Congrats Ricky Samuelson on his first POW recognition.  Well deserved.

http://www.cciw.org/news/2017/11/20/wheatons-samuelson-named-cciw-mens-basketball-player-of-the-week.aspx

[markerickson]

In North Park's two-point loss to Blackburn, the home team got outscored 34-19 in the second half.  The team shot 5-23 from beyond the arc while Colin Lake was 0-6.  Ouch.

[unanimous22]

Thank you IWU70.  It sounds like you have an excellent offensive scoring team that can go 8 or so deep.  It would take a pretty good defensive effort to stop you guys.  Excellent job tonight as Augie and IWU complete A 4-0 record on the Illinois Michigan challenge.  This season is gonna be a great one.  NCC lost in 2 OT's's and Carthage also lost tonight.  Now, it's on to Champaign to take on the Fighting Illini.  I believe that Augie can give Illinois a great game.  Anyway, happy holidays to all.

Great? Don't know about that. Keep it somewhat close for a while? Maybe