MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[kiko]

I don't follow it quite close enough... but could Augie not make the CCIW tourney, and still make the NCAA tourney??

Augie has by far the easiest close-out schedule of the five contending teams.  They will be in the conference tournament.

[AndOne]

Updated standings through February 3...

Illinois Wesleyan 9-2  vs Wheaton, vs Carroll, at Millikin, at Carthage, vs North Central
North Central 9-3  vs Augustana, vs Carroll, at Wheaton, at Illinois Wesleyan
Augustana 8-4  at North Central, at Millikin, vs North Park, vs Elmhurst
Wheaton 7-4  at Illinois Wesleyan, at North Park, vs Carthage, vs North Central, at Carroll
Carthage 7-4  at Carroll, at Elmhurst, at Wheaton, vs Illinois Wesleyan, at North Park
----------------
Carroll 4-7
Elmhurst 4-8
Millikin 3-9
North Park 1-11

Still a whole bunch of things that can happen.

Contender vs contender sweeps are huge for tie-breakers.  There is only one on the board so far -- North Central over Carthage. But several upcoming opportunities.

Among the top 5 teams, it appears Augie has the most favorable remaining schedule.

1. Augie's remaining opponents have only a .354 winning percentage (17-31).
2. Carthage's remaining opponents have a .439 winning percentage (25-32).
T3. IWU's remaining opponents stand at .526 percent (30-27).
T3. Wheaton's remaining opponents are at the same .526 percentage (30-27).
5. North Central faces remaining opponents with a combined .662 winning percentage (28-17)

[AndOne]

NCC 61, NPU 60

Colin Lake: 14 pts, 5 rebs, 4:0 a:to
Billy Kirby: 10 pts, 5 rebs
Dyron Woods: 10 pts
Veggie Tangen: 8 rebs

Alex Sorenson: 21 pts, 7 rebs, 4:2 a:to
Connor Raridon: 12 pts, 10 rebs, 5:2 a:to
Mike Pollack: 12 pts
Aiden Chang: 5:1 a:to
Mike Cappelletti: 5 rebs

This was a heartbreaker. The Vikings had multiple chances to win this one, and yet it slipped away. With the game tied at 58 and 1:03 remaining, Billy Kirby went to the line with a one-and-one ... and missed the front end. The Cards came down the floor, got the ball right where they wanted it, into the hands of Alex Sorenson, only to have Colin Lake steal it from behind. The Vikes called time, ran a perfect play out of the timeout that culminated in a Kirby layup to go up two with 37 ticks left ... and then they didn't pick up Sorenson at the top of the key, which everybody knows is the only place where he really attempts treys, and he stroked one to put the Cards up one with 27 seconds remaining. NPU wasn't finished, though -- Lake drove the lane, threw up an off-balance eight-footer that missed, somehow got his own rebound, and missed the putback attempt. The ball was tipped out to the wing, Jack Gurvey picked it up -- and rimmed out a shot at the buzzer that would've won the game.

NPU had jumped out to a 24-8 lead that was all the more astonishing for the fact that Lake didn't even score a point until the game was nearly ten minutes old. Everybody knew that it wouldn't last, of course, and the Cards started to get hot (especially Mike Pollack) while NPU in turn started taking ill-advised treys from the wrong people at the wrong part of the floor at the wrong time. NCC fought back to trail by only one at the half, and at halftime it felt like a game in which the hosts would just jump out of the gate in the second half and take care of business.

That didn't happen. Instead, North Park stayed ahead for most of the second half, although the margin remained within two possessions until a Lake jumper with just under four minutes remaining put the Park up by seven at 58-51. At that point, unfortunately, with both teams drawing out every possession, the Vikings offense froze up and the Cards went on a seven-point run to tie it up with a minute and a half left to set up the final drama.

The Vikings had no answer inside defensively for Sorenson, which should come as no surprise to anybody. But Veggie Tangen did put in yeoman work to at least slow him down a little, and Tangen and Dyron Woods managed to give NPU some offense out of the big men on a night when Matt Szuba was a non-factor. And, for the most part, Lake and Kirby did what they could. But in the end, it just wasn't enough, as NCC rode its two superstars to the narrow win.

This is not a moral victory for North Park. It does at least show the Vikings what they're capable of doing, however, and it's the first note of encouragement that Vikings fans can take since this long losing streak started.

Some additional points regarding this game:

* Connor Raridon's scoring potential/capabilities have decreased since he assumed the point guard role early this season after never having previously played the position. Despite his inexperience at the spot, he leads the conference in both assists and Assist/Turnover ratio. Last night he demonstrated his overall game with a 2 1/2 A/TO Ratio AND a double-double of 12 points and 10 rebounds.

* Mike Pollack's 12 points came on 4 (of 5) three pointers. He has quickly become one of the most dangerous men in the conference from behind the arc.

* MATT  Cappelletti had 5 rebounds.

* It would be highly remissive to overlook the contributions of Tommy Koth in last evening's victory.
Tommy came off the bench to register 11 important points on 4/7 shooting (4/7, 2/3, 1/2) in 15 minutes. He also played a little  defense.

* NPU outrebounded the Cardinals 37-32, and banked 26 in-the-paint points compared to NCC's 16.
They also registered 13 points off the 8 NCC turnovers they forced compared to the 7 points the Cards
got off their, also, 8 TOs.

* NCC made more FTs (11/18  ) than NPU shot (3/6). As Greg said above, one reason for this was NPU's not attacking the basket. Another was the fact that Matt Szuba and Jason Hines of NPU both committed a couple of silly fouls well away from the basket, and I believe Duran Woods, who made a nice 10 point contribution to the NPU cause, committed another such infraction.

* NPU led for almost 33 minutes. NCC only had the lead for about 3 minutes.

* From where I sat, Jack Gurvey's last shot of the game looked dead on. It very surprisingly rimmed out.

[Gregory Sager]

and I believe Duran Woods

Dyron Woods. Now we're even.

[Mr. Ypsi]

Wow, tough loss for NPU.  Really thought they had NCC beaten.  Would have been a grand upset.  NCC escapes, barely. 

Augie's loss is big, an NCC loss would have been big too. 

Sure looks like IWU, AC, WC and NCC in the CCIW tournament. 

'70

Not sure why you are counting out Carthage.  Except for playing AT Wheaton, Carthage has an easier remaining schedule than the Thunder.  Wheaton plays AT IWU, while Carthage gets them at home.  Both play AT Carroll and AT North Park (but despite homecourt, should win them both).  And, despite homecourt, Carthage AT Elmhurst is now looking like an easier game than Wheaton hosting NCC.  I'd say the tourney is still wide open, with Carthage as likely as almost anyone.

[Titan Q]

Wow, tough loss for NPU.  Really thought they had NCC beaten.  Would have been a grand upset.  NCC escapes, barely. 

Augie's loss is big, an NCC loss would have been big too. 

Sure looks like IWU, AC, WC and NCC in the CCIW tournament. 

'70

Not sure why you are counting out Carthage.  Except for playing AT Wheaton, Carthage has an easier remaining schedule than the Thunder.  Wheaton plays AT IWU, while Carthage gets them at home.  Both play AT Carroll and AT North Park (but despite homecourt, should win them both).  And, despite homecourt, Carthage AT Elmhurst is now looking like an easier game than Wheaton hosting NCC.  I'd say the tourney is still wide open, with Carthage as likely as almost anyone.

He also thought IWU was up 2 games...so not sure he is paying a whole bunch of attention.

[Gregory Sager]

Both play AT Carroll and AT North Park (but despite homecourt, should win them both).

Tell that to Augie. Over the past two weeks Carroll has played as well as anybody in this league.

[GoPerry]

Wow, tough loss for NPU.  Really thought they had NCC beaten.  Would have been a grand upset.  NCC escapes, barely. 

Augie's loss is big, an NCC loss would have been big too. 

Sure looks like IWU, AC, WC and NCC in the CCIW tournament. 

'70

Not sure why you are counting out Carthage.  Except for playing AT Wheaton, Carthage has an easier remaining schedule than the Thunder.  Wheaton plays AT IWU, while Carthage gets them at home.  Both play AT Carroll and AT North Park (but despite homecourt, should win them both).  And, despite homecourt, Carthage AT Elmhurst is now looking like an easier game than Wheaton hosting NCC.  I'd say the tourney is still wide open, with Carthage as likely as almost anyone.

Yeah, not really sure what he's talking about on that one.  5 teams vying for 4 spots with only IWU breathing a little easier.

Provided they take care of other business, beating Carthage at home next week will give WC the season sweep and the virtual 1/2 game lead over the Redmen which could very well make the difference.

[GoPerry]

Both play AT Carroll and AT North Park (but despite homecourt, should win them both).

Tell that to Augie. Over the past two weeks Carroll has played as well as anybody in this league.

Wheaton playing their final game in Waukesha with a tourney berth on the line is a pretty uncomfortable thought.  And it's quite likely that will be the case.

[Mr. Ypsi]

Both play AT Carroll and AT North Park (but despite homecourt, should win them both).

Tell that to Augie. Over the past two weeks Carroll has played as well as anybody in this league.

That's true - I need to keep up!  I'm still thinking of Carroll as a 'doormat' team, but they are now playing like I thought they would when they first came back.  I was pretty sure they would drag down the CCIW a bit in football and women's hoops (and they have), but thought they would be competitive from the get-go in men's hoops.  They faltered for a bit, but are now playing like I had once thought they would.

[iwumichigander]

Both play AT Carroll and AT North Park (but despite homecourt, should win them both).

Tell that to Augie. Over the past two weeks Carroll has played as well as anybody in this league.

That's true - I need to keep up!  I'm still thinking of Carroll as a 'doormat' team, but they are now playing like I thought they would when they first came back.  I was pretty sure they would drag down the CCIW a bit in football and women's hoops (and they have), but thought they would be competitive from the get-go in men's hoops.  They faltered for a bit, but are now playing like I had once thought they would.

i would not count any team out to get a win.  I think the bottom third could upset any team at any time.  This is NOT a year where you could say the bottom third a sure win.

[Gregory Sager]

Both play AT Carroll and AT North Park (but despite homecourt, should win them both).

Tell that to Augie. Over the past two weeks Carroll has played as well as anybody in this league.

That's true - I need to keep up!  I'm still thinking of Carroll as a 'doormat' team, but they are now playing like I thought they would when they first came back.  I was pretty sure they would drag down the CCIW a bit in football and women's hoops (and they have), but thought they would be competitive from the get-go in men's hoops.  They faltered for a bit, but are now playing like I had once thought they would.

i would not count any team out to get a win.  I think the bottom third could upset any team at any time.  This is NOT a year where you could say the bottom third a sure win.

Agreed. Even North Park has managed to come within a point of both Illinois Wesleyan and North Central.

[lmitzel]

Alex Sorenson is your CCIW Player of the Week for the second time this season after a pair of solid outings in North Central wins last week.

[voxelmhurst]

Wheaton beat Elmhurst, 82-70, at King. Aston Francis only scored ten points, and his shooting numbers (2-14 FG, 2-11 trey) were terrible. All the more reason for Wheaton fans to be encouraged, I suppose, since they didn't need their superstar to carry the burden. Elmhurst has been reeling ever since the 'jays got that big upset win over NCC two weeks ago at Faganel.

You can say that again. What appeared to be a statement game from Elmhurst on Jan 20th, now looks more like an aberration, in hindsight. They've lost 4 in a row, and are just 2-7 since CCIW play resumed. I really thought Elmhurst could pull off 8 or 9 CCIW victories at one point this season. While 8 is still technically possible, it appears more likely that they'll only slightly improve upon last year's win CCIW win total of 4.

Defensive improvement will surely be a top priority for the Jays this offseason. They are last in points allowed/game vs CCIW opponents, giving up 82.2 points/game.

That said, a lot of ball still to be played, starting with Mark Scherer making his first return to RA Faganel Hall as head coach of Millikin on Wednesday night.

[Gregory Sager]

In spite of Elmhurst's collapse, the future looks very bright for the 'jays. The only player whom they'll lost for 2018-19 is little-used backup guard Brandon Auker.