MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Gregory Sager]

Well said, Lucas.

[Gregory Sager]

Aston Francis has scored 453 points thus far in CCIW play this season, which is the third-highest total in league history. On the one hand, that makes Leon Gobczynski's junior and senior seasons look all the more impressive, as his 568 points in the 1973-74 CCIW season and 506 in 1974-75 are clearly out of Francis's reach. It's also worth remembering that Gobczynski did that before the NCAA adopted the three-point shot. But, on the other hand, it illustrates just what a remarkable season -- and career -- Francis is having in a Wheaton uniform. Only nine times has a CCIW scoring leader topped 400 points -- and Gobczynski and Francis are the only two players who've done it twice.

[WUPHF]

I am glad that the Wheaton fan conversation has run its course, but I just have to add one more thing: Alex SCOREnson is an awesome nick name regardless of who thought of it.

[Yogao]

I am glad that the Wheaton fan conversation has run its course, but I just have to add one more thing: Alex SCOREnson is an awesome nick name regardless of who thought of it.

I'm surprised there wasn't a mention of how horrible the Augie student section gets, unless that's too easy of a target.  I remember when I attended Augie, there was a lacross game, and we got under the skin of a NIU player so badly he tried to jump the fence to go into the bleachers. He stopped when he realized non of his teammates were backing him up. 

[Titan Q]

I was interested to see how Aston Francis compares to other top guards in the league in terms of points per FGA.  Here is a list of the guards in the CCIW averaging 10+ PPG...

(Stats are from CCIW games only)

Nolan Ebel (Augustana): 257 points/155 FGA = 1.66 points/FGA
Ricky Samuelson (Wheaton): 216 points/146 FGA = 1.48 points/FGA
Brady Rose (IWU): 336 points/234 FGA = 1.44 points/FGA
Colin Bonnett (IWU): 189 points/132 FGA = 1.43 points/FGA
Aston Francis (Wheaton): 453 points/317 FGA = 1.43 points/FGA
Zach Fisher (Millikin): 220 points/161 FGA = 1.37 points/FGA
Chrishawn Orange (Augustana): 233 points/171 FGA = 1.36 points/FGA
Joel Heesch (Carroll): 203 points/151 FGA = 1.34 points/FGA
Connor Raridon (North Central): 183 points/140 FGA = 1.31 points/FGA
Jordan Thomas (Carthage): 255 points/196 FGA = 1.30 points/FGA
Jake Rhode (Elmhurst): 203 points/167 FGA = 1.22 points/FGA
Michael Beaty (Millikin): 155 points/132 FGA = 1.17 points/FGA
Dylan Sortillo (Augustana): 174 points/153 FGA = 1.14 points/FGA
Tanner Zaeske (Carroll): 165 points/150 FGA = 1.10 points/FGA
Colin Lake (North Park): 274 points/252 FGA = 1.09 points/FGA

Really impressive numbers from Nolan Ebel, who I believe is a lock 1st Teamer.  And Francis has really good numbers here for someone who takes this many shots -- he does a great job getting to the FT line, and he makes a ton of 3-pointers.  And IWU's starting backcourt shows up well here.

For fun context, Michael Jordan's NBA career number was 1.32 points/FGA...Kobe Bryant 1.28...Steph Curry 1.37 so far.

---------------
Here is a list of each team's leader in FGA as a % of the team total FGA...

Aston Francis (Wheaton) = 35%
Colin Lake (North Park) = 29%
Brady Rose (IWU) = 26%
Jordan Thomas (Carthage) = 23%
Alex Sorenson (North Central) = 22%
Chrishawn Orange (Augustana) = 21%
Jake Rhode (Elmhurst) = 19%
Joel Heesch (Carroll) = 19%
Zach Fisher (Millikin) = 18%

No surprise to see that Francis is leaned on more offensively than any play in the league.

[Titan Q]

Not sure if this news about Micah Martin hit the board this past week...

http://qctimes.com/sports/basketball/college/vikings-ranked-third-in-region-but-will-be-without-martin/article_d7e227e9-2638-5ae7-9c5c-641ddf53e571.html?utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter&utm_campaign=user-share

[titanalum94]

If his tear is bad I surely hope that Martin opts to get it fully repaired, rather than having it removed as some NBA players have done in order to get back on the court quickly. I seem to remember hearing that having it removed could lead to chronic knee issues later on.

Also of note from the Illinois Wesleyan Athletics Facebook page, IF the tournaments are both hosted in Bloomington, the Saturday championship times will be at 2 p.m. (women) and 7:30 p.m. (men).

[lmitzel]

Illinois Wesleyan's Alex O'Neill is your latest CCIW Player of the Week after averaging 14 points and 6.5 rebounds in a pair of Titan wins. O'Neill is the second Titan to win the award this season (Brady Rose three times is the other).

[iwu70]

Congrats to Coach Rose and the Titans on a share of the CCIW crown.  Over-achieving and a great season still in process.  No let up vs. NCC.  Go Titans - men and women.  Let's host both CCIW tournaments.

Congrats to Alex O'Neill for his POW honors.  Thanks to Q for posting the details and the clear improvement of his performance over the last few weeks.  A big part of IWU's late season success.  Also good contributions of late by Curry.  Just wait to see what O'Neill does in his junior and senior year.  It will match Sorenson, IMHO.  (no need to criticize me for this view . . . ).

IWU'70

[Titan Q]

Illinois Wesleyan (19-5, 12-3) vs North Central (17-7, 10-5), 7pm...

Illinois Wesleyan (19-5, 12-3)
G - Brady Rose, 6-3/185 Jr.  21.6 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 3.2 apg
G - Colin Bonnett, 6-4/190 Jr.  12.5 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 2.6 apg
G - Jason Gregoire, 6-4/195 Jr.  8.1 ppg, 2.4 rpg, 2.0 apg
F - Jaylen Beasley, 6-6/185 Sr.  5.5 ppg, 6.6 rpg
C - Alex O'Neill, 6-9/245 So. 8.9 ppg, 5.1 rpg

North Central (17-5, 10-5)
G - Connor Raridon, 6-6/210 So.  12.3 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 6.8 apg
G - Aiden Chang, 6-3/175 Jr.  6.6 ppg, 1.8 rpg, 3.0 apg
G - Blaise Meredith, 6-4/182 Fr.  5.8 ppg, 2.4 rpg, 1.2 apg
F - Matt Cappelletti, 6-5/205 So. 9.0 ppg, 4.0 rpg
F - Alex Sorenson, 6-8/235 Sr.  18.8 ppg, 9.0 rpg, 2.3 apg


Pantagraph - http://www.pantagraph.com/sports/college/basketball/men/iwu-closes-regular-season-seeking-outright-cciw-crown/article_d85a088c-4d9c-58f9-a9ab-603dcd23b7bd.html

WJBC Radio - https://portal.stretchinternet.com/wjbc/

Video/Stats - https://portal.stretchinternet.com/iwu/

[USee]

Q, I saw you Pool C analysis. Is your position on Wheaton based on winning @ Carroll and then winning one game in the CCIW Tourney? If they do that, it seems like you think they are on the right side of the bubble? Am I seeing that right?

[Titan Q]

Q, I saw you Pool C analysis. Is your position on Wheaton based on winning @ Carroll and then winning one game in the CCIW Tourney? If they do that, it seems like you think they are on the right side of the bubble? Am I seeing that right?

http://www.d3boards.com/index.php?topic=4232.msg1858071#msg1858071

It's where I have Wheaton right now.  But yes, to stay in this position I think Wheaton has to win at Carroll and then on Friday in the CCIW tournament.  Because the teams all around the Thunder on my list will probably win 2 more games.  With the margin for error being tiny, it's important for Wheaton to keep pace in the final week.

I do think Wheaton gets in with 2-1 through Saturday night.  In this scenario, though, Wheaton would be at the mercy of "bubble burster" upsets.  When you're in that #15 or below range you just have to hope there aren't a ton of upsets.

Wheaton's resume has a lot going for it with SOS and RRO. 

[Kovo]

Q, I saw you Pool C analysis. Is your position on Wheaton based on winning @ Carroll and then winning one game in the CCIW Tourney? If they do that, it seems like you think they are on the right side of the bubble? Am I seeing that right?

http://www.d3boards.com/index.php?topic=4232.msg1858071#msg1858071

It's where I have Wheaton right now.  But yes, to stay in this position I think Wheaton has to win at Carroll and then on Friday in the CCIW tournament.  Because the teams all around the Thunder on my list will probably win 2 more games.  With the margin for error being tiny, it's important for Wheaton to keep pace in the final week.

I do think Wheaton gets in with 2-1 through Saturday night.  In this scenario, though, Wheaton would be at the mercy of "bubble burster" upsets.  When you're in that #15 or below range you just have to hope there aren't a ton of upsets.

Wheaton's resume has a lot going for it with SOS and RRO.

It looks as if the general feeling is that NCC doesn't have a chance for a Pool C bid.  But, NCC has the same record as Wheaton and the same conference mark.  Plus NCC is 2-0 head to head.  SOS appears to be similar.  Does it all come down to record against RRO?  I'm not complaining, just trying to understand. 

[lmitzel]

Q, I saw you Pool C analysis. Is your position on Wheaton based on winning @ Carroll and then winning one game in the CCIW Tourney? If they do that, it seems like you think they are on the right side of the bubble? Am I seeing that right?

http://www.d3boards.com/index.php?topic=4232.msg1858071#msg1858071

It's where I have Wheaton right now.  But yes, to stay in this position I think Wheaton has to win at Carroll and then on Friday in the CCIW tournament.  Because the teams all around the Thunder on my list will probably win 2 more games.  With the margin for error being tiny, it's important for Wheaton to keep pace in the final week.

I do think Wheaton gets in with 2-1 through Saturday night.  In this scenario, though, Wheaton would be at the mercy of "bubble burster" upsets.  When you're in that #15 or below range you just have to hope there aren't a ton of upsets.

Wheaton's resume has a lot going for it with SOS and RRO.

It looks as if the general feeling is that NCC doesn't have a chance for a Pool C bid.  But, NCC has the same record as Wheaton and the same conference mark.  Plus NCC is 2-0 head to head.  SOS appears to be similar.  Does it all come down to record against RRO?  I'm not complaining, just trying to understand.

Pretty much every metric that the NCAA uses for both regional rankings and Pool C bids favors Wheaton, unfortunately.

Metric	NCC	Wheaton
Win %	0.696	0.708
SOS	0.538	0.550
RRO	2-4	4-2

Head to head results are in a way part of the RRO for North Central, but Wheaton's got the edge with some nice wins (Whitworth, IWU, Augie) that NCC can't claim. If the Cardinals beat the Titans tonight that'll narrow the gap. It won't impact the regional rankings this week but it'll help with the final set.

Now, if Wheaton also loses to Carroll tonight, then falls on Friday as well with NCC winning its semi we might get a nice little reversal. But that said, North Central would be towards the bottom in the Central region and would have to wait a while to get to the table in all likelihood, which is a problem.

[USee]

If Wheaton goes 0-2 this week, they might also fall out of the rankings. I can't remember if basketball has once ranked, always ranked criteria or not? If not that would affect some teams, like NCC.