MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[shepherd]

If your looking at the fundamentals of basketball Wheaton can be a very hard team to watch. 
1.Two guys on the team can set an acceptable pick and screen.
2. The starting low player hits layups at about 10% with most of those being dunks!  Also the worst defensive cover person I have ever seen Wheaten start while also being one of the slowest persons I have seen Wheaton start.
3. This is college bball there is no excuse for these poor fundamentals year after year.
4. Defense and these other things can and usually are taught.  These are the exact things most freshmen need work on and we have seen players like Gunther and others go backwards.
5. One has to wonder how good this team could be if the players had better fundamentals.

[4samuy]

The North Central win will most likely put them regionally ranked and wil add 2 more regionally ranked wins for Augustana IMHO..

[GoPerry]

So, IWU wins in Naperville, while NCC wins in B'town.  Don't know if that gives ANY clue to who wins in Rock Island!

Not really.  None of the 4 teams have been especially rock solid at home, especially against the other 3. 

I feel better with the Thunder playing on the road (even w/o the cheat sheet).

[duckfan41]

Tough loss for the Thunder in Waukesha tonight. However, this year it doesn't end their season (silver lining). Story of this game from the little I was able to watch were freethrows. Wheaton went 8-19 from the line, if they make 6 more of those they win the game. Can't talk to much more game specifics as I did not watch it, but its always tough when Francis has almost as many shot attempts as points, even when he manages to pour in 25+.

Switching gears, what a finish in Rock Island tonight. Elmhurst just couldn't hold on, and the grit of Augustana prevailed in the end. Only watched the last few minutes, but Elmhurst has to get a better look with their last possession than they did, which ended up being an airball as the shot clock expired with 3.5 ticks left on the game clock. That win puts the conference tourney in Rock Island this weekend, with a rematch of tonights IWU NCC game as one semifinal, and the rubber match between Wheaton and Augie. Hopeful that the Thunder can summon the magic they had their last game in Rock Island, and the task seems a bit more manageable due to the injury to Martin (hate to see injuries to major conference players so late in the season). Happy Tournament Time!

[Greek Tragedy]

The North Central win will most likely put them regionally ranked and wil add 2 more regionally ranked wins for Augustana IMHO..

Tonight's win goes into NEXT week's regional rankings, not tomorrow's. I would think NCC would have to win at least one game this weekend. If they beat IWU again on Friday, then I would think they may leapfrog IWU based on two wins over them in a week. IWU, in turn, would have an 0-2 week. If they go 1-1, lose to IWU this weekend, it's hard to put them in the regional rankings...depending on River Falls' results.

[Titan Q]

Tonight's win goes into NEXT week's regional rankings, not tomorrow's. I would think NCC would have to win at least one game this weekend. If they beat IWU again on Friday, then I would think they may leapfrog IWU based on two wins over them in a week. IWU, in turn, would have an 0-2 week. If they go 1-1, lose to IWU this weekend, it's hard to put them in the regional rankings...depending on River Falls' results.

I believe tonight's results count in the regional rankings that come out tomorrow.

There are no regional rankings next week -- just the ones released tomorrow, then the final (Selection Sunday) which are not made public.

[voxelmhurst]

Bitter loss for Elmhurst. Frankly, they blew this one. John Baines was close to becoming the most popular man in Bloomington for just one night but Elmhurst couldn't close this one out.

Credit to Elmhurst's Brandon Auker, seldomly used over his 4 years save for last few games, who scored a career high 20 points in his final game for the Jays. Another career high was set by sophomore Ryan Patton with 30 points.

Elmhurst finishes 13-12, 6-10 with a good handful of CCIW losses coming in close games where the opposition pulled away in the final few minutes. Next year they should have a lot to look forward to.

[Smitty Oom]

Tonight's win goes into NEXT week's regional rankings, not tomorrow's. I would think NCC would have to win at least one game this weekend. If they beat IWU again on Friday, then I would think they may leapfrog IWU based on two wins over them in a week. IWU, in turn, would have an 0-2 week. If they go 1-1, lose to IWU this weekend, it's hard to put them in the regional rankings...depending on River Falls' results.

I believe tonight's results count in the regional rankings that come out tomorrow.

There are no regional rankings next week -- just the ones released tomorrow, then the final (Selection Sunday) which are not made public.

Dave has said on Hoopsville that the rankings that come out on Wednesday count all the games through the previous Sunday. Todays game will not be factored in tomorrows rankings.

[Pat Coleman]

Tonight's win goes into NEXT week's regional rankings, not tomorrow's. I would think NCC would have to win at least one game this weekend. If they beat IWU again on Friday, then I would think they may leapfrog IWU based on two wins over them in a week. IWU, in turn, would have an 0-2 week. If they go 1-1, lose to IWU this weekend, it's hard to put them in the regional rankings...depending on River Falls' results.

I believe tonight's results count in the regional rankings that come out tomorrow.

There are no regional rankings next week -- just the ones released tomorrow, then the final (Selection Sunday) which are not made public.

They're through Sunday's games. These regional committees have already met and the national committee won't backtrack and add more games.

[Gregory Sager]

Carthage 85
North Park 75

Colin Lake: 24 pts, 5:1 a:to
Billy Kirby: 13 pts, 8 rebs
Matt Szuba: 11 pts, 6 rebs
Dyron Woods: 10 pts
Jack Gurvey: 5:1 a:to

Kienen Baltimore: 24 pts
Brad Kruse: 18 pts, 8 rebs, 3:1 a:to, 4 blks
Brad Perry: 17 pts, 7 rebs, 3:1 a:to
Jordan Thomas: 8 rebs, 3:0 a:to
Steve Leazer: 3:0 a:to

A dismal season finally came to a merciful end at Foster and Kedzie, as North Park staggered to the finish line of a 20-loss season. It wasn't for want of effort, at least tonight, however, as the Vikings worked hard for all forty minutes and actually made the game semi-competitive down the stretch after trailing by 21 early in the second half. They simply didn't have what it took to stop Carthage defensively, and while I'd like to pass that off as a matter of their being outsized tonight, the truth is that the Vikings defense hasn't stopped many people this season regardless of the size of the opponent on any given night.

The bright spot was that Colin Lake broke the school record for three-pointers in his final game in an NPU uniform. He came in trailing Rick Alspach, 251-248, and there was a fair amount of drama to the occasion as he didn't hit his first triple until there was only 14:28 left in the game. He hit another one at 12:40, tied the record with 3:32 to go, and then finally broke it at the 2:54 mark. For good measure he added one more with 69 seconds left to close out his career with a new school record 253 threes. He finishes his Vikings career twelfth on the all-time scoring list with 1,404 points, and to say that the Vikings will miss him next season is putting it mildly.

Kienen Baltimore was the stud of the night for Carthage, as he did his damage both inside and out. Brad Perry was predictably unstoppable, given the fact that NPU doesn't have anyone within five inches of his size, although the Vikings actually did do a good job of forcing a lot of his touches to become foul shots, where he is somewhat less than spectacular. But the main kudos for Carthage go to Brad Kruse, the best player in the CCIW that nobody talks about in this room, who finished a very fine career tonight. As all-around players go, there aren't many players in this region, at least, who are as good at every single phase of the game as is Brad Kruse. He made Colin Lake work for every single point he got tonight, and Colin's rather lackluster shooting stats are a testament to Kruse's defense.

Carthage should've been a better team than it was. Kruse, Baltimore, and Jordan Thomas made an outstanding nucleus, and with tandem 6'11 erasers, one of whom can score down low, the defense was as well-backstopped as any in the country. The Red Men just have blips when nobody seems to be on the same page, especially defensively, and that had a lot to do with the mini-runs that the Vikings picked up tonight.

Thanks to all three of the graduating Vikings seniors who played their final games tonight: Jason Hines, Dyron Woods (who tonight had the first tip dunk I can recall a Viking getting in at least a decade), and especially Colin Lake. Regardless of the results, your hard work and effort has been greatly appreciated, gentlemen.

Now it's up to the coaches, who have an awful lot of recruiting work to do to get the program back to where it needs to be, and to the returning players, who need to get after it in the off-season to get each of their games up to the next level.

[Gregory Sager]

So, IWU wins in Naperville, while NCC wins in B'town.  Don't know if that gives ANY clue to who wins in Rock Island!

Not really.  None of the 4 teams have been especially rock solid at home, especially against the other 3. 

Let's go one step further than that -- there are no great teams in the CCIW this season. Not one of the four teams in the tourney is one I that can put my finger on and say, "If this team goes down next weekend, it'll shock me." It used to be that, no matter how good or how poor the league looked as a whole, you always knew that there would be one or two teams that separated from everybody else and looked like a genuine national contender. Small wonder that there's actually a possibility that the CCIW might be a one-bid league this season, as bizarre as that sounds. Nobody's stood out from the pack.

In the entire 72-year history of this league, there's only been four seasons in which the league champion(s) lost four or more games. The first two such seasons were 1970-71, when Augie and IWU shared the title at 12-4, and 1982-83, when Millikin won the title at 12-4 but had four teams breathing down the Big Blue's necks at 11-5 apiece. The other two seasons? Last season and this season.

[kiko]

Tonight's win goes into NEXT week's regional rankings, not tomorrow's. I would think NCC would have to win at least one game this weekend. If they beat IWU again on Friday, then I would think they may leapfrog IWU based on two wins over them in a week. IWU, in turn, would have an 0-2 week. If they go 1-1, lose to IWU this weekend, it's hard to put them in the regional rankings...depending on River Falls' results.

I believe tonight's results count in the regional rankings that come out tomorrow.

There are no regional rankings next week -- just the ones released tomorrow, then the final (Selection Sunday) which are not made public.

They're through Sunday's games. These regional committees have already met and the national committee won't backtrack and add more games.

I personally am hoping Wheaton stays in this week's rankings, as it would give North Central two extra wins versus RRO versus if they don't.  (You get credit for wins over teams ranked in tomorrow's or Sunday's regional rankings if I understand correctly.)

Neither team likely has more than a tiny sliver of Pool C hopes at this point, but in the remote chance that one gets to the table, North Central could block Wheaton if these additional RROs and the two H2H wins push the Cardinals higher in the regional rankings.

Of course, my preference is for the Cardinals to win twice on the banks of the Muddy Mississippi this weekend and get into the tourney through the front door.

[USee]

With last nights loss there is no worry of anyone blocking Wheaton. They seem to be 1-playing poorly and 2-eliminated from Pool C. Their only path to the NCAA tournament is two wins this weekend, which they are clearly capable of doing.

[lmitzel]

The vote on the men's side to expand the conference tournament next year got another good year of evidence. If the new format were in place this season:

(6)Carroll (8-8) @ (3)North Central (11-5)
(5)Carthage (8-8) @ (4)Wheaton (10-6)

Highest remaining seed vs (2)Illinois Wesleyan (12-4)
Lowest remaining seed @ (1)Augustana (12-4)

I don't know about the rest of you, but a pair of 8-8 teams getting in isn't anything resembling a "participation trophy" as was brought up when the news first broke. It would also give NCC and Wheaton, both bubble teams at the moment, another opportunity to beef up their strength of schedule and win percentages before adding in a result or two versus RRO's in Augie/IWU.

As is, I could potentially see NCC sneaking into the 8th and final Central region spot from the Wheaton win, and beating Wesleyan last night can only help their case going into the weekend.

Of course, my preference is for the Cardinals to win twice on the banks of the Muddy Mississippi this weekend and get into the tourney through the front door.

I would also prefer this. I mean, they won as the 4 seed last year, and while no 3 seed has won the tournament to date, how fitting would it be to complete the cycle the last year of the four team format?

[AndOne]

Tonight's win goes into NEXT week's regional rankings, not tomorrow's. I would think NCC would have to win at least one game this weekend. If they beat IWU again on Friday, then I would think they may leapfrog IWU based on two wins over them in a week. IWU, in turn, would have an 0-2 week. If they go 1-1, lose to IWU this weekend, it's hard to put them in the regional rankings...depending on River Falls' results.

I believe tonight's results count in the regional rankings that come out tomorrow.

There are no regional rankings next week -- just the ones released tomorrow, then the final (Selection Sunday) which are not made public.

They're through Sunday's games. These regional committees have already met and the national committee won't backtrack and add more games.

I personally am hoping Wheaton stays in this week's rankings, as it would give North Central two extra wins versus RRO versus if they don't.  (You get credit for wins over teams ranked in tomorrow's or Sunday's regional rankings if I understand correctly.)

Neither team likely has more than a tiny sliver of Pool C hopes at this point, but in the remote chance that one gets to the table, North Central could block Wheaton if these additional RROs and the two H2H wins push the Cardinals higher in the regional rankings.

Of course, my preference is for the Cardinals to win twice on the banks of the Muddy Mississippi this weekend and get into the tourney through the front door.

After much thought 🤔, and deep analysis 👨🏼‍💻, here is my take on how the Regional Rankings will shake out. 🏀

1. Wash U
2. Platteville
3. Augie
4. Oshkosh
5. IWU
6. Stevens Point
7. North Central
8. Wheaton

Results following Saturday would suggest that NCC, 2-0 vs. Wheaton, and River Falls losing, moves NCC into the 7th spot. We'll see.  🤷🏻‍♂️ 🤓