MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[WUPHF]

Wash U must've hit a trey at the buzzer, or close to it, to stave off what would've been the upset of the year. I looked at live stats, and with 00:06 left Millikin was up by a point. Next time I looked, Wash U had won, 52-51.

[Gregory Sager]

Two other notes from my POV:

North Park controlled the tempo throughout, which led to a much more plodding pace than what I suspect the Cardinals would prefer.  It was much more methodical than what we saw in the first meeting between these two teams.

Yep. NPU took the air out of the ball for large stretches of the game, either holding onto it at midcourt until the shot clock wound down to ten or moving laterally and handing it off interminably on the perimeter. This typically hasn't been a good strategy this season, because the Vikings have had such difficulty putting the ball in the basket with a full 30 seconds to work with, let alone ten. But they attacked the basket effectively enough, and (surprisingly) shot free throws well enough when fouled while attacking the basket, to make the strategy work.

What surprised me is that Todd Raridon didn't try to accelerate the pace by pressing a little. In fact, there were times when the Cardinals held the ball at midcourt, too. When the Cards did try to speed up the game by pushing up the floor after defensive rebounds, the Vikings were able to get back in transition in a timely manner and force NCC to settle into a halfcourt set -- even when the Cardinals had collected a long rebound after one of the Park's myriad trey misses.

North Central's interior passing was excellent (not surprising as this has typically been a hallmark of the Cardinals' offense since Todd Raridon pointed the moving van from Lincoln to Naperville), but the Cardinals missed an inordinate number of bunnies tonight in the second half.  Many were contested, but if you are shooting from three feet away, your percentage should be higher than what we saw.

This was a game of anomalies. The Cardinals were feverishly hot from downtown (12-24, .500) but really ugly from inside the arc (5-21, .238). And North Park, which was dead last in the league in free-throw shooting at .596 coming into the game, went 15-19 (.789) from la raya de la caridad tonight.

Wash U must've hit a trey at the buzzer, or close to it, to stave off what would've been the upset of the year. I looked at live stats, and with 00:06 left Millikin was up by a point. Next time I looked, Wash U had won, 52-51.

Memory of an elephant. Still, if Millikin had been able to force OT and forge a win tonight rather than losing on a Leritz basket at the final buzzer, it still wouldn't have eclipsed the Concordia IL upset of IWU at Shirk last week -- although it must be said that the stakes were certainly higher for tonight's game as far as Wesleyan was concerned.

[WUPHF]

Still, if Millikin had been able to force OT and forge a win tonight rather than losing on a Leritz basket at the final buzzer, it still wouldn't have eclipsed the Concordia IL upset of IWU at Shirk last week -- although it must be said that the stakes were certainly higher for tonight's game as far as Wesleyan was concerned.

Very true!  It is interesting how close Millikin came to knocking off both teams in similarly low scoring games.

[Gregory Sager]

Jake Rhode became Elmhurst's all-time leading scorer last night. His 25 points against Augie put him at 1939 for his career, surpassing previous record-holder Pat Lira's 1914. (And three cheers for Lira, whose school record stood for 66 years without anybody even getting close to him prior to Rhode; third place belongs to Loras head coach Chris Martin, who scored 1736 as a 'jay.)

Barring injury, it's a foregone conclusion that Old Man Rhode is going to become the very first member of the exclusive CCIW 2K Club to have worn Bluejays livery.

[iwu70]

Congrats to Jake Rhode.  Prolific . . .

'70

[Wildcat]

Jake Rohde showed what he is made of last night. Knee surgeries, ankle injuries, covid. He gets teased about being around so long. He is so unselfish. Just an outstanding young man from a great family.

[lmitzel]

Update on the standings with three nights to go

y-	Illinois Wesleyan	11-2
x-	Wheaton	10-3
x-	Elmhurst	10-4
x-	North Central	9-5
	Millikin	7-6
	Augustana	5-9
	North Park	4-9
	Carthage	2-11
	Carroll	2-11

Only real change from last night was the Titans locking up a top four spot, and I'm pretty sure thanks to the results from the crackerbox, North Central can't leapfrog up to the top spot.

With Elmhurst on the bye, the Titans can't lock up anything more on Saturday. Wheaton would clinch top four status if they pull off the road upset at the Shirk, same with North Central with a win at home over Carroll. Meanwhile, the Big Blue clinch a tournament berth with a win at home over North Park.

I'll be interested to see how the potential tiebreaker would shake out between Augie and North Park for that presumed last spot, too. That Viking win over Elmhurst back in December looks like it would be the likely advantage NPU's way if it comes down to it.

[Gregory Sager]

Update on the standings with three nights to go

y-	Illinois Wesleyan	11-2
x-	Wheaton	10-3
x-	Elmhurst	10-4
x-	North Central	9-5
	Millikin	7-6
	Augustana	5-9
	North Park	4-9
	Carthage	2-11
	Carroll	2-11

Only real change from last night was the Titans locking up a top four spot, and I'm pretty sure thanks to the results from the crackerbox, North Central can't leapfrog up to the top spot.

With Elmhurst on the bye, the Titans can't lock up anything more on Saturday. Wheaton would clinch top four status if they pull off the road upset at the Shirk, same with North Central with a win at home over Carroll. Meanwhile, the Big Blue clinch a tournament berth with a win at home over North Park.

I'll be interested to see how the potential tiebreaker would shake out between Augie and North Park for that presumed last spot, too. That Viking win over Elmhurst back in December looks like it would be the likely advantage NPU's way if it comes down to it.

I'm not so sure about that. There's a very good chance that Wheaton will be seeded higher than Elmhurst, which means that games against the Sonic Atmospheric Disturbance would be the tiebreaker between Augie and North Park. And Augie has already split with Wheaton, while NPU is 0-1 against Wheaton and has to travel to King Arena next Wednesday.

[USee]

Huge game tomorrow with massive implications for the CCIW race as well as Pool C. Wheaton @IWU 4pm central. IWU has gotten all the publicity and is nationally assumed to be the likely CCIW AQ rep. either way IWU is a lock for the playoffs regardless of what happens in the conference tournament. With a win tomorrow, Wheaton should get close to  lock status as that would be their 5th RRO win against 1 loss and they would own the season sweep (and tie breaker) vs IWU for conference tournament seeding/hosting. These two have played some mammoth games over the years and the last two meetings (both at King Arena) have been instant classics. This one lines up to be another great game among two of D3's best.

Last spring IWU's stifling defense took Wheaton out of their offense and IWU controlled the game. Earlier this season Wheaton was much more aggressive attacking the rim which got IWU into foul trouble with their aggressive defense.  Cade Alioth had a monster game to go with Adom and Cruikshank and the Thunder took over late to win by 5. Wheaton sports 3 of the top 10 scorers in the league and IWU has the conference's best defense (by a lot). Will the Thunder stick with the attacking style? Can they make shots against the IWU defense? Who steps up as scorers for IWU to support Leritz and Yoder among their deep and talented bench? This game will also likely decide the POY honors for the league.

I think Ron Rose would like a script similar to last March and Mike Schauer prefers the way the game at King this season played out. One thing is for sure, the Thunder are going to need Adom to be as aggressive as possible and Alioth will have to have a monster game to counter Leritz' almost certain double double and Lambesis' smothering D. Cruickshank and Noe are my x-factors for each team. Those two could turn the tide in this one.

[iwu70]

Usee, you are greatly on target about the IWU-WC game tomorrow.  It should be a real good one.  I share many of your views.

Lambesis on Adom is a key match up . . . but I also think it is important for the Titans that others contribute -- Mitchell on the boards, and Sroka and Heflen off the bench with some scoring.  Leritz has been playing at a very high level in recent weeks.

Likely 6-7 All-Conference players in this game.

I'm looking forward to another hard-fought, close game. 

IWU'70

[GoPerry]

With a win tomorrow, Wheaton should get close to  lock status as that would be their 5th RRO win against 1 loss

Yes . .  provided NCC stays regionally ranked.  Even so, as you say, they would be a very strong Pool C.

Wheaton has won the last three straight at Shirk going back to the 2017-2018 season.  Just sayin . . .

[iwu70]

Should be another great game today at The Shirk -- Senior Day at 4 p.m.  Festivities for Leritz, Lambesis and Noe at 3:45. 

The Titans will be wanting to break that streak of wins by Wheaton . . . and get themselves really in the driver's seat for the regular season conference championship. 

Go TITANS!

'70

[Gregory Sager]

Final from Tarble:

Augustana 87
Carthage 66

Sick, sick game for Dan Carr, who had 26 points and 24 rebounds for Augie. That's the most rebounds that any Carthage opponent has garnered in school history.

[Gregory Sager]

Final from the Griz:

Millikin 66
North Park 54

Congrats to Millikin, which earns its first-ever CCIW tourney appearance under the standard six-team format. The Big Blue have certainly earned it.

[Gregory Sager]

MU 66, NPU 54

Jalen Boyd: 13 pts, 6 rebs
Michael Osborne: 10 pts, 4:2 a:to
Karl Polk, Jr.: 10 pts
Gabe Johnson: 10 pts
Izaiah Sanders: 6 rebs

Calvin Fisher: 18 pts
Cole Laurence: 7 rebs, 3 blks
Jake Hampton: 3 stls

Two things essentially did in the Vikings today: a great offensive performance from MU's Calvin Fisher on a day in which the defenses dominated; and a total lack of smart basketball at the offensive end for NPU. The Vikings don't shoot well even under normal circumstances, and today they fell in love with the 17-footer -- especially early in the shot clock. They played right into Millikin's hands, wasting both a fine defensive effort for the most part and a 9-3 advantage on the offensive glass.

This loss and Augie's win basically seals North Park's fate, vis-a-vis the CCIW tourney. It would take a miracle for NPU to grab the sixth spot.