MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

tjcummingsfan · October 30, 2023, 04:02:47 PM

Greg, do you know if that game will be viewable online anywhere? I did see a link on DePaul's website for audio, but I'll be in a meeting during the game (a video feed is a lot easier to hide than audio!).

Gregory Sager · October 30, 2023, 08:36:47 PM

Nope, EH, sorry. DePaul's only doing the radio broadcast, not a livestream.

Just do the ol' run-your-earbud-cord-underneath-your-shirt trick.

WUPHF · October 30, 2023, 10:17:08 PM

Greg Sager and I have to be the only two people left in the United States who still use corded ear buds, lol...

Gregory Sager · October 30, 2023, 10:39:57 PM

My actual problem is that I've seen too many spy movies.

sac · October 31, 2023, 10:24:47 AM

Quote from: WUPHF on October 30, 2023, 10:17:08 PM
Greg Sager and I have to be the only two people left in the United States who still use corded ear buds, lol...

Three

WUPHF · October 31, 2023, 10:53:38 AM

There are more of us! I did finally get an airtag and cannot recommend those enough.

RogK · October 31, 2023, 06:49:20 PM

You people with ear buds better get to a dermatologist.

markerickson · November 01, 2023, 10:10:32 AM

Four.

lmitzel · November 01, 2023, 05:24:56 PM

Four and a half. Bluetooth earbuds for at the office, earbuds with cords for at home.

Flying Dutch Fan · November 02, 2023, 09:24:33 AM

What are earbuds (says the guy wearing corded headphones)?

markerickson · November 02, 2023, 01:51:26 PM

RIP, Bobby Knight.

iwu70 · November 02, 2023, 04:30:09 PM

IWU played better in their second exhibition vs. Northern Illinois -- the final was 81-64, though the Titans were close, playing competitively until about 8 minutes of the 4th quarter. Good balanced scoring, Sroka leading the way, Bazzell hitting treys. This one was much better, more competitive than the ISU game earlier.

IWU opens the regular season on November 10th, playing Ohio Wesleyan, in the second game of the 3rd Annual Sikma Hall of Fame Invitational @The Shirk. It's at 7 p.m. The 5 p.m. game features Mary-Hardin-Baylor vs. UW Stout. Two more games on the Saturday, 2 or 4 p.m.

From what I've seen so far, the Titans are going to struggle offensively. I think Sroka, Yoder and Bazzell have to take seriously putting up more offensive production, finding ways to take more shots. The others are unlikely to do it. Offense in the paint is going to be tough.

The regular season begins.

IWU'70

tjcummingsfan · November 02, 2023, 10:05:46 PM

DePaul 74 - NP 63.

NP out rebounded DePaul 33-32, NP had fewer turnovers (16-18), and NP had 4 more steals (11-7). The steals and turnovers were things I would have hoped NP would have been close on. The rebound stat is exciting to me.

Purely watching the gamecast (I had to talk too much in my meeting to sneak AirPods in during it), it seemed like NP kept it close-ish for much of the game.

I'm encouraged, and looking forward to GS's recap of the game.

lmitzel · November 03, 2023, 10:19:47 AM

NCC had a scrimmage against Lake Forest last night. Only details I gleaned were that the Cardinals lost the first half by three, then won the second half by 10.

Gregory Sager · November 03, 2023, 11:34:05 AM

Quote from: tjcummingsfan on November 02, 2023, 10:05:46 PM
DePaul 74 - NP 63.

NP out rebounded DePaul 33-32, NP had fewer turnovers (16-18), and NP had 4 more steals (11-7). The steals and turnovers were things I would have hoped NP would have been close on. The rebound stat is exciting to me.

Purely watching the gamecast (I had to talk too much in my meeting to sneak AirPods in during it), it seemed like NP kept it close-ish for much of the game.

I'm encouraged, and looking forward to GS's recap of the game.

With the likely exception of next week's game at D1 SIU-Edwardsville, last night was the only time that NPU will be physically outmatched this season. The Vikings are longer and stronger than they were a year ago, and they haven't really sacrificed any team speed in the process (Kyren Gardner and Phil Holmes are rough equivalents, quickness-wise, for their graduated predecessors Marquise Jackson and Jordan Boyd). Granted, by Big East standards DePaul is not a powerhouse, but it's a tough proposition for a D3 team to play an opponent that has multiple players in the 6'5" to 6'8" range who are quick and can handle the ball in the halfcourt as well as the open floor.

As tjcf noted, North Park won the rebounding battle. That was simple aggressiveness on the part of the Vikings; of course, a big part of NPU's game is cued on the ability to hit the offensive boards hard, and the Park enjoyed a big 13-5 advantage on the offensive glass. The main problem for NPU last night was in simply dealing with the one-on-one play of the big, fast Blue Demons; they drew a massive number of fouls on the Vikings (23-12 foul disparity) and got to the line 26 times, hitting 21 of them. NPU, by comparison, only shot three FTs all night (making all three), and thus free throws were the deciding factor in the game.

DePaul led wire to wire, but the Blue Demons were only up by a basket ten minutes in, and by five points at the half. They pushed out the lead into the teens at several points in the second stanza, only to see NPU claw back into the game each time, but with six minutes and change to go DePaul extended the lead to 62-45 and it looked like the game was over. But then Kyren Gardner, who is an extraordinary physical specimen at 6'2", 185, drove hard on the right side and dunked over one of DePaul's 6'8" forwards, drawing a foul in the process and finishing the and-one. That electrified the crowd (NPU had about 50% of the 2,000-plus attendees, and the Vikings fans made a lot more noise) and started an 11-0 Vikings run that culminated in back-to-back Kolden Vanlandingham treys that brought NPU to within six at 62-56 with under three minutes remaining. At that point the Blue Demons clamped down and the comeback charge petered out, but DePaul walked off of the floor after the final buzzer knowing that it had been in a game. I sat at the scorer's table next to a member of the DePaul sports information staff who is a Millikin grad from the '80s, and we chatted a bit during the game about the old days of the CCIW (he goes back to the last great Big Blue era of Barnes, Horst, Bottorff, and Slapak in the late '80s). After the game was over, he said, "Good luck to you guys this season, although I don't think you're going to need it. Nobody's gonna stop #1 (Shamar Pumphrey) in the CCIW."

Pumphrey led the way for NPU with 13 points, six boards, three steals, and a sterling 5:2 a:to ratio. Vanlandingham, who was face-guarded all night -- imagine that, a D3 player who gets face-guarded by a Big East team -- wound up with an even dozen points, and Kyren Gardner had 11. Phil Holmes, the 6'9, 225 transfer who is going to come as an unpleasant surprise to the rest of the CCIW, played very well underneath the basket against multiple Blue Demons who could match his size and speed.

Not a win, but a highly-encouraging outing for North Park in its 2023-24 debut.