MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[iwu70]

IWU put an old-fashioned butt-kicking on UW Platteville tonight, winning 86-66.  Titans led by 9 at the half and stretched it out to 25 in the second, before cruising, emptying the bench.

Logan Pearson the real deal, with 21 tonight, but IWU defended him pretty well, all things considered.  Roper first, then Hakim Williams.  Only one other Pioneer in double figures.

For IWU:
Roper playing well tonight -- 18
Funk 12, hitting some big threes
Marko Anderson 12 and 7
Hakim Williams 11
Colak 10
Fridman, looking more comfortable tonight, 8

Wilmsen in foul trouble, sitting most of the first half.

Titans shooting 56%, 27% from three, a better 74% from the FT line. 

UW Platteville just looked out-matched tonight, with not enough support for Pearson, and succumbing to IWU's size and depth.  IWU played excellent defense.

If Platteville is the cream of the WIAC and ranked #2 nationally, then I think the WIAC must be down this year.  Just say'n.

A great start for the Titans at the Sikma Invitational, taking down #24 Cal Lutheran, and then #2 UW Platteville.   

Cal Lutheran beat Calvin in the Consolation Game earlier.

If I were Ron Rose, I would keep this 10-player rotation as he can continue to throw out there quality players in one combination after another. 

(No hype on Fridman.  I just said I thought he would be a good CCIW player . . . and he was tonight, as a freshman, looking very comfortable out there and contributing his 8 points.  He can only get better . . . ).  IMHO.

'70

[iwu70]

Harrison Wilmsen named to the all tournament team.

Hakim Williams named the tournament MVP.

I actually thought that Roper or Mason Funk could also have been named to the all tournament team.  I was surprised that Wilmsen was selected. 

Of course, Logan Pearson from UW Platteville.

The towering Jack Sikma himself, there to present the awards. 

FYI

IWU'70

[iwu70]

Here's the ten player rotation Ron Rose is using to great success so far:

PG -- Niego and Fridman
2 -- Hakim Williams and Bazzell
3 -- Funk and Colak
4 -- Roper and Marko Anderson
5 -- Wilmsen and Boldt

Next up would likely be David Williams and Shane Miller.  Lots of quality players waiting their turn, pine-sitters for now.

IWU up to UW Stout on the weekend.  We'll see what another WIAC opponent has to offer.

IWU'70

[Gregory Sager]

Lotta games tomorrow:

Tuesday, November 12
North Central (10-17) @ Aurora (0-1), 2 pm
UW-Whitewater (17-9) @ Carroll (1-0), 7 pm
Carthage (17-10) @ Illinois Tech (0-1), 7 pm
Coe (1-0) @ Augustana (9-17), 7 pm
Knox (0-1) @ Millikin (0-1), 7 pm
Wheaton (0-1) @ Lake Forest (0-1), 7:30 pm

[lmitzel]

Lotta games tomorrow:

Tuesday, November 12
North Central (10-17) @ Aurora (0-1), 2 pm

I knew NCC opened its season today, but it still boggles my mind that we have a 2pm game on a Tuesday.

I mean, I already blocked off my work calendar for like two hours this afternoon for it, so I'm not complaining, but still.

[robertgoulet]

Lotta games tomorrow:

Tuesday, November 12
North Central (10-17) @ Aurora (0-1), 2 pm
UW-Whitewater (17-9) @ Carroll (1-0), 7 pm
Carthage (17-10) @ Illinois Tech (0-1), 7 pm
Coe (1-0) @ Augustana (9-17), 7 pm
Knox (0-1) @ Millikin (0-1), 7 pm
Wheaton (0-1) @ Lake Forest (0-1), 7:30 pm

I was going to ask how NCC got 27 games in already then realized that is last year's record listed bc they haven't played yet. Go me.

[lmitzel]

NCC 78
Aurora 71

The Cardinals never trailed this afternoon, but a 12 point halftime lead and 15 point margin early in the second half got cut to three as the Cardinals went cold for a bit, but they reasserted control and were able to more or less put this out of reach by the final minute (despite a valiant last minute AU effort).

NCC did get pretty badly outrebounded in this one 43-25, with 21 of Aurora's rebound coming on the offensive end, but the Spartans only scored 13 points off of those second (and sometimes third or fourth) chances.

Terrance Moncrief: 16 pts, 4 stl
Ethan Helwig: 14 pts, 8 reb
Alejandro Diaz: 12 pts, 4 reb
Drew Gaston: 12 pts

Helwig hit a three midway through the first half, giving him five for the game, but made him the 31st Cardinal to join the 1000 Point Club.

(Side note, I guess the game got moved up to 2pm to accommodate the NACC Women's Volleyball tournament.)

[Gregory Sager]

North Central beat Aurora in Thornton Gym, 78-71, in a game that wasn't as close as the final score made it appear; the Spartans were down big in the final minute but got some steals and made a few shots against a Cardinals team that was already musing about what was on tonight's dinner menu.

Terrance Moncrief led the way for NCC with 16, while Ethan Helwig added 14 and 8. Alejandro Diaz and Drew Gaston also scored in double figures with a dozen apiece; Gaston was a perfect 10-10 from the line.

Aside from getting their butts kicked on the boards and a stretch early in the second half in which they couldn't buy a bucket, the Cardinals looked pretty decent for their first game of the season. They have a nice array of shooters, and they work hard on D. It must be noted, though, that Aurora is a pretty dismal-looking outfit, so the accolades can only go just so far for NCC.

Congrats to Ethan Helwig upon joining NCC's Thousand Points Club.

[mwunder]

At the Half brought to you by State Farm:

Carthage 43 ITT 25.  AJ Johnson with 23. Nesbitt in street clothes.
Carroll 35 UWW 33.  Erik Victorson with 9.
Augustana 48  Coe 43. Tyler Knuth with 16.
Big Blue 38 Knox 36. Lane Thomann with 10.

Later game:
Wheaton 34 Lake Forest 33. Did not catch the scoring leader at the half

[GusD]

FINALS

NCC 78
Aurora 71

Carthage 82
IIT 56

Millikin 87
Knox 82

Augie 82
Coe 70

UWW 77
Carroll 71

Wheaton 68
Lake Forest 64

[GusD]

NCC 78
Aurora 71

The Cardinals never trailed this afternoon, but a 12 point halftime lead and 15 point margin early in the second half got cut to three as the Cardinals went cold for a bit, but they reasserted control and were able to more or less put this out of reach by the final minute (despite a valiant last minute AU effort).

NCC did get pretty badly outrebounded in this one 43-25, with 21 of Aurora's rebound coming on the offensive end, but the Spartans only scored 13 points off of those second (and sometimes third or fourth) chances.

Terrance Moncrief: 16 pts, 4 stl
Ethan Helwig: 14 pts, 8 reb
Alejandro Diaz: 12 pts, 4 reb
Drew Gaston: 12 pts

Helwig hit a three midway through the first half, giving him five for the game, but made him the 31st Cardinal to join the 1000 Point Club.

(Side note, I guess the game got moved up to 2pm to accommodate the NACC Women's Volleyball tournament.)
[/

North Central beat Aurora in Thornton Gym, 78-71, in a game that wasn't as close as the final score made it appear; the Spartans were down big in the final minute but got some steals and made a few shots against a Cardinals team that was already musing about what was on tonight's dinner menu.

Terrance Moncrief led the way for NCC with 16, while Ethan Helwig added 14 and 8. Alejandro Diaz and Drew Gaston also scored in double figures with a dozen apiece; Gaston was a perfect 10-10 from the line.

Aside from getting their butts kicked on the boards and a stretch early in the second half in which they couldn't buy a bucket, the Cardinals looked pretty decent for their first game of the season. They have a nice array of shooters, and they work hard on D. It must be noted, though, that Aurora is a pretty dismal-looking outfit, so the accolades can only go just so far for NCC.

Congrats to Ethan Helwig upon joining NCC's Thousand Points Club.

Aside from the normal stats enumerated in the box score, a large slice of this afternoon's NCC victory can be attributed to the Cardinals senior leadership. Besides leading the team in scoring, Terrance Moncrief was the Cardinals go-to guy to beat the much quicker Spartans often employed press. Using his speed and ball handling ability he frequently broke through the opponent's pressure, advancing the ball to enable the Cards to get into their offensive sets sooner rather than later. While being pounded on the boards by the taller and quicker opposition, Ethan Helwig did his part, battling underneath to pull down 8 rebounds to go with his 14 points. Drew Gaston scored 10 of his 12 points after halftime including 8 FTs in a row down the stretch, a streak which was largely responsible for putting an end to Aurora's comeback hopes.

* As we all know, turnovers often play a large in a game's final outcome. Against the quickness and agility of Aurora this afternoon, NCC committed only an admirable 6 turnovers.

* I don't think freshman starters are all that common for CCIW teams, but it appears NCC may have a good one in SG Alejandro Diaz who had 12 points in his first college game, including hitting the first shot of the game which was a three pointer. Diaz also contributed 4 rebounds.

* Aurora is a very quick, and super athletic team composed of several players who possess some nice individual skills. However, they seem to often play a rather helter-skelter style bereft of much of an offensive team flow.

[mwunder]

Carthage 82, ITT 53.

ITT scored the first bucket and afterwards, Carthage never looked back in this one. Carthage started Johnson, Johnson, Riley Brooks, AJ Williams, and Griffin Daun with Antuan Nesbitt in street clothes. The game was a bit disjointed to start, but the Carthage offense stretched the lead out to 17 at the 9:00 minute mark, 18 at the half and largest lead of 33 at the 5 minute mark of the second half.

AJ Johnson had an efficient 32 points on 12 shots (7-12, 6-6 3ptr, 12-13 ft) and 8 boards.
Ryan Johnson had 13 and 8.
AJ Williams chipped in with 10 pts.

Nice to see the boys out there getting their legs under them against another team. Starters averaged 28 minutes this game even though it was over early. I think this was a really good game to shake that rust off.

[GoPerry]

Wheaton 68-64 over Lake Forest.

After finishing dead last in the conference last year at 5-11, it's not surprising that the Thunder were picked to finish there again this season by the coaches.

After watching the Thunder in their first two games; a loss @ Benedictine (a game they should have won, up by as much as 19 pts and never trailed) and a win @ Lake Forest I am seeing a very young but fairly talented team that will be pretty competitive.  It's early yet, but a few takeaways are:

Through the first two games, there's a dramatic drop in the amount of three point attempts.  19 vs BU and 18 LF sharply down from the near 29 3attempts/game last season where it seemed like treys were the only shots worth taking.  I really hope that continues.  Second, soph Soren Richardson (lots of treys last season) is displaying much more inside, posting up and driving to the basket game than anyone ever thought he had from watching last season.  He looks capable of breaking out a little this season.  Third, there are several freshman that will see a lot of playing time and they are a pretty talented group.  Devin Martin (Westerville, OH) already looks comfortable running the offense from the point and he's not afraid to score.  Kyan VanderWoude (Caledonia, MI) is listed at 6'4" but seems to play longer than that with good rebounding ability and comfortable inside scoring.  Christian Viers (La Grange, KY) had some solid minutes vs LF and played over half the game off the bench.  Their inexperience and need to quickly acclimate to this level of DIII play was evident in the loss at BU (the refs absolutely bailed out BU on the last play to allow the Eagles two free throws to win it). 

Like I said, only two games in but there's plenty to be hopeful about.  This season and certainly for the next couple.

[Captain_Joe08]

#15 Wisconsin Lutheran 48 66: 114
North Park 33 48: 81

Final

Warriors shot 58% from the field including 9/18 from 3. Broeckel had a game high 24 points.

[Gregory Sager]

Wisconsin Lutheran 114
North Park 81

Rico Powell: 20 pts
John Gaines: 15 pts
Davante Robinson: 14 pts

Absolutely embarrassing performance by NPU tonight. Granted, this is a Wisconsin Lutheran team whose starting lineup is in its third season as an intact starting unit, and the Warriors proved their capabilities last season by going 24-5 and nearly beating Wash U in St. Louis in the D3 tourney. But the Vikings shouldn't be losing a game this badly to even a team this good if they are going to make any headway this season. Good thing it was only NPU's first effort of the season. Thing is, though, the schedule is front-loaded with a lot of tough non-con opponents in November -- UW-La Crosse on Saturday in Wisconsin is going to be no picnic, either.

The Warriors broke through the NPU press with ease and scored quickly and consistently once they breached the halfcourt line, shooting .580/.500/.862 and making it look easy in the process. They led by as many as 22 in the first half, although the Vikings whittled it down to 15 at the half. It was a 12-point game at 64-52 with 13:31 to go, and the Vikings were finally starting to find themselves on offense, even though they weren't getting any stops. However, at that point they compounded a shooting foul with a tech, WLC made all four FTs, and the Warriors never looked back.

As horrific as it was, it's only one game. The Vikings have to shake this one off and get back to work in practice.