MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[iwu70]

Just back from two weeks in my beloved Hong Kong.  A great time with some key university partnership anniversaries.  Very meaningful.

IWU has two games upcoming in Texas and stand now at 9-1.  While I was in Asia, I was able to watch the IWU-Wash U game and have a better feeling for IWU as a top ten, even top five team now.  When they play well, they can be very good.

Also, as I predicted earlier, Josh Fridman is now the starting PG.  He provides the good ball security, but can also add more to the Titan offense and continues to be a good defender.  I'm still of the view that he could be a very good CCIW player, which he is now already, even an all-CCIW player in future.

Mason Funk is really coming into his own -- as Q predicted in an earlier interview with Coach Rose, he could be IWU's leading scorer this season, with even more offensive production than Roper.  We'll see.  I'm still of the view that Marco Anderson should be starting.  He's such a contributor on the boards and now scoring as well. 

I hope Coach Rose stays with this ten player rotation.  It seems to be working, keeping players fresh and providing a lot of options on offense and defense, given the opponent and the game situation. 

I look forward now to the CCIW campaign -- seems Carthage and NCC are the main challengers to IWU.

IWU'70

[iwu70]

A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all the CCIW chatsters here.  Wishing you all happiness and good health.

IWU'70

[Gregory Sager]

I look forward now to the CCIW campaign -- seems Carthage and NCC are the main challengers to IWU.

 

Here's our remaining sked in calendar year 2024:

Saturday
Bethel (8-2) @ Augustana (7-3), 3 pm
Millikin (5-4) vs. Millsaps (2-8) @ Memphis, TN, 3 pm
North Park (7-3) @ Cornell (8-3), 3 pm

Sunday
Illinois Wesleyan (9-1) @ LeTourneau (10-2) @ Belton, TX, 2 pm
Millikin @ Rhodes (6-5), 3 pm

Monday
Carroll (4-7) @ Beloit (4-6), 2 pm
North Central (9-2) @ Anderson (7-3), 3 pm Central
Illinois Wesleyan @ Mary Hardin-Baylor (9-3), 4 pm
Elmhurst (4-7) @ MSOE (6-4), 7 pm
North Park @ UW-Stevens Point (9-1), 7 pm

Tuesday
Augustana @ Wisconsin Lutheran (7-1), 1 pm

[Gregory Sager]

Final from eastern Iowa:

North Park 106
Cornell 74

Davante Robinson: 22 pts (6-9 trey)
Lance Nelson: 13 pts (3-4 trey), 3 stls
TJ Gardner: 10 pts
Preston Bax III: 10 pts
Taijon Barry: 10 pts
William Bates: 10 pts
John Gaines: 4:0 a:to
Tristan Arneaud: 5:1 a:to

Cornell hit a pair of treys in the opening minute, but North Park responded with 15 unanswered points, and the rout was on. The Vikings shot an impressive .581/.483/.750 line, racked up 23 assists to only 7 turnovers, and pilfered the ball eight times out of Cornell's 18 turnovers. Heck, the Vikings even outrebounded the Rams, 35-28, and boards dominance has not been a hallmark of this NPU team. Davante Robinson had his Steph Curry mode switched on, as most of his bombs were from 25 feet out or deeper, and Lance Nelson had perhaps his best all-around game of the season to date. And I'm sure that Ed McGhee was very happy to get his entire traveling squad of 16 players into the game today, 13 of whom scored.

And all this with NPU's top scorer Rico Powell watching the game from the bench in street clothes.

This was the first-ever meeting in men's basketball between the two schools, which I find interesting. There are very few D3 schools in Illinois and adjacent states that North Park has never played in MBB.

Cornell is now 8-4, and at 3-1 in the Midwest Conference with a win over Illinois College in Jacksonville already in their back pocket I suspect that the Rams will be very competitive in that league this season.

North Park, meanwhile, advances to 8-3 on the campaign, with a big game coming up on Monday at nationally-ranked UWSP up in central Wisconsin.

[Gregory Sager]

Final from Carver:

Augustana 83
Bethel 51

This was another game between two teams with gaudy records that promised to be competitive yet wasn't. Augie used a 12-0 run early in the game to put the Royals in the rear-view mirror, which is where they stayed for the rest of the afternoon. Augie was paced by Ray Maurchie (16 and 8) and Evan Ambrose, who contributed 16 points and a sparkling 6:2 floor game, with Colton Gillingham adding 15 and 8 to the cause and Anthony Cooper chipping in 14. The Rock Islanders came up with a whopping 17 steals, as Bethel turned the ball over 22 times to Augie's 8.

Augustana improves to 8-3, while Bethel drops to the same overall record.

[Gregory Sager]

Millikin prevailed over Millsaps in the Rhodes tourney, 83-76, in Memphis. Although the Big Blue trailed by two at the half, they led most of the way in the second stanza -- although only briefly by as much as 10. The game was still in doubt in the final minute, but the Majors couldn't break through and the Big Blue knocked down four FTs in the final 23 seconds to seal it. Demarcus Bond and Lane Thomann led the way with 16 apiece for Millikin (6-4), while Frazier Ott had 12 and 7, Nate Straughter added 12, and Drake Stevenson also grabbed seven boards.

The CCIW is now 47-26 (.644) in non-con play.

[iwu70]

In Texas at the half, LeTourneau 40 IWU 35.

'70

[iwu70]

IWU comes roaring back in the second half, outscoring LeTourneau 50-27, winning 85-67.

The Titans shoot 48% from the field, 30% from three, and 60% from the charity stripe.

Winning the rebounding line 56-27.

For LeT:

Jackson 27
Mayes 14

For IWU:

Williams, his best game of the year, 21
Fridman 13
Funk 10 and 16, with 2 blocks and 3 steals
Anderson 10 and 4
Wilmsen 9 rebounds

A good comeback after playing and shooting poorly in the first half.

IWU goes to 10-1 on the year and face the host, MHB, at 4 p.m. tomorrow to wrap up their non-conference schedule.

A good win today.

IWU'70

[Gregory Sager]

After a 40-minute clankfest left the two teams deadlocked at 54 apiece, Millikin got its groove going in overtime at Rhodes and polished off the Lynx, 67-59. The Big Blue put on a very good defensive show in the extra session, as Rhodes didn't score until there was barely a minute left and MU was already up by eight. The Big Blue shot just under 38% for the day (boosted by a 3-6 performance in OT), while the Lynx were under 36% from the field.

JT Welch paved the way for Jimmy Millikin with 16 points, including a 4-7 day from range, and Nate Straughter added 15. Lane Thomann (12) and Chase Travis (10) also reached double figures for MU, which closes out the 2024 portion of the slate with a 7-4 record. Rhodes dropped to 7-6.

Another boost for the CCIW, which upped the non-con record to 49-26 (.653), with six more games to go spread across the next 48 hours.

[iwu70]

Greg, how does that .653 compare to previous years?

'70

[Gregory Sager]

Many years ago I posted a chart here that chronicled the CCIW's non-conference record from season to season. Former CCIW SID Mike Krizman made a modified version of it and put it in the MBB historical section of the CCIW website. (It's not there anymore.) I didn't keep updating it, because plenty of other things in my life took precedence -- including putting together most of NPU's record books for North Park's athletic department. But I did take notice last season and commented here when the CCIW finished underwater for the first time in fiftysomething years.

To answer your question, my impression is that .653 is pretty decent in terms of the long haul of the league, although you have to remember that back in the day the CCIW played a lot of scholarship-level teams (many of them NAIA, though, so it wasn't always apparent whether you were playing guys on scholarship or not) that kept the cumulative non-con record down. There was a good long stretch of seasons in the Oughts and Teens when the CCIW was regularly faring above .700, which had a lot to do with the league getting three teams into the D3 tourney on numerous occasions during those two decades. While that level of success fell off awhile ago, finishing above .600 has continued to be a pretty regular occurrence, the anomaly of 2023-24 notwithstanding.

[GusD]

Final from eastern Iowa:

North Park 106
Cornell 74

Davante Robinson: 22 pts (6-9 trey)
Lance Nelson: 13 pts (3-4 trey), 3 stls
TJ Gardner: 10 pts
Preston Bax III: 10 pts
Taijon Barry: 10 pts
William Bates: 10 pts
John Gaines: 4:0 a:to
Tristan Arneaud: 5:1 a:to

Cornell hit a pair of treys in the opening minute, but North Park responded with 15 unanswered points, and the rout was on. The Vikings shot an impressive .581/.483/.750 line, racked up 23 assists to only 7 turnovers, and pilfered the ball eight times out of Cornell's 18 turnovers. Heck, the Vikings even outrebounded the Rams, 35-28, and boards dominance has not been a hallmark of this NPU team. Davante Robinson had his Steph Curry mode switched on, as most of his bombs were from 25 feet out or deeper, and Lance Nelson had perhaps his best all-around game of the season to date. And I'm sure that Ed McGhee was very happy to get his entire traveling squad of 16 players into the game today, 13 of whom scored.

And all this with NPU's top scorer Rico Powell watching the game from the bench in street clothes.

What is Mr. Powell suffering from? Estimated return to action?

[iwu70]

Thanks, Greg.

Yes, my impression too was that this year is pretty good.   Hope it continues upward. 

IWU looks good at 10-1, but still struggles with inconsistency at times, poor starts in games. 

Today vs. MHB will be another good test.

Happy New Year to all the CCIW chatsters here, lurking and posting.

'70

[Gregory Sager]

today
Carroll (4-7) @ Beloit (4-6), 2 pm
North Central (9-2) @ Anderson (7-3), 3 pm Central
Illinois Wesleyan (10-1) @ Mary Hardin-Baylor (10-3), 4 pm
Elmhurst (4-7) @ MSOE (6-4), 7 pm
North Park (8-3) @ UW-Stevens Point (9-1), 7 pm

tomorrow
Augustana (8-3) @ Wisconsin Lutheran (9-1), 1 pm

END OF NON-CONFERENCE REGULAR SEASON

[iwu70]

In Texas, at the half, UMHB up on IWU 38-36.  Another hard-fought game. 

'70