MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Titan Q]

...
This is a shame, since Millikin came within 38 votes of cracking the d3hoops.com Top 25 for the first time in its history in the last poll. I strongly doubt that the Big Blue will get that close to sniffing the Top 25 again this season.

Yeah, I knew those Top 25 voters were giving too much attention to those CCIW teams! 

I did my best on Hoopsville to talk people out of voting for Millikin.  At 8-0 and with a DI win, I was still touting the Big Blue as a 3-win CCIW team.

Unfortunately some of my peers were sucked in by the record.     

[Titan Q]

Why no Nick Williams in the NPU starting lineup at Augie?

http://www.augustana.edu/athletics/mbasketball/xlive.htm

[Gregory Sager]

Why no Nick Williams in the NPU starting lineup at Augie?

http://www.augustana.edu/athletics/mbasketball/xlive.htm

I have no idea. The coaches told me on Wednesday that Nick would almost certainly play on Saturday night, and I know for a fact that he practiced on Wednesday because I saw him practice.

I'm totally baffled.

[Titan Q]

The IWU vs Illinois College live stats...

http://www.iwu.edu/~iwunews/sports/live/Basketball/xlive.htm

[Titan Q]

Illinois Wesleyan 82
Illinois College 59

* Jordan Zimmer: 21 pts, 4 reb (7-9 3-pt)
* John Koschnitzky: 18 pts, 4 reb (3-3 3-pt)
* Brett Chamernik: 11 pts, 10 reb
* Sean Dwyer: 8 pts, 5 reb, 9 assists


Big games by IWU freshmen Jordan Zimmer and John Koschnitzky, who both came out of the gate firing tonight.  Zimmer finised one 3-pointer away from IWU's all-time record for 3's in a game.

The Titans finish the non-conference 5-1 in-region.

[Gregory Sager]

Augie defeated the NPU junior varsity tonight, 70-53. Augie got strong games from Alex Washington (16 pts), Chandlor Collins (12 pts, 5 reb), and Brett Wessels (12 pts, 5 reb). North Park was led by Sean McNamee (12 pts) and Phil Schniedermeier (11 pts, 12 reb).

There's no way that NPU is going to beat anybody in the league without Nick Williams in the lineup, much less Augie in the Carver Center, but the Chicago Vikings didn't help their own cause by going 15-24 from the line. They also turned the ball over 23 times, but the combination of North Park youth and Augie ballhawking will do that. The greener-than-day-old-bananas backcourt of Ro Russell and Clayton Cahill did not have a good night tonight.

If NPU doesn't get Williams back in uniform, this season will degenerate into an absolute nightmare for the Park.

[Gregory Sager]

Here's the NPU @ Augie box.

[Gregory Sager]

Christopher Newport avenged itself upon Maryland Bible this evening, 72-59, so Millikin will face Maryland Bible tomorrow in the CNU tourney consolation game.

I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess that this is the first time a CCIW team has ever faced Maryland Bible College.

[gordonmann]

The result that really surprises me is Elmhurst's loss to Anderson.

The Ravens lost to UW-Platteville by 2, Wash U by 2 and Franklin by 10.  I saw the Franklin game in person and thought Anderson was pretty average.   Then they beat Elmhurst today.  Goes to show you can't put too much stock in one game.

PS - After writing this, I noticed the Millikin loss was to York (NY) by 20.  That is more surprising then the Elmhurst result.

[Viking Blue]

A tip of the cap to the Big Blue, but that bubble was due to burst.

Agreed....and it would really be nice to hear some Millikin voices on this page for a change.  There has to be someone down there who is proud of the Big Blue! 

[Viking Blue]

Final score from Grinnell, Iowa

Wheaton 130
Grinnell 109

Looking forward to the CCIW!

Whats the odd's of Wheaton scoring 130 without hitting a 3?  Seriously, even against Grinnel.  Thats awesome!

On the season, Grinnell's opponents are averaging 105.6 points per game, and just over 2 made 3's per game.

http://wm.grinnell.edu/athletics/mbasketball/statistics/MBK0809/teamcume.htm

Yep....for those who remember, their style of play is very similar to the Loyola Marymount style from the early '90s.  Grinnell takes a ton of threes, but that leads to an awful lot of long rebounds, and thus odd-man breaks for the opposition.  In turn, lay-ups result instead of three point opportunities.

[Viking Blue]

If NPU doesn't get Williams back in uniform, this season will degenerate into an absolute nightmare for the Park.

I hate to tell you this, Sager, but it was you who told all of us Viking fans to take a chill pill earlier in the week.  Williams may have been practicing, but...I can't share any more than that.  Just hope for the best.

[AndOne]

Why no Nick Williams in the NPU starting lineup at Augie?

http://www.augustana.edu/athletics/mbasketball/xlive.htm

I have no idea. The coaches told me on Wednesday that Nick would almost certainly play on Saturday night, and I know for a fact that he practiced on Wednesday because I saw him practice.

I'm totally baffled.

It appears not only was Williams not in the starting lineup, but he did not even appear in the game at all.

Its interesting to note that North Park's leading scorer Sat., Sean McNamee couldn't crack the starting lineup at mighty Lake Forest College (11-12) last season, and averaged 11 minutes and 2.6 ppg. Congrats to Sean on his improvement.   

[AndOne]

Elmhurst beats #1 Wash U. by 7.
Anderson beats #7 Elmhurst by 6.
Franklin beats Anderson by 10.
North Central beats Franklin by 14.

Crazy.
Hold on to your hats and roll those dice.
On any given night, anything CAN really happen.
Who wants it more?

[Titan Q]

Here is a list of all Midwest teams with an in-region winning % of .700 or better.  Let me know if I've missed anyone, or if you find an error.

Millikin, 7-0 (1.000) – vs Knox
Wheaton, 7-0 (1.000)
Westminster-Mo., 4-0 (1.000)
St. Norbert, 7-1 (.875)
Washington U., 7-1 (.875) - @ Webster
North Central, 6-1 (.857)
Illinois Wesleyan, 5-1 (.833)
Elmhurst, 9-2 (.818) 
Augustana, 9-2 (.818)
Transylvania, 5-2 (.714)
Milwaukee Engineering, 7-3 (.700)

(Any remaining non-conference, in-region games are noted.  Otherwise assume all remaining games are within conferences.)

The NCAA doesn't do a regional ranking until early February nowadays.