MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[augiefan]

Injuries to key players hurt every team. Obviously Raymond was not back at full strength Wednesday night or he would haved played more than 20 minutes. NCC probably would have won anyway, but I think we all know that Wheaton would still be No. 1, if Wiele and Raymond had been injury free this season. It is no coincidence that Wheaton lost 3 games in a row while Raymond was injured or on the mend.

If Raymond is back at full strength tonight, and Bertrand cannot play, even at home Augie will have their hands full trying to beat a Wheaton team playing a must win game for the Thunder. Since Bertrand's injury is similar to Raymond's my guess is Justin will not be able to play up to his capabilities, if Coach G gives him some court time tonight.

[AndOne]

Injuries to key players hurt every team. Obviously Raymond was not back at full strength Wednesday night or he would haved played more than 20 minutes. NCC probably would have won anyway, but I think we all know that Wheaton would still be No. 1, if Wiele and Raymond had been injury free this season. It is no coincidence that Wheaton lost 3 games in a row while Raymond was injured or on the mend.

If Raymond is back at full strength tonight, and Bertrand cannot play, even at home Augie will have their hands full trying to beat a Wheaton team playing a must win game for the Thunder. Since Bertrand's injury is similar to Raymond's my guess is Justin will not be able to play up to his capabilities, if Coach G gives him some court time tonight.

Augiefan----

1. When you say "NCC would have probably won anyway" had Raymond played his normal minutes, I am pretty sure you're correct. The only other player who really did very much against NCC Wed was freshman McCrary who, with 14 points, was the only other Tunder player in double figures. And, if Raymond had been playing normal minutes, I have no doubt he would have gotten some of McCrary's touches/points. How can anyone doubt he, especially as a freshman, would have been subordinated to Raymond had Kent been on the floor more. And, nobody else really did much to hurt the Cardinals. So, the odds are very high that the outcome would have been the same.

2. After seeing Augie rip NCC earlier, watching Wheaton against NCC and Hope, and seeing Elmhurst vs both NCC and Wash. U., I have to say that your Vikings seem to be the strongest CCIW team when everyone is at full strength. In the game vs NCC, Augie looked big, quick, tough, and accurate. They executed very well. The night they beat NCC, I think they would have beaten a collection of CCIW all-stars. On top of everything else, I believe Augie is the deepest conference team. It seems they can play 10, perhaps 11, men with no appreciable drop off in talent level. Bertrand, while an important cog, is much more replaceable than Raynond. I expect an Augie victory tonight. We'll see.

[Titan Q]

Anyone know when the last time Wheaton won @ Augustana was?  I can only find results back to 2000 online.  (Wheaton's site has year-by-year results, but does not indicate which games were home vs away.)

2008 - Augie 66 Wheaton 61
2007 - Augie 63 Wheaton 60
2006 - Augie 64 Wheaton 61
2005 - Augie 83 Wheaton 76
2004 - Augie 83 Wheaton 77
2003 - Augie 96 Wheaton 81
2002 - Augie 85 Wheaton 71
2001 - Augie 89 Wheaton 88 (OT)
2000 - Augie 78 Wheaton 69

Wheaton's last win @ Augustana was February 4, 1998.  So Wheaton has lost 10 in a row @ the Carver Center...and 12 games in a row when you factor in the CCIW conference tournament games the last two years (a loss to Elmhurst in '07 and IWU in '08).

Thanks to Wheaton S.I.D. Brett Marhanka for the note.

[AndOne]

Good luck to the NCC Cardinals tonight as they visit the Millikin Big Blue. The Cards bus is probably just now approaching the Millikin gym. Other than Las Vegas, this is the first trip of the year where I have not been able to accompany the team. My son's band is playing at a major venue in Chicago tonight, and I'll be there cheering him on. I look for a tough game in a locale where the Cards have not always had the easiest of times. Of course, in the CCIW, virtually every game can be classified as a tough one.

[usee]

Injuries to key players hurt every team. Obviously Raymond was not back at full strength Wednesday night or he would haved played more than 20 minutes. NCC probably would have won anyway, but I think we all know that Wheaton would still be No. 1, if Wiele and Raymond had been injury free this season. It is no coincidence that Wheaton lost 3 games in a row while Raymond was injured or on the mend.

If Raymond is back at full strength tonight, and Bertrand cannot play, even at home Augie will have their hands full trying to beat a Wheaton team playing a must win game for the Thunder. Since Bertrand's injury is similar to Raymond's my guess is Justin will not be able to play up to his capabilities, if Coach G gives him some court time tonight.

Augiefan----

1. When you say "NCC would have probably won anyway" had Raymond played his normal minutes, I am pretty sure you're correct. The only other player who really did very much against NCC Wed was freshman McCrary who, with 14 points, was the only other Tunder player in double figures. And, if Raymond had been playing normal minutes, I have no doubt he would have gotten some of McCrary's touches/points. How can anyone doubt he, especially as a freshman, would have been subordinated to Raymond had Kent been on the floor more. And, nobody else really did much to hurt the Cardinals. So, the odds are very high that the outcome would have been the same.

2. After seeing Augie rip NCC earlier, watching Wheaton against NCC and Hope, and seeing Elmhurst vs both NCC and Wash. U., I have to say that your Vikings seem to be the strongest CCIW team when everyone is at full strength. In the game vs NCC, Augie looked big, quick, tough, and accurate. They executed very well. The night they beat NCC, I think they would have beaten a collection of CCIW all-stars. On top of everything else, I believe Augie is the deepest conference team. It seems they can play 10, perhaps 11, men with no appreciable drop off in talent level. Bertrand, while an important cog, is much more replaceable than Raynond. I expect an Augie victory tonight. We'll see.

AO,

1. that is extremely weak rationale and pure speculation but this conversation has gone on about 3 pages too long. Hopefully Wheaton and NCC will be at full strength at the end of the year and we can all see what happens.

2. Wheaton beat a healthy Augie team while not at full strength. You didn't mention that. The reality is you have no idea who the strongest team in this conference is when everyone is at full strength because you haven't seen the teams.

[usee]

Wheaton gets back in the race with a win in Rock Island

Wheaton 64
Augie 55

Wiele with 18 pts and 17 rebounds. Raymond and Panner with 14 pts a piece. Wheaton has a 6 rebound advantage. only 5 TO in second half

[usee]

Harris on the postgame:

on Wiele: "The beast is back"

on Raymond: "People don't know the tremendous pain he played with tonight".

[thunderstruck88]

Wheaton 64, Augie 55

Wheaton still struggling with some aspects of the game (3's and FTs a bit), but a good effort tonight to pull out the win in TOUGH gym.

Coach Harris says in the radio interview that Kent is still playing through a significant amount of pain. He mentioned something about a swollen back. Nonetheless he started and made a bunch of game-changing plays.

I was worried that the series where Kent's and-one was called off and became his fourth foul might be the momentum shifter that Augie needed, but major credit to the defense tonight.

Four players in double digits for Wheaton, including a "beastly" double-double by Wiele, 14 apeice for Raymond and Panner, and 10 for McCrary. Raymond also has 6 boards and a couple blocks, I believe.

For Augie, Wessels had 12 and Delp had 11. Collins had 11 boards.

Wheaton lost the turnover battle (17-11), but won the rebounding battle (36-30) against the top-rebounding team in the CCIW.

[usee]

Elmhurst wins 98-92

The millikin live stats are frozen with 13 seconds left and millikin leading 79-73

[Titan Q]

Elmhurst 98
IWU 92

* Brent Ruch: 31 pts, 10 reb, 3 assists
* Robert Strzemp: 15 pts
* Ryan Burks: 13 pts

* Sean Johnson: 23 pts, 4 assists
* Doug Sexauer: 15 pts
* Travis Rosenkranz: 14 pts


Sean Johnson missed a 3 with :40 to play that would have tied it.  

IWU is a very good offensive team, but really struggles on the other end...especially against Elmhurst.  They just have no answer for Brent Ruch.

[buf]

Other scores:

Elmhurst over IWU, 98-92

Carthage over North Park, 87-69

Millikin over North Central, 79-73

[wheels81]

Injuries to key players hurt every team. Obviously Raymond was not back at full strength Wednesday night or he would haved played more than 20 minutes. NCC probably would have won anyway, but I think we all know that Wheaton would still be No. 1, if Wiele and Raymond had been injury free this season. It is no coincidence that Wheaton lost 3 games in a row while Raymond was injured or on the mend.

If Raymond is back at full strength tonight, and Bertrand cannot play, even at home Augie will have their hands full trying to beat a Wheaton team playing a must win game for the Thunder. Since Bertrand's injury is similar to Raymond's my guess is Justin will not be able to play up to his capabilities, if Coach G gives him some court time tonight.

Augiefan----

1. When you say "NCC would have probably won anyway" had Raymond played his normal minutes, I am pretty sure you're correct. The only other player who really did very much against NCC Wed was freshman McCrary who, with 14 points, was the only other Tunder player in double figures. And, if Raymond had been playing normal minutes, I have no doubt he would have gotten some of McCrary's touches/points. How can anyone doubt he, especially as a freshman, would have been subordinated to Raymond had Kent been on the floor more. And, nobody else really did much to hurt the Cardinals. So, the odds are very high that the outcome would have been the same.

2. After seeing Augie rip NCC earlier, watching Wheaton against NCC and Hope, and seeing Elmhurst vs both NCC and Wash. U., I have to say that your Vikings seem to be the strongest CCIW team when everyone is at full strength. In the game vs NCC, Augie looked big, quick, tough, and accurate. They executed very well. The night they beat NCC, I think they would have beaten a collection of CCIW all-stars. On top of everything else, I believe Augie is the deepest conference team. It seems they can play 10, perhaps 11, men with no appreciable drop off in talent level. Bertrand, while an important cog, is much more replaceable than Raynond. I expect an Augie victory tonight. We'll see.

Your second point about Raymond taking away points from McCrary is totally rebuffed by what Coach Harris said tonight.  Raymond opens up the offense for others.  He doesn't ball hog but he breaks down the defense and Tim more than likely would have fed off the presence of KR.  Amen to USEE too long of discourse.

Congrats to Wheaton tonight on their win tonight at Augie!  Seems to me also that Bertrand's absence was a contributing "cog" in their loss as well

[Titan Q]

Home win = 0
Home loss -1
Road win = +1
Road loss = 0

Through Saturday, Jan. 31...

Elmhurst +2
Carthage +1
North Central +1
Wheaton +1
Augustana +0
Illinois Wesleyan -1
Millikin -1
North Park -3


Wednesday
Augustana @ Elmhurst 
Carthage @ Ill. Wesleyan 
Millikin @ Wheaton 
North Central @ North Park

[Titan Q]

Standings through 1/31:

Elmhurst 6-2 (vs AC, @ MU, vs WC, @ NPU, @ NCC, vs CC)
Augustana 6-3 (@ EC, vs CC, @ MU, @ NCC, @ IWU)
Carthage 5-3 (@ IWU, @ AC, vs NCC, vs MU, vs WC, @ EC)
North Central 5-3 (@ NPU, vs IWU, @ CC, vs AC, vs EC, @ WC)
Wheaton 5-3 (vs MU, vs NPU, @ EC, @ IWU, @ CC, @ NCC)
Illinois Wesleyan 3-5 (vs CC, @ NCC, @ NPU, vs WC, @ MU, vs AC)
Millikin 3-5 (@ WC, vs EC, vs AC, @ CC, vs IWU, @ NPU)
North Park 0-9 (vs NCC, @ WC, vs IWU, vs EC, vs MU)


Still a long way to go and 7 teams in the mix for the conference tournament.

[iwumichigander]

NCC remaining schedule:
Millikin---Decatur gets colder by the game---Win

Millikin over North Central, 79-73