MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Thunder Dutch]

the night about perfectly worked out for wheaton...
they're in a tie with elmhurst for first, whoever wins wednesday has a huge leg up on the rest of the league...
their two closest pursuers, carthage and ncc, lost. (they are playing wednesday so one of those will get even farther behind)
augie won, so if the league happens to come to a tiebreaker between elmhurst/wheaton (if they split head-to-head) and augie is third, wheaton would win the tiebreaker, having swept augie while elmhurst split.

A lot is riding on Wednesday's games... even Millikin and IWU could make up ground and threaten to sneak into the playoffs again... then again, that can be said of every night in this crazy league.


Again, defense was Wheaton's strength in the first half, which held NPU to 32%, and together with 10-16 three point shooting, they had a huge 42-21 lead at half. Their second half was a bit disappointing though, it seemed like they let up considerably and while NPU never looked like they believed they could make a run, the second half was basically a wash. NPU even shot 52%.

Overall though it was a great game for Wheaton, not just because we got into a tie for first. The shooters got a lot of confidence. Kent also looked great out there. If they can continue that hot shooting and play good defense, the Thunder can take Elmhurst this wednesday.

[usee]

What were the stat lines in the elmhurst game? That is just nuts.

[Titan Q]

The 4 boxscores from last night...

http://www.augustana.edu/athletics/mbasketball/stats/2008-09/09mbb22.htm

http://www.millikin.edu/athletics/mbasketball/mil-21.htm

http://www.northcentralcollege.edu/athletics/stats/basketball_m/08-09/MBK21.HTM

http://athletics.wheaton.edu/custompages/mbball/mbbstats/mwhe21.htm


Top scoring performances:

Steve Djurickovic (CC): 26
Brent Ruch (EC): 24
Tunde Ogunleye (MU): 21
Kent Raymond (WC): 21
Matt Rogers (NCC): 21
Jeremy Pflederer (WC): 20
Chris Drennan (NCC): 19
Travis Rosenkranz (IWU: 18
Sean Johnson (IWU): 17
Kyle Nelson (AC): 16

[Titan Q]

It is amazing how different a game can be from one team's gym to the other's.  In Kenosha, Carthage led Augustana basically the entire game, and won by 9...

http://www.carthage.edu/athleticspages/mens/basketball/augie1.htm

Last night's game was a complete Augie blowout from the tip.


Quoting Coach Bosko Djurickovic on the Feb. 7 Augustana (Ill.) Game:   "Augustana (Ill.) plays terribly differently at home than they do on the road in terms of spacing and the ability to move the ball up and down the court," said Carthage coach Bosko Djurickovic.  "They played great and deserve some credit.  On the other hand, we allowed some of that happen.  Augustana needed this game, perhaps more than we did.  We talked about matching their intensity, but we could not.  The inside battle would have been stopped in round one had it been a prize fight, and there's no excuse for that.  We may be undersized, but you have to compete, and we did not for the first 20 minutes.  Their post players just stepped on us, and we didn't have an answer.  We have to play better, if we're going to control our destiny down the stretch or have an impact on the conference race."

http://www.carthage.edu/athleticspages/mens/basketball/release.html

[Titan Q]

the night about perfectly worked out for wheaton...
they're in a tie with elmhurst for first, whoever wins wednesday has a huge leg up on the rest of the league...

Wheaton has a lot of tough games left:

@ Elmhurst
@ IWU
@ Carthage
vs North Central

[commonsense]

Titans Fans - Simply put, a better defensive effort is the reason the team won last night. I know it's not sexy and does not get the headlines but when WE get this, we'll be better. Last night we went a little deeper in the mix, our starters were fresher in the end and got a few stops. 

IWU is second in conference in offense averaging 77 pts/game. Last night they scored 77 pts.

IWU is seventh in conference in defense alllowing 78 pt/game. Last night they held NC to 71 pts. At home earlier this year NC scored 77 pts.

2 seasons ago the Titans were second in offense and eight in defense which did not make for a good season.

Last year the Titans were third in offense and fouth in defense making for a pretty good year.

[Thunder Dutch]

the night about perfectly worked out for wheaton...
they're in a tie with elmhurst for first, whoever wins wednesday has a huge leg up on the rest of the league...

Wheaton has a lot of tough games left:

@ Elmhurst
@ IWU
@ Carthage
vs North Central

yeah they do have a very tough schedule left, tougher than Elmhurst's:
vs. Wheaton
@ NPU
@ North Central
vs. Carthage

They both Carthage/NCC, but Elmhurst has more home games left.
I'm just saying that whoever wins Wednesday will be at least one game up on the rest of the league, maybe even two with the way this league goes and with all the tiebreakers, with three games left. Which is pretty big, especially when no almost win is guaranteed. I don't doubt that lots (maybe conference champion, definitely playoff seeding and even making the playoffs) will come down to the last day of the season, with three big games:
Augie @ IWU
NCC @ Wheaton
Carthage @ Elmhurst

While it is true that this wednesday has some huge games, it's also true that every game night is huge in this league... haha. It's definitely huge for Wheaton though, cause if they lose they'd effectively be two games behind Elmhurst with three to go. So I think it's fair to say that if they want to win conference and host the tournament, they need to win Wednesday.

[AndOne]

Titans Fans - Simply put, a better defensive effort is the reason the team won last night. I know it's not sexy and does not get the headlines but when WE get this, we'll be better. Last night we went a little deeper in the mix, our starters were fresher in the end and got a few stops. 

IWU is second in conference in offense averaging 77 pts/game. Last night they scored 77 pts.

IWU is seventh in conference in defense alllowing 78 pt/game. Last night they held NC to 71 pts. At home earlier this year NC scored 77 pts.

2 seasons ago the Titans were second in offense and eight in defense which did not make for a good season.

Last year the Titans were third in offense and fouth in defense making for a pretty good year.

Wesleyan did play better defense against North Central last night than they did in the game in Bloomington as evidenced by the fact NCC shot 57.8 percent in the 1st meeting, but was held to 43.1 percent last night. Despite the drop in FG accuracy, the Titans still won by only 6 points.

A larger factor in the Titans victory was the Cardinals inability to adequately defend from beyond the arc as they allowed Wesleyan to bank 10 three balls on a 3pt shooting percentage of 62.5. Thats 30 frickin points on threes. The final dagger was, when coming out of a timeout up by one with 35 seconds left in the game and only 12 left on the shot clock, the Cardinals allowed a final 3 pointer from very deep in the right corner by Sean Johnson. There you have the primary reason for the Titans victory.

Johnson scored 17 and Rosenkranz 18 for Wesleyan while North Central was led by Chris Drennan with 19 and Matt Rogers with 21 (in 21 minutes). Doug Sexauer was held to 8 on 3/8 shooting, but while the Cards interior defense was fairly effective, it left Wesleyan's long range shooters free to bomb away.

On a perhaps even more disheartening note, NCC's Dominique King suffered what appeared to be a serious knee injury. Hopefully, tests will reveal a lesser degree of damage than appeared likely by the look of things as he was carried off the court by teammates.   

[Titan Q]

Stats for starters, sorted by points per game (CCIW games only)...

Point-guard (1)
1. Steve Djurickovic (CC), 6-3 So. - 25.0 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 6.5 apg, 2.7 A:TO
2. Kent Raymond (WC), 6-3 Sr. – 24.0 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 2.4 apg, 1.5 A:TO
3. Roshawn Russell (NPU), 5-10 Fr. - 15.1 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 3.4 apg, 1.5 A:TO
4. Travis Rosenkranz (IWU), 6-0 So. - 13.0 ppg, 1.9 rpg, 4.0 apg, 2.1 A:TO
5. Matt Pelton (AC), 6-2 Jr. - 7.5 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 2.2 apg, 2.4 A:TO
6. Dustin Bainter (EC), 6-2 Jr. - 7.3 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 2.1 apg, 0.9 A:TO
7. Mark Patrick (MU), 6-0 Sr. - 7.2 ppg, 2.0 rpg, 1.0 apg, 1.7 A:TO
8. Dean Prince (NCC), 6-0 Sr. -  5.1 ppg, 1.5 rpg, 3.3 apg, 1.5 A:TO

Shooting-guard (2)
1. Sean Fendley (CC), 6-1 Jr. – 14.0 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 0.4 apg, 27-64 3-pt (.422)
2. Sean Johnson (IWU), 6-1 So. - 12.5 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 3.4 apg, 17-46 3-pt (.370)
3. Ben Panner (WC), 6-3 Jr. – 12.0 ppg, 2.0 rpg, 1.7 apg, 45-89 FG (.506)
4. Brett Wessels (AC), 6-3 Sr. – 10.9 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 2.3 apg, 37-103 FG (.359)
5. Reid Barringer (NCC), 6-0 Jr. - 9.8 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 1.0 apg, 20-56 3-pt (.357)
6. Corey Mitchell (MU), 6-0 Jr. - 9.4 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 2.4 apg, 38-86 FG (.482)
7. D.J. Cooper (NPU), 6-0 Fr. - 8.3 ppg, 1.3 rpg, 1.8, 10-34 3-pt (.294)
8. Zack Boyd (EC), 6-2 Fr. - 5.2 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 1.2 apg, 21-58 FG (.362)

Wing/Small Forward (3)
1. Ryan Burks (EC), 6-4 Sr. - 14.0 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 20-47 3-pt (.426)
2. Tunde Ogunleye (MU), 6-2 Sr. - 11.8 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 43-98 FG (.439)
3. Mitch Raridon (NCC), 6-3 Sr. -  11.1 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 2.4 apg, 18-41 3-pt (.439)
4. Tim McCrary (WC), 6-6 Fr. – 10.4 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 44-72 FG (.611)
5. Jordan Zimmer (IWU), 6-5 Fr. - 8.4 ppg, 1.9 rpg, 19-41 3-pt (.463)
6. Alex Washington (AC), 6-1 Sr. - 7.9 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 33-74 FG (.446)
7. Max Cary (CC), 6-3 Fr. – 4.6 ppg, 2.0 rpg, 15-38 FG (.395)
8.. Kendall Greer (NPU), 6-5 So. - 4.0 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 15-39 FG (.385)

Power Forward (4)
1. Nick Williams (NPU), 6-5 Jr. - 12.4 ppg, 7.4 rpg, 46-102 FG (.451)
2. David Twyman (NCC), 6-3 Jr. – 10.0 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 44-75 FG (.587)
3. John Koschnitzky (IWU), 6-6 Fr. - 9.8 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 36-66 FG (.545)
4. Robert Burton (MU), 6-4 Jr. - 8.5 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 35-59 FG (.592)
5. Adam Tolo (CC), 6-6 Jr.  – 8.3 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 19-49 3-pt (.388)
6. Justin Bertrand (AC), 6-6 Sr. - 8.0 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 25-49 FG (.510)
7. Robert Strzemp (EC), 6-4 Sr. - 6.7 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 27-59 FG (.458)
8. Jake Carwell (WC), 6-7 Jr. – 4.8 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 21-47 FG (.446)

Forward/Center (5)
1. Brent Ruch (EC), 6-9 Sr. - 19.9 ppg, 8.3 rpg, 71-111 FG (.640)
2. Chris Drennan (NCC), 6-5 Sr. - 16.5 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 63-115 FG (.548)
3. Doug Sexauer (IWU), 6-7 So. - 15.0 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 61-102 FG (.598)
4. Andy Wiele (WC), 6-8 Sr. – 12.2 ppg, 9.0 rpg, 42-70 FG (.600)
5. Phil Schniedermeier (NPU), 6-7 So. - 10.3 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 44-76 FG (.579)
6. Joscar Demby (MU), 6-7 Jr. - 9.8 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 41-70 FG (.586)
7. Chandlor Collins (AC), 6-7 Sr. - 7.8 ppg, 9.1 rpg, 35-69 FG (.507)
8. Richard Williams (CC), 6-6 Jr. – 4.3 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 20-42 FG (.476)

[Titan Q]

A larger factor in the Titans victory was the Cardinals inability to adequately defend from beyond the arc as they allowed Wesleyan to bank 10 three balls on a 3pt shooting percentage of 62.5. Thats 30 frickin points on threes. The final dagger was, when coming out of a timeout up by one with 35 seconds left in the game and only 12 left on the shot clock, the Cardinals allowed a final 3 pointer from very deep in the right corner by Sean Johnson. There you have the primary reason for the Titans victory.

Starting 3 sophomores and 2 freshmen, IWU now leads to CCIW in FG % (.512) and is second in 3-pt % (.400).  This group of Titans has a chance to be an outstanding offensive team down the road.  We'll see if the defense catches up.

[Titan Q]

Doug Sexauer was held to 8 on 3/8 shooting,

Sexauer picked up foul #2 4 minutes into the game and sat the final 16 minutes of the 1st.  Listening to the game I felt like NCC was not able to take advantage of those 16 minutes the Titans did not have their #1 low-post scoring threat on the floor.  The Cardinals led by just 1 at halftime.

Doug played only 23 minutes last night.

[Mr. Ypsi]

Elmhurst is 7-1 against other conference teams, Millikin is 2-6, yet Millikin swept the series against Elmhurst.  Are there specific match-up issues that make this explainable, or is this just the sort of bizarre thing that gives rise to the cliche: that's why the play the games?

[Titan Q]

Elmhurst is 7-1 against other conference teams, Millikin is 2-6, yet Millikin swept the series against Elmhurst.  Are there specific match-up issues that make this explainable, or is this just the sort of bizarre thing that gives rise to the cliche: that's why the play the games?

Millikin is very athletic and plays good perimeter defense.  In the first meeting, Millikin forced 12 turnovers from EC's perimeter players (Bainter 4, McCurdy 4, Burks 3, Childs 1). 

Last night, the Big Blue forced 9 turnovers from the guards (Bainter 5, Boyd 3, Burks 1).

Elmhurst has some talented players at the 1 and 2 (Burks is a 3), but they are terribly inconsistent.  When these guys play well, the Bluejays are hard to beat.  When they don't, EC is a totally different team.

It seems like every year, Elmhurst suffers these types of losses...it's kept them from winning titles.

[augiefan]

Elmhurst is 7-1 against other conference teams, Millikin is 2-6, yet Millikin swept the series against Elmhurst.  Are there specific match-up issues that make this explainable, or is this just the sort of bizarre thing that gives rise to the cliche: that's why the play the games?

Augie has had their hands full beating Millikin particularly in Decatur. Tunde Ogunleye may be the most underrated player in the CCIw. When he has a big game, like he did last night, Millikin is tough to beat. When he has an off night Millikin usually suffers.

[Titan Q]

http://blogs.suntimes.com/illinois/2009/02/seeding-the-ihsa-state-tournam.html


It has been noted by many experts and media members that perhaps this has been the year of the "stock-raiser" or low Division I/small college "sleeper." We hinted at that with our articles on the holiday tournaments, and it seems like almost every game that we cover, we come away with another player that we feel has earned either small college scholarship offers or at least low DI interest. We believe that Illinois offers one of the most competitive and deepest crop of small college prospects every season, and it is with no wonder that we find the Great Lakes Valley Conference and CCIW among the top conferences in Division II and III. We see Augustana, North Central, Millikin, Carthage, and Illinois Wesleyan everywhere. Nobody works harder at any level than Lewis University's Scott Trost and Harley Piercy. There are too many other small schools to possibly list here, but NAIA power Robert Morris is everywhere, and nobody has picked up the intensity of their recruiting efforts more than local NAIA St. Francis University in Joliet and Division 3 Lake Forest College with the dynamic duo of head coach Chris Conger and assistant coach Ken Davis, who is a class guy with an unbelievable grasp of recruiting reality. Nobody has seen more of an individual recruit's games this season than University of Chicago head coach Mike Mc Grath has with 6'7 recruit Luke Scarlata from Morton. The effort very well could pay off for the Maroons. There is not a bigger class act in all of basketball than Mc Grath. Division 2 Hillsdale College has a great staff with Illinois connections, and Coach John Tharp is on the verge of turning them into a power. Finally, schools in Wisconsin like Wisconsin-Stevens Point and Lawrence University have done a great job recruiting Illinois. There may not be a better program in D3 than Stevens Point, and Joel De Pagter is one of the top up-and-coming coaches in small college basketball at Lawrence. ... Finally, some players that have caught the eye of many of the schools mentioned above, as well as some low DI schools, include (in no particular order) 6'7 Brandon Kunz and 5'10 Connor Mooney at Lake Zurich, 6'2 Kedrick Williams at Normal Community, 6'6 Kevin Reed at Prospect, Scarlata, 6'5 Raul Guzman, and 6'2 Joe Belcaster at Morton, 6'4 Tony Rizzo at Conant, 6'5 Derek Raridon at Neuqua Valley, 5'10 Marc Little at Bartlett, and 6'4 Andrew Galow at Oswego. This list is hardly all-inclusive!