MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Titan Q]

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

Augustana +1
Ill. Wesleyan +1
North Park +1
Carthage +0
Millikin +0
Wheaton +0
Elmhurst -1
North Central -2



Saturday
North Central @ Millikin, 4:30pm
Carthage @ Augustana, 7:30pm
Wheaton @ North Park, 7:30pm

Sunday
IWU @ Elmhurst, 3:30pm

[Viking Blue]

Big win for the Vikes!  And you all need to remember who the president of the Emmanuel Crosby fan club was from the get-go now....

Congratulations to the North Park coaching staff.  After a nightmare that no coach would ever want to go through, getting a road win in the third conference game of the year must feel awfully good.

Now keep it up, boys.

[Viking Blue]

Also nice to hear that Russell and Beige, two guys who have shot WAY too little this year, apparently hit big shots.

I also have a feeling that Shaun Collins is going to hit some big shots along the way this year.  Just a matter of time.

[BlueJay21]

Oddity of the night: Steve D. was held scoreless for the entire first half, and didn't even attempt a shot. He had six assists, though. He finished with only eight points, a career low. Without having seen or heard the game, I'm guessing that Scherer put on a box-and-one or a triangle-and-two, or some other gimmick defense. Didn't matter, though: Steve D. dished out 13 assists, Guzman had 28 (8-12 from downtown), Pierce had 18, and Thompson had 10, and Carthage crushed Elmhurst. That's a million times more important to Steve, Bosko, and the rest of the Red Men than Steve's points.

Last season Elmhurst held Steve to his two lowest scoring outputs of the season, and this year they did it again. The Bluejays usually guard him with about 4 guys when he has the ball and try to play tough defense on him without fouling him, which is a huge key with him. Obviously, tonight it didn't matter, as the other players made open shots. Tough start for the Bluejays but I hope they can turn it around.

I'm happy for North Park. Back to back wins in the CCIW is never an easy feat, and it has been especially hard for the Vikings the last couple of years. Good to see them playing well and winning some games. Now they need to prove they can beat an upper level team. Should be a very interesting next few weeks in the CCIW.

[mr_b]

Congratulations to the North Park players and coaches on a big win on the road!

[REDMENFAN]

Here's the article from the Kenosha News on lastnights Carthage/Elmhurst game. Guzman was unbelievable hitting six 3's in the first nine minutes of the game before needing a rest.  Steve D. was almost making it a point in the first half to show that he trusts his teammates. He passed up several runners in the lane that he often takes to hit a slashing a teammate or Guzman on the wing for a three.  Not as good of a crowd as there was last Wednesday night for the Wheaton game, which was disappointing to see.

http://www.kenoshanews.com/sports/a_fresh_look_for_the_red_men_7129717.html

[Dennis_Prikkel]

entertaining first half at Wheaton last night - some observations

1- Wheaton is very good offensively & Tim McCrary is very good at creating shots for himself and others. 

2- Wheaton tries to play defense very hard, but....

3- Augustana 1 for 4 on shots outside the paint - showed absolutely no ability to make a shot outside or even want to shoot outside - passing up at least ten wide open opportunities.  Augiestana spent the entire half with their three wing men driving the lane from the top of the key - with either the penetrator going all the way to the basket if he remained uncovered all single covered - or dishing it off to an Augie big man if the penetrator got double-teamed.  Wheaton's wing players were unable to stop the Augie penetration the whole first half.

4- Augustana is a very physical team on defense - its like watching the old NFL 'bump and run' that defensive backs used to play before the passing rules were changed.  Every one of Augie's players makes hard physical contact with his man at least once on every defensive possession.  Coming at their opponents in defensive waves - it is a blatant attempt to wear the other team down physically and destroy their will to compete.  Since Augustana is so offensively-challenged on the other end of the court it is an interesting and effective game-plan strategy.

Nice crowd at the game filling up both side bleachers - very sparse on the ends.

[CCIWFAN3]

Hey Q, why have Big Country's minutes the past two games been 6 and 7? Because of the matchups?  I haven't seen a game since the break. I assumed his minutes would be increasing slowly during conference play from the way he was playing earlier.

[Dennis_Prikkel]

augiestana at wheaton #2

Nice crowd as I said.  I sat in my usual King Arena seat - second row from the top behind the Augie bench, free throw line extended.  There was only one couple sitting behind me.  Mild-mannered enough until the game started.

Please understand - I have only partial hearing in my left ear (about 50%) - and this guy was sitting right behind my left shoulder.  The game was not five seconds old when this guy screamed "Go Augie" with the decibel count of a fighter jet being catapaulted off an aircraft carrier.  I jumped in my seat.

His vocabulary was quite limited though.  He either screamed "Go Augie" when the Vikings were on offense, or, "Our Ball" when they were on defense.  But since he did this on every single possession it soon became apparent that if I wanted to retain what little hearing I have in my left ear, I would have to move.  So at the first time out I left and sat in the endzone corner about eight rows up (excellent view of the court by the way).

[CCIWFAN3]

"Go Augie" or "Our Ball".  Sounds like a true fan!  Could have been worse, like "call a foul"! How did Pelton look? Also, how did the freshmen posts look?

[Dennis_Prikkel]

"Go Augie" or "Our Ball".  Sounds like a true fan!  Could have been worse, like "call a foul"! How did Pelton look? Also, how did the freshmen posts look?

Pelton exclusively drove the lane from the top of the key - Wheaton's guards could not contain his drive.  He never looked for a shot.

Augie's rookie big man are more advanced defensively than offensively.  Augustana had one post #45 (sorry no name) whose first defensive move was to put his hands on his opponent's waist in the low post - consequently he spent much of the half on the bench as McCrary was much too quick for him.

While Carwell and McCrary both started for the Crusaders (oops, Thunder), they were rarely on the floor together - with Carwell spelling McCrary when he needed a blow.

Quite, frankly, Augie was so "Layup" driven in the first half they didn't show much else offensively, and the lack of an outside offense got them in a hole early that they were never able to completely overcome.  Wheaton was up by 9 at half and I doubt Augie, even with all their layup attempts, was shooting 40%.

I know Augie has two guys scoring in double figures on the season - but this is a team that could possibly go the whole season without a player or maybe even just one player averaging in double figures.

[CCIWFAN3]

Thanks for the update. Well, Augie is known for playing a lot of people a lot of minutes. Three non starters had more minutes than two of the starters.  Sometimes that works...but it's difficult to get into a cohesive flow with that much subing.  From the sounds of it Coach G. wasn't a happy camper throughout the entire game.

[Dennis_Prikkel]

Thanks for the update. Well, Augie is known for playing a lot of people a lot of minutes. Three non starters had more minutes than two of the starters.  Sometimes that works...but it's difficult to get into a cohesive flow with that much subing.  From the sounds of it Coach G. wasn't a happy camper throughout the entire game.

actually coach G was on his best behavior for the final ten minutes of the first half - nary a word - his antics in the first ten minutes would have certainly drawn two techs and an ejection from some of the CCIW refs of yesteryear (i.e. Phil Robinson).  Augie's players were playing defense with their hands all over McCrary and Coach G was none to happy when the fouls were 7-2 with eight minutes to go in the half.  The half finished with the fouls 8-10 so coach G was acting like a whistling choir boy going off the court at halftime.

[CCIWchamps]

augiestana at wheaton #2

Nice crowd as I said.  I sat in my usual King Arena seat - second row from the top behind the Augie bench, free throw line extended.  There was only one couple sitting behind me.  Mild-mannered enough until the game started.

Please understand - I have only partial hearing in my left ear (about 50%) - and this guy was sitting right behind my left shoulder.  The game was not five seconds old when this guy screamed "Go Augie" with the decibel count of a fighter jet being catapaulted off an aircraft carrier.  I jumped in my seat.

His vocabulary was quite limited though.  He either screamed "Go Augie" when the Vikings were on offense, or, "Our Ball" when they were on defense.  But since he did this on every single possession it soon became apparent that if I wanted to retain what little hearing I have in my left ear, I would have to move.  So at the first time out I left and sat in the endzone corner about eight rows up (excellent view of the court by the way).

If their coach is any indicator, Augie seems to breed screamers.  At one point (make that several) the Augie Coach was on the floor next to the official alternating between screaming at him, the other ref, or his players.  I believe this happened both during free throws and while the ball was in play!  Should that be a T for "too many  men on the court?" 

[AndOne]

North Park 75, North Central 70

* Ro Russell: 18 pts (4-4 trey)
* Emmanuel Crosby: 16 pts, 8 rebs, 4 asts
* Nick Williams: 14 pts, 7 rebs
* Nick Hoekstra: 8 rebs

* David Twyman: 27 pts, 13 rebs
* Reid Barringer: 12 pts
* Brian Evans: 11pts, 12 rebs, 6 asts
* Derek Raridon: 10 pts (4-14 FG)

NCC outshot NPU from the field, 52% (30-58) to 46% (29-63), and from the FT line, 62% (8-13) to 56% (9-16). North Park, which has become a pretty good shooting team from the perimeter, won the game from beyond the arc and on the boards; the Vikings were 38% (8-21) in treys, including some massive ones down the stretch by Ro Russell and Ryan Beigie, while the Cards were 17% (2-12) from downtown. NPU also won the rebounding battle decisively, 39-33, with the visitors enjoying the offensive boards edge, 16-9. Both teams were good in the assists-to-turnovers category (NPU 18:11, NCC 16:12)

Wish I could've seen this one; unfortunately, I had a late-afternoon meeting that kept me from making the trip to Naperville. It was close almost the entire way. North Central scored the game's first six points, North Park scored the next eight, and from then on it was basically basket-trading for the rest of the half, with the two teams heading into the locker room knotted up at 26.

NCC led for most of the second half but never by much, with the Cards' biggest lead, 61-54, coming at 6:10 left. It was at that point that the St. Rita connection took over, as high-school classmates Ro Russell and Emmanuel Crosby scored the next 12 points for NPU. A Russell trey at 2:25 put North Park up, 68-66, another Russell trey with 59 seconds left broke a 68-all tie, and after David Twyman's layup with 43 seconds left cut the NPU lead to one, Nick Williams was fouled by Twyman with 16 seconds left. In spite of NPU's woes at the line, Williams knocked down both FTs. Reid Barringer missed a potential game-tying trey with five seconds left, Shaun Collins grabbed the rebound and was fouled, and with two seconds left he sealed the win by making both FTs.

Derek Raridon came into the game averaging 22.5 ppg (26.5 ppg in NCC's first two CCIW games). Aside from the opening-night rout over Oberlin, in which he only played 26 minutes, the freshman phenom hadn't scored less than 16 points in a game this season. Question for AndOne: Did Raridon just miss a lot of open shots, or did the Vikings play great defense against him? Who guarded him -- Williams? Hoekstra?

Solid road win for the Park. Just wish I could've seen it!

Once again the North Central Cardinals came up a bit short in last night's CCIW battle against the Vikings from North Park, falling by a score of 75-70 in Naperville.
As GS indicated above, NCC outshot NPU from both the field and the line. However, the Cardinals were negligent in 4 areas that, combined, resulted in the Viking victory:
1. Interior defense--Crosby & Williams dominated the action down low. Crosby was especially effective setting up down low, and basically bulling his way to the basket after receiving an entry pass.
2. Boardwork--NPU won the overall battle 39-33. The margin was especially telling on the offensive end where the taller, bigger Vikings held a 16-9 advantage. Reflective of this advantage was their 20-12 2nd chance points differential.
3. Perimeter defense. While NCC shot only 16.7 (2/12) from beyond the arc, they allowed the Vikings to fire at a 38.1 percent (8/21) clip. Those 6 extra threes by NPU were huge. Especially on a play with 59 seconds remaining and the score tied. Roshawn Russell was out beyond the line at about a 45 degree angle from the basket. I believe he had picked up his dribble that that point. Two NCC defenders were just a few feet in front of him with about 5 feet separating the defenders. From my vantage point, it looked like the 2 Cardinals looked at each other, and then inexplicably, pealed off in opposite directions leaving Russell wide open to drain the difference maker in the game.
4. Bench scoring--The Vikings bench outscored the Cardinals 16-4. They essentially wore doen the out maned Cards.  

In addition, NCC's leading scorer, Derek Raridon had an off night shooting the basketball. Probably the worst in his young college career as he shot only 28.6 percent (4/14) for the night, after coming into the action hitting at 49.7 percent.

GS--To answer your question. Raridon's shooting was just plain off last night rather than his low percentage and output being the result of great defense by NPU, particularly by Williams who drew the primary assignment on Derek. The alignment of his shot was off, usually to the left, and the trajectory was often a little short, hitting the front of the rim.

Noteworthy for NCC was a scintillating performance by David Twyman who almost literally flew around The Hanger to register career highs in BOTH scoring (27) AND rebounding (13), including 6 offensive rebounds. Continuing on his recent theme, 2 of Twyman's baskets were thunderous dunks. It was his 3rd career double-double.

Additionally, Brian Evans turned in an awesome game, also registering a double-double with 11 points, on 5/6 and 1/1 shooting, to go along with 12 rebounds. Not surprisingly, the always hard working forward rebounded strongly from a forgettable outing against Wheaton.