MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Titan Q]

IWU 84
Webster 80

http://www.websterathletics.com/custompages/MBasketball/10-11stats/MB31.HTM


A few thoughts...

*  At halftime this one felt like a laugher.  IWU led 44-23 and the game just appeared to be a complete mismatch.

* Webster played extremely hard out of the locker room and got the lead all the way down to 11 at the 16:30 mark.  This run was kind of a combination of poor execution on both ends of the floor by IWU, and an extremely inspired effort by the Gorloks.

* On IWU's offensive end, the Titans got one of the worst road whistles I've seen in a long time.  It was almost as if the officials decided that since IWU was taller in the low post, it would only be fair to allow Webster to foul.  The Titans should have shot 10-14 more FT's in the 2nd half alone.  It was so bad a Wash U fan texted me on the way home and said, "We'll make sure to have the same refs in 2 weeks."  I never talk about officiating here, but there is no way I can post about this game without doing so.

* Even though IWU's "comfortable" lead was disappearing slowly (17 with 10:54 to play...14 with 8:19...12 with 5:22), the Titans still led by 8 with 3:15 to play.  That's when a kid who is going to be a sensational Division III player for 2 years turned a bunch of heads.  Willie Trimble hit a jumper to cut IWU's lead to 6 with 2:05 to go.  Dan Schouten hit a huge 3 to push IWU's lead back to 9.  Trimble then buried ridiculous bombs (well guarded) from each wing on back-to-back possessions to make it a 3 point game.  In the first half, the 5-9 Trimble had a left handed dunk that you just don't ever see from a D3 guard.  He is an absolutely steal for Webster and brings D1-caliber quickness, ball-handling, and dribble penetration to the floor.

* Webster cut the lead to 2 with :23 to play, but Sean Johnson made 2 FT's.  After Nick Jones hit a fall away, very tough jumper with :10 to go (cutting the lead to 2 again), Johnson once again made 2 FT's to end it.  As dicey as things got in the final :30, Webster never had the ball and a chance to tie (thanks to Johnson's FT's).

* Despite the bad 2nd half, the Titans did have a number of good performances tonight.  Sean Johnson had 22, making all 8 of his FT attempts...Duncan Lawson might have been the player of the game, finishing with 14 pts, 6 reb, and 4 assists (4-6 3-pt)...Dan Schouten had 9 & 5...Matt Schick continues to play very well (8 pts, 5 reb, 4 assists) and do a lot of little things to help the team win.

* Both of IWU's centers (Doug Sexauer and Ryan Connolly) played sick tonight (not "sick" like the kids say for "good"...like sick, sick).  To anyone who saw Sexauer especially, it was clear he just wasn't right...he did finish with 14 pts, but should have been 24+ if he just finishes the shots he usually makes.


IWU has yet to play a complete 40 minute game.  Tonight I got to see both sides of the Titans - the legitimate Top 5 team, and then the team that struggles for 8 or 9-minute stretches.

Webster sure looked like a team that will contend for the SLIAC title.  I'm just not sure how teams will handle Willie Trimble, and the Gorloks have several other nice pieces...and nice inside/outside balance.

[Titan Q]

CCIW in-region report (through 11/29)...

(records below are in-region only...not overall)

Augustana (3-0) - 10 scheduled
11/16, @ Simpson  W
11/22, vs Washington U W
11/27, vs Anderson  W
12/1, @ Monmouth
12/11, vs Buena Vista
12/15, vs UW-Whitewater
12/20, @ MacMurray
12/29, vs UW-Stout, at St. Norbert
12/30, @ St. Norbert or vs Lakeland, at St. Norbert
1/2, vs Chicago

Out of region:
12/8, vs St. Ambrose

Carthage (2-1) - 4 scheduled
11/19, vs Bethany Lutheran  W
11/24, vs Whitworth (in Hawaii) L
11/26, vs Pacific (in Hawaii)  W
1/2, @ Transylvania

Out of region:
11/16, vs Calumet-St. Joseph  W  
11/20, vs John Carroll  L
12/3 vs Hope
12/4, vs Calvin
12/7, vs Silver Lake
12/11, vs Albion
12/12, vs Cardinal Stritch

Elmhurst (0-3) - 11 scheduled
11/16, @ Cornell  L
11/20, vs Hamline L
11/23, @ St. Norbert  L
12/1, @ Olivet
12/5, @ Westminster (Mo)
12/9, vs Kalamazoo
12/11, vs Loras
12/20, vs Aurora, in Las Vegas
12/21, vs UW-Oshkosh, in Las Vegas
12/29, vs DePauw
12/30, vs Calvin or Benedictine

Illinois Wesleyan (6-0) -  9 or 10 scheduled
11/15, @ Benedictine  W
11/19, vs Aurora  W
11/20, vs Ripon  W
11/23, @ Monmouth  W
11/27, vs Dominican W
11/29, @ Webster  W
12/4, vs Chicago
12/11, vs MacMurray
12/18, @ Washington U
(12/30, @ Cal Lutheran)

Out of region:

12/29, vs Gettysburg, at Cal Lutheran
(12/30, vs Hobart, at Cal Lutheran)

Millikin (0-3) -  6 or 7 scheduled
11/19, vs Nebraska Wesleyan  L
11/23, vs Franklin L
11/28, @ Rose-Hulman L
12/4, @ Aurora
12/20, @ Transyvania
12/29, @ St. Mary's (MN)
(12/30, @ Illinois College)

Out of region:
12/1, vs Robert Morris-Springfield
12/8, @ Indianapolis
12/18, @ Adrian
12/21, vs Piedmont (GA) or Westminster (PA), at Transylvania
(12/30, vs Clarke at Illinois College)

North Central (1-4) - 8 scheduled
11/19, vs Bluffton L
11/20 vs Edgewood  L
11/23, vs Aurora  L
11/27, @ Illinois College  L
11/28, @ Manchester W
12/7, vs Lake Forest
12/22, @ Benedictine
12/27, @ Rockford

Out of region:
12/1, vs Albion
12/17, @ Hawaii-Hilo
12/30, @ Adrian

North Park (2-1) - 9 scheduled
11/17, vs Concordia  L
11/23, vs Edgewood  W
11/27, @ Fontbonne  W
11/30, @ Carroll
12/4, vs Trine
12/11, @ Spalding
12/30, vs Milwaukee Engineering
12/19, @ Coe
12/20, @ Loras

Out of region:
12/28, vs Williams, at Salem State
12/29, vs Regis, at Salem State

Wheaton (2-1) -  6 scheduled
11/16, vs Manchester  L
11/19, vs UW-Whitewater  W
11,23, vs Loras  W
12/1, vs Chicago
12/4, vs Hope
12/11, vs Washington U

Out of region:
11/19, vs Covenant  W
12/3, vs Calvin
12/9, vs Trinity Intl
12/30, vs Messiah, in Phoenix
12/31, vs Husson, in Phoenix


CCIW non-conference totals (88 games)
In-region games: 64 (73%)
Out-of-region games: 24 (27%)

(Assumes 1 of the 2 TBD games end up in-region)

CCIW in-region, non-conference record (through 11/29)
16-13 (.552)

Q's Projected Final in-region, non-conference record
33-31 (.516)

[y_jack_lok]

* On IWU's offensive end, the Titans got one of the worst road whistles I've seen in a long time.  It was almost as if the officials decided that since IWU was taller in the low post, it would only be fair to allow Webster to foul.  The Titans should have shot 10-14 more FT's in the 2nd half alone.  It was so bad a Wash U fan texted me on the way home and said, "We'll make sure to have the same refs in 2 weeks."  I never talk about officiating here, but there is no way I can post about this game without doing so.

Well, there were some poor calls both ways and if either team got greater benefit from that, then Webster probably did get a slight edge. But I wasn't aware that it was all happening on IWU's offensive end.

A question for you. When Webster's 5'9" Trimble (actually, the Webster roster says he's 5'11") stuffed IWU's 6'9" Connolly, should that have been a foul? And you realize since now you've said you "never talk about officiating", the next time you want to talk about officiatiing you're going to have to add a disclaimer such as "rarely" or "practically never" or "seldom".

[AndOne]

* On IWU's offensive end, the Titans got one of the worst road whistles I've seen in a long time.  It was almost as if the officials decided that since IWU was taller in the low post, it would only be fair to allow Webster to foul.  The Titans should have shot 10-14 more FT's in the 2nd half alone.  It was so bad a Wash U fan texted me on the way home and said, "We'll make sure to have the same refs in 2 weeks."  I never talk about officiating here, but there is no way I can post about this game without doing so.

Well, there were some poor calls both ways and if either team got greater benefit from that, then Webster probably did get a slight edge. But I wasn't aware that it was all happening on IWU's offensive end.

Truth be told, one of Wesleyan's best players in their opening game win at Benedictine, especially in the first half, was one of the refs. He made about 6 utterly ridiculous calls in favor of the visitors in the 1st half alone. Even several of the IWU fans agreed that the Titans would have probably trailed at the break if not for the aid of the ref.

[Gregory Sager]

* On IWU's offensive end, the Titans got one of the worst road whistles I've seen in a long time.  It was almost as if the officials decided that since IWU was taller in the low post, it would only be fair to allow Webster to foul.  The Titans should have shot 10-14 more FT's in the 2nd half alone.  It was so bad a Wash U fan texted me on the way home and said, "We'll make sure to have the same refs in 2 weeks."  I never talk about officiating here, but there is no way I can post about this game without doing so.

Well, there were some poor calls both ways and if either team got greater benefit from that, then Webster probably did get a slight edge. But I wasn't aware that it was all happening on IWU's offensive end.

Truth be told, one of Wesleyan's best players in their opening game win at Benedictine, especially in the first half, was one of the refs. He made about 6 utterly ridiculous calls in favor of the visitors in the 1st half alone. Even several of the IWU fans agreed that the Titans would have probably trailed at the break if not for the aid of the ref.

Wesleyan fans said that, Mark? Wow. That's an unprecedented bit of candor on the part of the Titans faithful regarding the refs.

The large road following that the Titans have is one of the things that make CCIW basketball great, but the standing joke among CCIW followers is that those Titans road fans have watched IWU basketball for eighty years apiece without ever seeing the boys in green commit an actual foul.

[Gregory Sager]

Probable starters for tonight's NPU @ Carroll contest:

Carroll (2-0)

F Taylor Petrick	6'6, 205 SO	6.0 ppg, 4.5 rpg
F Paul Grosshuesch	6'5, 205 SR	14.5 ppg, 12.0 rpg
G Kyle Jones	6'4, 200 JR	8.5 ppg, 2.5 rpg
G Jake Bast	6'1, 175 SO	7.5 ppg, 3.5 rpg
G Christian Shipley	6'0, 175 SO	8.5 ppg, 3.0 apg

North Park (2-1)

C Emanuel Crosby	6'7, 240 JR	13.0 ppg, 7.3 rpg
F Jorge Gonzalez	6'5, 200 SR	10.0 ppg, 6.3 rpg
F Kendell Greer	6'4, 190 JR	7.3 ppg, 1.7 rpg
G Clayton Cahill	6'0, 175 JR	13.7 ppg, 2.3 rpg
G Roshawn Russell	5'9, 150 JR	3.3 ppg, 3.7 apg

Carroll has proven to be a North Park nemesis the past couple of seasons, beating the Vikings by a dozen in Chicago last year and by 13 in Waukesha the year before. But the Pioneers no longer have All-American PG John Koch, who absolutely tore up the Vikings in both of those games, so perhaps his absence will signal a reversal in fortunes for the Park.

NPU has played pretty poor basketball overall in the first three games of the campaign. Rebounding has been a serious problem, even when Jorge Gonzalez is on the floor, and the team's shooting has not been good, particularly from three-point range. The positive is that the Vikings are playing decent defense, for the most part; opponents are only shooting .415 from the field against them, and have coughed up the ball about 18 times a game against the North Park D, while the Vikes are averaging over eight steals per game.

Nevertheless, it hasn't been a good start. The Vikings really haven't looked like the experienced team that they in fact are. Tonight would be a good night for the Park to take a step forward.

[titanfan]

Q, did you watch the Titan JV game last night?  I'm curious how they looked.

[Gregory Sager]

Final from Waukesha:

North Park 73
Carroll 63

[Gregory Sager]

Unofficial stats:

Issa Avery: 14 pts, 5 rebs
Emanuel Crosby: 14 pts
Clayton Cahill: 12 pts
Ro Russell: 11 pts, 5 rebs, 5 asts

Phil Schniedermeier led the Vikings in rebounds with seven.

NPU had a nice shooting night: 24-42 (57%) from the field, 7-14 (50%) from downtown, and 18-25 (72%) from the stripe. The Vikings also outrebounded the Pioneers to the tune of 36-29. Their defense was also fairly good, as they held CU to 23-63 (37%) from the field and 7-23 (30%) from long range. NPU's major problem was turnovers, as the Vikings gave up the rock a distressing 20 times to CU's 12.

The game was back-and-forth for the first thirty minutes, with a Carroll basket tying up the score at 44 with 10:07 to go. From that point, though, Carroll went into a deep freeze. The Pioneers didn't score again for over six minutes, during which time the Vikes scored 13 to open up a lead that mostly stayed in double digits and would not dip any lower than eight points the rest of the way. It's hard to tell from following a game on live stats, but I'd sure like to think that the Vikings had a lot to do with that six-minute scoring drought by the Pioneers that ultimately decided the game.

It's a solid road win, if not a spectacular one. NPU moves up to 3-1 on the season, with Trine (4-1) coming into town on Saturday night.

[Titan Q]

Q, did you watch the Titan JV game last night?  I'm curious how they looked.

I did.  I left Columbia at 4:15 yesterday specifically so I could see the JV team play for the first time.  

IWU's JV beat Webster's 89-43.  I left wondering if this is the best IWU JV team I've ever seen.  The other candidates are the 2002-03 group with Amelianovich, Jones, Schweer, Fisher, etc, and the 1995-96 nucleus of Hubbard, Boyden, Baines, Hoder, Niebrugge, etc.

3 player stood out to me...

* Victor Davis -- the fact that Victor is on the JV team says a lot about where IWU's program is...he is going to be a really good player.

* 6-9 Nick Anderson is extremely talented.  He needs to add muscle, but might be ready to help next year.

* Andrew Ziemnik might the best pure "basketball player" of the group.  I assumed Ziemnik was kind of an undersized 4, but i left convinced he can play the 3, and play it well.  He reminds me a lot of Matt Hoder ('98)...6-4, wide-bodied kid that can really shoot the basketball.


The biggest takeaway I had from the JV game last night is how well they play together as a group.  They pass the ball as well as the varsity does and they play very hard.  It's very obvious there are a bunch of kids who know how to play the game on the IWU JV team.  And they're also really athletic...when Anderson, Davis, and Dortch are on the floor together, there are a lot of dunks and rebounds grabbed above the rim.

The IWU basketball program is in very good shape.

[hopefan]

Despite the close result of the Webster -IWU Varsity game.... I felt the IWU JV would likely finish top 3 in the SLIAC... varsity!!!!   And I'm the biggest SLIAC supporter there is...

[Mr. Ypsi]

Bob, I've been forgetting to ask: any updated projections on return dates for Zimmer and Koschnitsky?  I assume (hope ) that both ARE projected to return this year, hopefully by early in the conference season?

[augiefan]

NCC beats Albion 72-64.

[OurHouse]

For anyone who missed it on the scoreboard, Wash U lost its third straight yesterday (@ UW-Platteville, @ Augustana, @ Hanover).  Dylan Richter started and played 35 minutes...

http://bearsports.wustl.edu/Stats/TeamStats/basketball-mens/2010-2011/game5.htm

The Bears play @ Wheaton (12/11) and vs IWU (12/18).

This is really NOT the team to watch - Wash U is TERRIBLE - they had their success and run and now they are at the bottom of any pinnacle - get real Bob.

[Mr. Ypsi]

They had incredible graduation losses, but I still suspect WashU will eventually make the tourney (and perhaps even the top 25).  Anyone betting against Mark Edwards and a program with that pedigree is likely to end up with egg on his face.

Anyone saying they are "TERRIBLE" is a fool.

I suppose it is conceivable that they are Chicago of a couple of years ago, but I doubt it.