MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Gregory Sager]

It's not something that I really want to look up.

[Dennis_Prikkel]

UW-LaCrosse 72
North Park 39

Kudos to the driver of NPU's bus, because finding Mitchell Hall was the only thing that North Park did right all night.

Hard to tell from live stats, but it appears that Mike Gabriel came off the bench early in the first half and tried to give it a go on his sprained ankle but left the game almost immediately thereafter.

Any idea when the last time NPU scored less than 40 was?  Seems like that is something that could go back decades.

the north park record [ ] while i was at the school was 42 points in an 88-42 loss to houston baptist back in dec. 1970 or dec. 1971.  can't speak for the last 15 years

[omaha]

Its not that long ago---Elmhurst beat North Park 66-39 on January 23, 2008

[iwu70]

A Merry Christmas to all the members, colleagues and comrades on this Board!  Looking forward to the CCIW race/season coming up soon now.

IWU70

[Titan Q]

This is an update to something I posted about a week ago.  It's my best projection at how the top Midwest Region teams stack up right now, based on NCAA seeding/selection criteria. 

(These are "in-region" records - games vs non-D3s or out-of-region D3s have been excluded.  I also listed wins over other teams on this list and wins vs prominent teams from other regions if the game was counted as "in-region", as well as all in-region losses.)

1. Transylvania (HCAC), 9-0 (won vs Wabash)
2. Augustana (CCIW), 8-1 (won vs UW-Stevens Point...lost @ Wash U)
3. Grinnell (MWC), 7-0 (won vs Ripon)
4. Ripon (MWC), 5-1 (won vs Illinois Wesleyan...lost @ Grinnell)
5. Illinois Wesleyan (CCIW), 7-2 (won vs Wash U...lost @ Ripon, @ UW-Whitewater)
6. Washington U (UAA), 7-2 (won vs Augustana, vs Wheaton...lost @ Whitworth, @ IWU)
7. Wheaton (CCIW), 7-2 (won vs Whitman...lost @ Hope, @ Wash U)
8. Edgewood (NATHC), 7-1 (won vs Lake Forest, @ Lakeland...lost vs UW-Stevens Point)
9. Hanover (HCAC), 6-2 (won vs Ohio Wesleyan, vs Rose-Hulman...lost vs Ohio Northern, @ Manchester)
10. Lake Forest (MWC), 7-1 (won vs Lakeland...lost @ Edgewood)
11. Rose-Hulman (HCAC), 9-2 (none...lost vs Wabash, @ Hanover)
12. Lakeland (NATHC), 4-2 (none...lost @ Lake Forest, vs Edgewood)

(The only Midwest Region conference I do not have representation for is the SLIAC.)


Transylvania's win over Wabash on 12/21 was huge (Wabash is in the Great Lakes region but that game was "in-region" for both teams.)  Wabash is 7-1 in-region, including a win over Wooster.  The Little Giants are right near the top of the Great Lakes region picture right now.  This could be a non-conference win that ends up really helping Transylvania as the season plays out.

It's probably too early to start thinking about this but...here are a few things to root for during conference play if you think your CCIW team might need a Pool C bid come Selection Sunday:

* Transylvania to win the HCAC (and not need a Pool C).

* Grinnell to win the MWC (and not need a Pool C).

* Ripon to rack up some losses in MWC play (hurting Pool C competitive position).

* Wash U to rack up some losses in UAA play (hurting Pool C competitive position).

[markerickson]

LaCrosse almost doubled-up versus the Vikings.  I wonder if the latter has ever won by such a margin.

[Dennis_Prikkel]

LaCrosse almost doubled-up versus the Vikings.  I wonder if the latter has ever won by such a margin.

several times that i can think of - most notably 108-52 at Carthage in January 1980 - 56 points being the highest margin of victory in a cciw game.

[Titan Q]

IWU has been in New York since the 26th, seeing the sights and preparing for two games in the College of Staten Island's Tournament of Heroes.  On Thursday the Titans face Bethany (D3, Great Lakes region, Presidents' Athletic Conference) and then either Staten Island (D3, Atlantic region, City University of New York Athletic Conference CUNYAC) or Vaughn (I have no idea what athletic affiliation Vaughn has...I'm not sure they even have one) on Friday.

Bethany is 10-0 (3-0 PrAC) and receiving votes in the D3hoops.com poll.  Last year the Bison won the PrAC's automatic qualifier and finished 21-8 overall.  They lost to Manchester by 12 in the first round of the NCAA tournament @ Wooster.  Bethany returned all 5 starters and is the favorite in the PrAC this year.  Their key players are:

G – James Barton*, 5-10 Jr (14.4 ppg, 3.2 rpg, 2.3 apg, 26-62 3-point)
G – Reece Mabery*, 5-11 Jr (11.9 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 2.7 apg, 12-38 3-point)
F – Nick Wilcox*, 6-3 Jr (15.3 ppg, 7.9 rpg, 3.6 apg) (2nd Team All-PrAC)
F – Leslie Addy, 6-5 So (8.7 ppg, 5.1 rpg)
F – British Alexander*, 6-6 Sr (10.8 ppg, 7.9 rpg)  (1st Team All-PrAC)

F – Brady Pacific*, 6-3 Jr (14.4 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 21-38 3-point)

* = returning starter

Statistically, a couple things jump out at me regarding the Bison...

- They are 82-200 from 3-point range (.410) through 10 games
- Opponents have 135 assists to 206 turnovers (0.66 ratio)

I don't know anything about Bethany's 10 opponents to date, so I'm not sure what to make of their 10-0 record.  Their best win is probably the one over OAC member Baldwin-Wallace (by 7).  My gut feeling is that Bethany is comparable to the teams in the CCIW's 3rd or 4th place mix (which is where most probably see IWU).  As I see it, if the Titans are ready to step up and contend for the 2012 CCIW title, they will beat Bethany by a comfortable margin. 

There is a strong possibility Bethany (10-0 in-region already) could end up ranked in the top 3 in the Great Lakes region come Selection Sunday.  So while this is an out-of-region game for IWU, this could be a game that factors in for the Titans via "secondary criteria."   

The IWU/Bethany game tips at 4:30pm CST Thursday and can be heard on WJBC...

http://client.stretchinternet.com/client/wjbc.portal#

http://www.pantagraph.com/sports/college/basketball/men/iwu-men-to-fit-in-games-on-new-york-trip/article_124a2414-31bb-11e1-974f-0019bb2963f4.html

http://www.csidolphins.com/news/2009/12/24/TOH_Promo_2007.aspx

http://www.silive.com/colleges/index.ssf/2011/12/dolphins_hope_to_break_the_ice.html

[CCIWFAN6]

IWU alum Brian Nussbaum is playing for the USA Maccabi Team that is participating in the Pan Am Maccabi games in Sao Paulo, Brazil right now.  He had 9 points in a 10 pt victory over Canada in the opening game, and scored 16 points in a rout of Israel in game 2.

[Titan Q]

Ron Rose's son Brady, a 6-1 sophomore guard at Bloomington H.S., was the Purple Raiders leader scorer yesterday in their pounding by Simeon...

http://www.pantagraph.com/sports/high-school/basketball/boys/national-no-simeon-dunks-bhs/article_7323946c-31ea-11e1-8630-0019bb2963f4.html

[Titan Q]

IWU alum Brian Nussbaum is playing for the USA Maccabi Team that is participating in the Pan Am Maccabi games in Sao Paulo, Brazil right now.  He had 9 points in a 10 pt victory over Canada in the opening game, and scored 16 points in a rout of Israel in game 2.

Buzzer beater vs Brazil yesterday...

http://vimeo.com/34309415

And here is some video from the  Israel game...

http://vimeo.com/34297581


Brian Nussbaum is #13 and former Wash U All-American Sean Wallis is #7.

[Gregory Sager]

I don't know anything about Bethany's 10 opponents to date, so I'm not sure what to make of their 10-0 record.  Their best win is probably the one over OAC member Baldwin-Wallace (by 7).  My gut feeling is that Bethany is comparable to the teams in the CCIW's 3rd or 4th place mix (which is where most probably see IWU).  As I see it, if the Titans are ready to step up and contend for the 2012 CCIW title, they will beat Bethany by a comfortable margin. 

Why speculate when you can rely upon the assessment of a HOF eyewitness:

Bethany 68 Olivet 48

Olivet hung in there with Bethany in the first half, things looked ominous early as the Bison broke an 11-11 tie and scored 9 straight to take command.  Olivet made some substitutions, none of them I thought would be better, but all of them were in fact better and Ryan Burghdorf and Paul Lombard provided a better ball handler and a large body in the paint to counter the Bison's very aggressive rebounding.  It worked for the most part and Olivet clawed back in it to make it a 2 point game at the break.

The second half started and the wheels just simply came off the trolly for the Comets right off the first possession with an easy Bethany basket and then a steal and layup on the in-bounds.  I think the story of the second half was turnovers.  Numerous in quantity and careless in quality.  The final margin was 22 but this was a 30 point game a little more than midway through the half.  I think the really disappointing thing for the Comets will be realizing they lost by 22 but gave up well  over half of those in simple, terrible turnovers in the back court that led to Bethany layups.  The stat sheet will probably also show Bethany out-rebounded the Comets by a pretty large margin.

Olivet is going to struggle on offense in a lot of games.  My honest assessment is that given the current lineup they will have done very well to finish better than 7th in the league.  It's basically last years role players and a few Fr. or JC transfers who don't really stand out.  Unless they find steady and reliable offensive production, things will be tough.


Bethany played a full court defense for most of the game and dropped into a zone in the half-court, I'll call it JCU-lite.  Aggressive when they want to be, passive when its prudent.  Offensively however I think they're much more patient and willing to work half court sets.  Personnel wise they have two athletic kids who are absolute ball hawks around the boards, a very steady point guard who can score and shoot, and two guys 6-3 who were pretty much smaller versions of Jessie Reimink in stature and the way they played the game, especially around the basket.

I think Bethany's probably a pretty good team, they seem really confident and comfortable in what they do.  However they stick with a pretty strict 6 man rotation.  The only subs I saw outside of the 6 main players came late when the game was over, or due to injury or fouls.  I could see on any given night they could give some of the better Great Lakes teams trouble, but lets be honest they beat an Olivet team that is 1-7 and will probably struggle at the bottom of the MIAA.....Bethany should have won this by 20.  There wasn't much here tonight to alter my view of the PrAC.

[Titan Q]

Final from Staten Island...

Illinois Wesleyan 63
Bethany 60

* Jordan Zimmer: 23 pts (6-14 3-point)
* Kevin Reed 10 pts, 10 reb, 4 steals
* Victor Davis: 10 pts, 5 reb

* Reece Mabery: 31 pts (6-10 3-point)


The Titans trailed 16-2 out of the gate, but clawed back to within 3 points at the break.  IWU led most of the 2nd half, but not by much.  Every time IWU would get up 5-6, Bethany would answer.  This was one was close throughout the 2nd.

From listening to the broadcast, and then Jordan Zimmer and Ron Rose's postgame comments, it sounds like Bethany plays a style the Titans don't run into very much.  Sounds like they are extremely quick, athletic, and aggressive, and it took IWU a while to figure out how to counter it.  Ron Rose commented that Bethany's defense was something they had not seen before either - he called it a "3-2 matchup, switching defense" and said that watching film on it was one thing, but actually dealing with it was another.

John Koschnitzky had a big offensive stretch late in the 1st to help IWU get back in the game.  In the 2nd, Jordan Zimmer was the story - he made 5 3's in the 2nd half.

IWU came into this game with a per game rebound margin of +10.0, which is tremendous.  Today the Titans out-rebounded Bethany by a whopping 16.  Listening to the broadcast, it seemed that every time Bethany missed, Kevin Reed or Victor Davis or some Titan was there to grab the rebound.  This was key because IWU turned it over 21 times.

Jordan Zimmer has made 21 3-pointers in IWU's last 4 games.  After a bit of a slow start, he has really heated up.

The Titans move to 8-2...Bethany loses their first and is now 10-1.  IWU will play in the Tournament of Heroes championship game tomorrow at 6:30pm vs either College of Staten Island or Vaughn.

[Titan Q]

IWU/Bethany boxscore and recaps and WJBC postgame interviews...

http://www.iwusports.com/custompages/MBB/MBB2012/HTML/mb1229s1.htm

http://athletics.bethanywv.edu/athletics/varsity/mens-basketball/maberys-huge-game-not-enough-in-bethanys-63-60-l

http://www.iwusports.com/news/2011/12/29/MBB_1229115941.aspx

http://wjbc.com/titan-men-advance-to-tournament-final/


The Titans face the host, Staten Island, tomorrow at 6:30pm CST (the Dolphins beat Vaughn 104-51).

[USee]

Ron Rose's son Brady, a 6-1 sophomore guard at Bloomington H.S., was the Purple Raiders leader scorer yesterday in their pounding by Simeon...

http://www.pantagraph.com/sports/high-school/basketball/boys/national-no-simeon-dunks-bhs/article_7323946c-31ea-11e1-8630-0019bb2963f4.html

I have seen Simeon live this year and can tell you there is likely no less than 6 D1 players on their roster and definitely between 1-3 players you will see play professionally. Jabari Parker is as good a high school basketball player as you will ever see. Fun team to watch.