MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[veterancciwfan]

Another reason the CCIW is so tough is the caliber of coaches. Bob thought Carthage, Elmhurst, and Millikin would probably be the #5-7 teams after 14 league games. And each team has an outstanding coach with John Baines making his debut, but he is (I think) a big improvement over Mark Scherer (who in 17 seasons had a conference record of 116-122 and won one title). It won't be easy winning road games against those three teams. In quirky scheduling, IWU's 1st four games are on the road at Elmhurst, Augie, North Park, and Millikin.

[veterancciwfan]

One stat that shows how good Augie is: In conference play last year, the leader in FG% was Nic Hoepfner at .689 (42/61) and he's not good enough to start.

[magicman]

Plattsburgh State defeats Millikin 71-68 in Daytona Beach. Millikin came back from a 13 point 1st period defict and 11 point halftime deficit to take the lead 42-41 with only 5 minutes gone in the 2nd half. The Big Blue used a 13-2 run  to open the period to catch the Cardinals. It was a back and forth game from that point on until Plattsburgh went up by 5, 69-64 with 41 seconds left.   

[iwu70]

I very much share Q's assessment (see above) of the conference race, the improvement of the 5-7 ranked teams, and of the unlikelihood of any team, my Titans or any other team, going 14-0 or 13-1 this season.  One can surely wish for such a magical run, but it is very unlikely.  Seems to me Augie has improved perhaps more than any other squad, especially in their perimeter shooting and in shooting a better percentage overall.  Their young players are now a year older and a year wiser,  Same with Jimmy Millikin.  We always expect tough defense and excellent rebounding from the Rock Island boys.  There will be lots of very tough road games for all teams this year and I'd expect 5-6 unexpected losses by road teams against these improved squads.  If you are a good, solid road team, I think you have a decided advantage in the CCIW race this year.

Let the CCIW race begin.

IWU'70

[John Gleich]

Millikin 68
UW-Stout 56

(at Daytona, FL)

http://athletics.millikin.edu/news/2013/12/28/MBB_1228133341.aspx

UW-Stout was 7-2 with a win over UW-Whitewater coming into this game...and picked 4th in the WIAC.

Really good win for the Big Blue.

Cross-post from the WIAC page:

Stout loses to Millikin 68-56

Goodness this looks like it was an ugly game...

Stout actually shot better, 18/40 (45%) vs 22/55 (40%) for Millikin. But Stout had 28 turnovers and only 12 of them were steals for Millikin. Does that mean there were 16 unforced errors? I guess a team can force a turnover without it becoming a steal but... goodness.

Millikin was no world beater either. They turned the ball over 17 times themselves (for those keeping track at home, that's 45 turnovers). There were 42 fouls which led to 61 free throw attempts... but both teams combined for just 35 (again, for those keeping track at home, that's 26 missed FTs).

Really a head-scratcher... I wonder how much this game was (at least in some small part) impacted by different officiating than these teams were used to. Wasn't North Central's last loss in Daytona? (maybe Orlando... but still in FL, IIRC). And that NC game had a bunch of technical fouls too if memory serves correctly.


I wonder if the missed free throws are partially due to the huge number of free throws being taken. Perhaps due to fatigue (due to longer, drawn out games?) or boredom, or lack of continuity... Or is it something else?

Last night in the Stevens Point/Whitworth game, the teams combined for 54 fouls and 79 free throws. 27 FTs were missed in that one. And for as exciting as the game was as times, there really wasn't a ton of continuity in play. In many respects, the biggest story from the game was Whitworth's foul troubles (instead of the fact that Stevens Point rallied from an 8 point deficit with 8 minutes in the first half by outscoring Whitworth 70-44 in the last 28 minutes).

[augiefan]

After looking at Augie's website summary of the LaCross game and the box, several observations: I don't how good or bad or average LaCross is, but Augie is a very good team. They shot 50% from the field and held LaCross to only 40%. The game was never in doubt as the Vikings bolted to 8-0 lead and led 35-21 at half. Augie had 10 players who had at least 10 minutes, typical for a Grey Giovanine team. Defense and rebounding (Augie won the RB battle 34-24) propelled them. Augie held UWL to 8 1st half FGs. This team is a better shooting team than in the recent past as they shot .667 (10/15) from the field in the 2nd half. As a generalization, in many Augie games in the past 5-6 years, they struggled to score points and often scored in the 60s, especially on the road (just from my memory, which isn't what it used to be). But the13/14 version Vikings have put up very solid FG stats to compliment their always exceptional defensive efforts ( last year's dominance of IWU in the CCIW tournament at Shirk as an example). Ryan led Augie with 13 points and 8 RBs. He's a great talent and he will only get better. Those Washington b'ball players can be very special. Maybe the Jan. 8 IWU game at Rock Island will draw 2000 or more (a Wed. game-probably not).

I wouldn't get too excited


Okay, I won't get too excited.

[frodotwo]

I'll be at the Point/NC game tomorrow afternoon and looking forward to a good test for Point (as if they haven't had a few already). The Cardinals are averaging 700+ fans so will I have a problem finding seats to this one/adequate parking?? Any advice on a decent eatery in the area?? 

Point was really tested in two games in Vegas over the weekend and with a late flight home and a long bus trip to Naperville, their depth will be tested against a pretty good, well rested North Central squad.

[Mr. Ypsi]

For any Titan posters more local than I: any updated news on Alex Rossi?  Is he still attending IWU?  Has he shown any interest in returning next year?

[Iwufan]

For any Titan posters more local than I: any updated news on Alex Rossi?  Is he still attending IWU?  Has he shown any interest in returning next year?

He is still at IWU and if he returns to play will depend on if he feels that his health issues are behind him.

[iwu70]

How about Anderson, Marietti, Heyen and Overstreet?  Are their health issues "behind them?"  Can we expect full-out play from Overstreet and Anderson, some new contributions from Marietti backing up the 5 and Heyen getting any minutes?  An update please.

Good luck to the Titans vs. Franklin @The Shirk -- then the CCIW race opens @ EC -- and four straight road games for the Titans.  IWU vs. AC should be a real good one @AC.  An early test for the Titan road warriors at Carver.

Happy New Year -- already New Year's eve here in Asia.

IWU70

[Titan Q]

How about Anderson, Marietti, Heyen and Overstreet?  Are their health issues "behind them?"  Can we expect full-out play from Overstreet and Anderson, some new contributions from Marietti backing up the 5 and Heyen getting any minutes?  An update please.

Heyen?

How many minutes do you think there are in a game, 70?

[middhoops]

UWSP plays North Central today and it appears that no video with be broadcast of the game.  PLEASE tell me that's mistake.  It's a long drive from Vermont and we won't make it in time. 

[magicman]

UWSP plays North Central today and it appears that no video with be broadcast of the game.  PLEASE tell me that's mistake.  It's a long drive from Vermont and we won't make it in time.

middhoops,

Here's a link to the North Central website: http://www.northcentralcardinals.com/index.aspx?tab=basketball&path=mbball

They are showing a video link to the North Central-Point game right under the upcoming events calendar on the right side of the page.

Or you could try this link:  http://nctv17.com/

Hope this helps.

PS: Seven days and counting to the game.

[middhoops]

mm, you rock!  as always.
thanks for the heads up.  +k for you, dude.

[magicman]

mm, you rock!  as always.
thanks for the heads up.  +k for you, dude.

Right back at you.