MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[shepherd]

Dickinson 81
Wheaton 71

The Red Devils looked pretty impressive. They thoroughly outplayed Wheaton tonight.

Yes but I believe this team will be as good as Adam Honig plays.   When he gets a jump in his step you can see his team get confidence and  Wheaton was seeing Peters get schooled.  It was a huge mistake to put a taller player on a wide street ball dribbler.  You need a 1-2 inch shorter ball stealer and make him pay for those long sweeping dribbles.   

[iwumichigander]

Dickinson 81
Wheaton 71

The Red Devils looked pretty impressive. They thoroughly outplayed Wheaton tonight.

Yes but I believe this team will be as good as Adam Honig plays.   When he gets a jump in his step you can see his team get confidence and  Wheaton was seeing Peters get schooled.  It was a huge mistake to put a taller player on a wide street ball dribbler.  You need a 1-2 inch shorter ball stealer and make him pay for those long sweeping dribbles.

as Greg said no help defense.  Wheaton needed to stop the ball and did not. Wheaton did not play very good tonight IMO.  About as flat as I have seen them this year. 
Dickinson pretty good but still seems primarily a two man offense.

[iwu70]

I agree, WC did not play their best tonight.  Dickinson is the real deal though, and played with a lot of energy and teamwork.  Elite 8 for them, well-deserved.

Now comes IWU and Calvin.  Hope The Shirk is filled to the gills.

IWU70

[Gregory Sager]

Dickinson pretty good but still seems primarily a two man offense.

Dickinson has certainly proved its detractors wrong as to whether or not it deserves to be in the tourney -- it's amusing to think back now on the fact that the Red Devils were a slightly controversial Pool C choice two weeks ago -- and the Red Devils certainly have some ability. But I think that the winner of the second game tonight at Shirk will be going to Salem.

[Gregory Sager]

Calvin was shooting 73% from the free-throw line as a team on the season. Tonight the Knights are 4-11 from the stripe thus far. That's what's keeping this game competitive, because otherwise Calvin has dominated.

[Gregory Sager]

The momentum has flipped. Wesleyan playing with much more energy right now, but it's a study of contrasts at each offensive end. Calvin's taking dumb shots, while the Titans are moving the ball around nicely and taking smart ones.

[Mr. Ypsi]

Calvin totally dominated the middle of the half (after Victor's flurry at the beginning), but the Titans were on fire near the end of the half.  Until about three minutes left, Calvin led in shooting % overall, but by the end of the half, IWU had taken the lead in overall, 3s, FTs, and rebounds.

Keep it going, guys!

[Gregory Sager]

Illinois Wesleyan 78
Calvin 64

That was a serious clankfest by Calvin. But, aside from the terrible outside shooting by the Knights, Wesleyan just outhustled Calvin over the last 25 minutes or so of the game -- and the Titans played smarter when they had the ball than Calvin did, too.

I think Wesleyan beats Dickinson tomorrow by at least 15-20 points.

[iwu70]

Get to 78, win the game.   ELITE 8, baby!!!  Congrats to Coach Rose and the Titans.  Home court a big big advantage tonight.  (Love the crowd and the Pep Band).

Vic Davis the player of the game, IMHO.  Yes, Jordan Nelson top scorer, but Vic set the tone, 3 early treys, four over all.  Overstreet played pretty well, stirring the drink.  My favorite player of the game, hands down, Eric Dortch with tough D, several steals, and the two big dunks to get the crowd into the game.  A serious weapon off the bench.


Go Titans!!! -- The Final Four awaits.

IWU70

[unanimous22]

As Greg said, a very very solid second 25 minutes by IWU. The first 3 minutes were great too but it was really just Victor Davis (Three 3's) vs. Calvin.

Dylan Overstreet had to be the player of the game for me. Wow, he got into the lane at will and distributed the ball extremely well. When Bryce Dolan came into the game I cringed after a while and knew the Titans needed Overstreet back in.

Victor Davis had the 9 quick ones and then at least one other 3 later on. Solid from the FT line as well. He looks very slow on D though, getting beat on the baseline several times.

I'll just say this about Jordan Nelson -- I will live with his 1-2 terrible shots per game for what else he does offensively. He's so talented with the basketball in his hands. Scary what he may be able to do next year.

Eric Dortch is just a man. After missing what was probably the worst FT attempt I've ever seen (Far left off the backboard, which had Calvin students laughing to the ground) he drained about 5-7 or so from there on out and really defended well. He just has an aggressiveness about him that I love.

Ziemnik was decent tonight, nothing spectacular...same with Marietti. Mayberger seemed to match up well with Calvin but he got in some foul trouble. Sodemann probably played the worst game I've seen him play tonight.

Calvin had some serious size and played great basketball for stretches. They just couldn't make anything outside of a couple early 3's by Cruise (sp?). This is not a knock, but from watching online it's hard, and nobody really stood out enough for me to remember for them. It didn't look like an amazing turnout for Calvin but the fans that were there certainly seemed to represent the team well.

[iwu70]

Point and Emory going to OT, 64 all.

[titanfan]

Emory beats Point.  Wow!!!

[iwu70]

Emory (who I thought didn't deserve to be in the tournament) takes down Point (and it must be said I also said Point would not make it to the Final Four).  Sometimes you know what you are talking about, sometimes you don't.  Point is out.  WW vs. Emory for the Final Four Berth in that sectional up in Cheeseheadlandia.

A shocker.

IWU70

[jaybird44]

I got back from my 8-mile run tonight to catch the OT session.  Emory did a great job of moving the ball quick in the halfcourt.  Zip! Zip! Zip! went the passes with rarely a dribble or bounce, unless Michael Florin drove to the basket to get a couple of tough layups.  The quick movement of the ball had the Pointers a step behind, eventually leaving shooters like Jake Davis open despite their best efforts to shadow him with double teams. 

Emory led by 5 with a little more than a minute left, but Stevens Point was able to get a couple of stops and baskets to tie the game.  Emory had the ball with 28 seconds left, so the shot clock was off.  Florin held the ball until about 10 seconds left, then he started the final sequence that resulted in a Davis left-wing 3 that he swished with 3.5 seconds left.  A half-court shot at the buzzer by the Pointers was off the left side of the backboard--wasn't close to the rim.

Emory switched defenses from man to a 1-3-1 zone that seemed to stymie the Pointers.  On 2 or 3 possessions in OT, Tyler Tilemna seemed to hesitate in taking the game over...he had over 30 points, but perhaps the zone clogged the lane and the wings enough to keep him from driving to the hoop.  A tremendous night of coaching and player performances by Emory.

[mactitan]

The Elite Eight
UR Emory (18-8) vs No. 3 UW Whitewater  (23-4)
UR Dickinson (24-6) at No. 6 IWU (26-4)
UR Morrison State (22-8) at No. 7 Amherst (26-3)
No. 9 Williams (26-4) at No. 17 Mary Washington (25-5)

It feels like a lot of upsets in this tournament.  Three teams are hosting for a chance to get to Salem.