MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[veterancciwfan]

Looking at the Wheaton box in what must have been one of the most inept performances by both teams at King in many years: I realize Wheaton has had many season-ending injuries. Wheaton's starters played 34, 36, 39, 31 and 28 minutes. Their bench was invisible. Three subs played a total of 32 minutes with 5 points, 1 RB, 3 fouls and zeros for the rest of their lines.  Michael Berg played well for 34 minutes. Wheaton is now 2-5. The Thunder have participated in the last 8 CCIW Conf. tournaments. That streak is in jeopardy although anything can happen in this crazy league in the last 7.

Quick recap on Elmhurst/IWU game: Elmhurst deserved to win. The key to IWU is the play of the 4 post players. It was spectacular in a solid 40 minute performance Wed. in Rock Island and not so much last night in Elmhurst with the lone exception, Alec Bausch.

[Naperick]

I did make it to the Carthage-Wheaton game after attending the IWU-Elmhurst game.  The shooting percentages were low in King Arena but it was an enjoyable finish.  Wheaton did overcome a late 7 point deficit.  It felt like a 20 point lead and I thought Carthage had a road win "bagged."  Great effort by the Thunder to not give up.

[Naperick]

I did enjoy the Titans-Bluejays game as well.  I have only seen IWU play twice and both were losses.  They amaze me with their ability to come back from double digit deficits.  Some of those bombs in the Elmhurst game felt like they were from Villa Park.  They are never out of a game. 

I agree that they have a favorable schedule for the 2nd half of CCIW play.  The key to me is whichever team wins the games they are "supposed" to should host the conference tourney.  The problem is I don't know who to favor anymore. 

This conference is tough and no team can take a night off.

[Naperick]

What a strange season this is. Nothing is predictable. Every night the supposed favorite had better show ready to play.

Right now I would say the conference regular season will end with the following 4 going to the CCIW tourney at IWU:

1. IWU
2. Elmhurst
3. Augie
4. Your guess is as good as mine.  :-)

Still a long way to go and N.Park, Millikin, and Carthage have pulled surprises and I still think Wheaton is a good team.
NCC should make the conference tourney in my opinion.

[Naperick]

Elmhurst 73
IWU 70

* K. Wuest: 18 pts, 10 reb
* B. Ackerman: 11 pts, 5 reb
* E. Crittenden: 10 pts, 4 reb

* J. Nelson: 17 pts
* D. Overstreet: 14 pts, 5 reb, 8 assists
* A. Bausch: 11 pts, 7 reb

http://www.elmhurstbluejays.com/custompages/MBB/2014-2015/elmmbb18.htm

Elmhurst is a very good team, and the 'jays hold serve at home in a contender vs contender game.  IWU didn't shoot it very well in the first 30+ minutes - that combined with Elmhurst's always strong defense just made things very hard on the Titans.  IWU also got manhandled on the boards for a key stretch of the game.  In the end, Elmhurst just went out and played better and won this game. 

IWU just about got run out of the gym, trailing 62-47 with 7:30 to play after a horrendous stretch.  But the Titans mounted a furious comeback behind some Jordan Nelson, Bryce Dolan, and Dylan Overstreet 3 pointers, and with 0:19 to play had the ball down just 2.  Dylan Overstreet made a spinning move in the lane, drew some contact, got a good look and missed the shot.

IWU is 5-2 at the turn, and is done with road games at Augustana, Elmhurst, North Central, and Wheaton.  The Titans are right in the middle of the title race.  A win today would have put IWU in a bit of a lead position in my opinion...I don't think the loss is a real killer.  The contenders all have to come to the Shirk Center now.

John Baines has done a great job with this Elmhurst team. 

IWU hosts Wheaton Wednesday.

Baines has done a great job with Elmhurst.  I'm still surprised he left St. Francis.

[kiko]

What a strange season this is. Nothing is predictable. Every night the supposed favorite had better show ready to play.

Right now I would say the conference regular season will end with the following 4 going to the CCIW tourney at IWU:

1. IWU
2. Elmhurst
3. Augie
4. Your guess is as good as mine.  :-)

Still a long way to go and N.Park, Millikin, and Carthage have pulled surprises and I still think Wheaton is a good team.
NCC should make the conference tourney in my opinion.

I would agree that the Cards still have the inside edge on the fourth spot at the moment, largely because I struggle to see any of the four teams below them in the standings currently put together enough consistency to pip North Central (or any of the other top four) for a conference tourney berth).  But the Redbirds have the opposite schedule from what Illinois Wesleyan will face as we make the turn.  As noted earlier, the Titans have already visited Elmhurst, Augie, and North Central and will enjoy home matchups in the return legs.

For the Sons of Warden, their games against Augie, Elmhurst, and Illinois Wesleyan were all in the Hangar, so they face a very difficult road slate in the second round of conference play.

The loss to North Park was huge (or bad -- pick your adjective) in many ways, not least of which being that IMO it put a serious dent in the Cardinals' hopes of dancing in March.  They will likely need a 5-2 mark in the stretch run, which would put them at 9-5/19-6.  A 4-3 stretch run would likely leave them as the fourth CCIW team in the Pool 'C' pecking order, and if that's the nest you're sitting in come March, your chances of extending your season are not good.

Elmhurst looks to me like a team that collectively plays better than the sum of its parts, and the individual parts aren't exactly chopped liver.  Huge props to John Baines for having his team where they are at this point.

[kiko]

Standings at the turn:

	Overall	Conf	H/A +/-	H/A +/- vs Top 4
Augustana	16-2	6-1	+2	0
Elmhurst	15-3	5-2	+2	+1
Ill. Wesleyan	13-5	5-2	+2	+1
North Central	14-4	4-3	+1	-2
Carthage	7-10	3-4	0	-1
Wheaton	9-9	2-5	-2	-2
Millikin	7-11	2-5	-2	-3
North Park	10-8	1-6	-3	-1

+/- as per the Titan Q-patented formula:
0 for a home win or road loss
+1 for a road win
-1 for a home loss

<edited to fix cut-and-paste error>

[iwu70]

Kiko, IWU is overall 13-5, CCIW 5-2.  They need to win as many games as possible in the final 7 too, I think they must go 6-1 to make a run for the Conference Title and also for a post-season bid, at 19-6.  Of course, the AQ is there for the taking.  No one has an easy run.  EC is proving stronger than we thought, Augie still a team to beat.

IWU70

[kiko]

Kiko, IWU is overall 13-5, CCIW 5-2.  They need to win as many games as possible in the final 7 too, I think they must go 6-1 to make a run for the Conference Title and also for a post-season bid, at 19-6.  Of course, the AQ is there for the taking.  No one has an easy run.  EC is proving stronger than we thought, Augie still a team to beat.

IWU70

Thanks for the flag -- cut-and-paste is not always my friend.  And editing tables via html code is like a trip back to the mid-nineties...

[Titan Q]

Standings at the turn:

	Overall	Conf	H/A +/-	H/A +/- vs Top 4
Augustana	16-2	6-1	+2	0
Elmhurst	15-3	5-2	+2	+1
Ill. Wesleyan	13-5	5-2	+2	+1
North Central	14-4	4-3	+1	-2
Carthage	7-10	3-4	0	-1
Wheaton	9-9	2-5	-2	-2
Millikin	7-11	2-5	-2	-3
North Park	10-8	1-6	-3	-1

+/- as per the Titan Q-patented formula:
0 for a home win or road loss
+1 for a road win
-1 for a home loss

<edited to fix cut-and-paste error>

Thanks for the work it took to post this, Kiko!

[79jaybird]

I hope that Carthage home loss doesn't come back to haunt Elmhurst in the end.

I knew Baines was going to be a success coaching wherever he landed.  Some great talks on some road trips and a strong internal motivation... you could tell he has an ambition to be a leader. 

Big showdown on Wednesday.  Would be great if Elmhurst could nip Augie.

[NCF]

I hope that Carthage home loss doesn't come back to haunt Elmhurst in the end.

I knew Baines was going to be a success coaching wherever he landed.  Some great talks on some road trips and a strong internal motivation... you could tell he has an ambition to be a leader. 

Big showdown on Wednesday.  Would be great if Elmhurst could nip Augie.

Still scratching my head on that Carthage loss.

[havej]

To all you hard core CCIW followers, who is the POY at the 1/2 way point?

[Naperick]

That's a tough one at this point of the season.  If forced to pick now,
I would vote for Dylan Overstreet-IWU.

[Naperick]

I hope that Carthage home loss doesn't come back to haunt Elmhurst in the end.

I knew Baines was going to be a success coaching wherever he landed.  Some great talks on some road trips and a strong internal motivation... you could tell he has an ambition to be a leader. 

Big showdown on Wednesday.  Would be great if Elmhurst could nip Augie.

I feel the same way.  The Carthage loss could keep Elmhurst out of the D3 tourney.

Could be payback for EC's questionable win over Carthage at home last year.  I think it kept the Redmen out of the 2014 D3 tourney.