MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Greek Tragedy]

#5 Augie 480 pts
#18 IWU 194 pts

It's very possible Augie will still be ranked ahead of IWU next week.

[Titan Q]

#5 Augie 480 pts
#18 IWU 194 pts

It's very possible Augie will still be ranked ahead of IWU next week.

Unfortunately you are right. The pollsters just can't get enough of those preseason expectations.

[voxelmhurst]

Elmhurst really struggled last night. Perhaps their most frustrating game of the year. North central with a strong performance and Elmhurst was just not able to put together any runs to claw back into this one. North central opened up an 18 point lead in the second half. Elmhurst cut it down to 8 with a about 9 minutes left and had a Lavon Thomas jumper found the bottom of the net, the deficit would have gotten down to 6, but it was not to be and North Central went on to win comfortably.

That being said I was very happy to see solid play from freshman Lavon Thomas and Justin Fox. Thomas scored 11 of his 13 points in the second half after having a rough first half. Thomas tends to be a player who either gets going early and stays hot, or struggles throughout, so him showing the ability to get back into his game after halftime could be a great sign. Really think Thomas could develop into a great player in this league.  Justin Fox will another solid effort off the bench, including a great hustle block on the new assist king Raridon in the first half. As expected, Rhode and Dotlich got their points. The one player who really struggled tonight for EC was Ireland, thus making the night a decidedly unwelcome homecoming for him.

Elmhurst has had a heck of a January, schedule wise. Wesleyan and North Central twice. Augustana at home. Road games at Carthage and North Park. February will hopefully yield a few more victories for EC, putting their cciw win total ahead of last season, and more experience for the young team to put into next year.

[iwumichigander]

I spent some time on the CCIW site this evening, but couldn't find details on the upcoming conference tourneys.  It is now looking more and more likely that both the men and women will be heading to Bloomington.  Is there any overlap in the tourney schedules that could make that problematic?

(I'm definitely NOT uncorking the champagne just yet, but both the men and women are 2-up on their nearest competitor(s).  Wednesday will be huge for both: Titan men @ Augie (a win and it is nearly a done deal; a loss and it is nearly a toss-up).  Carthage women @ Wheaton (if Carthage wins - a definite possibility IMO - it is all over: the Titans are NOT gonna lose 3 games!).)

like your enthusiasm Ypsi but I agree with Q.  It is just way too early. With a two game lead, the Titams really only have one loss to give, otherwise it gets messy.  IWU needs to stay focused, win them one at a time and let the rest shake and bake out.

[AndOne]

North Central 87
Elmhurst       74

* In this game, NCC soph Connor Raridon established new North Central records both for assists in a single season (130), and career assists (280). (Apologies to duckfan41 

Playing before an engaged crowd of 1550 in The Hangar, and turning in a full 40 minutes of intensity on both ends of the court, the Cardinals were able to avenge last week's loss to EC in which they took a 16 point lead only to allow the Bluejays to come out flying in the 2nd half as they earned a 14 point victory. The Cardinals carried the bad taste of that loss around with them for last week, and were determined not to let the Jays register a repeat performance.
To that end, the Cards efforts last evening resulted in their assisting on 23 of 28 baskets on the offensive end, and defensively forcing the Jays into committing 19 turnovers (to the Cards 11).
Other statistics that help tell the story of last night's battle found the Cards flying out to a 10-0 advantage in fast break-transition points, and also dominating the interior play to the tune of a whopping 42-22 advantage in points in the paint. Additionally, NCC made 9 more FTs (26) than EC even attempted (17).

Six Cardinals scored in double figures:

Erwin Henry led the way with 18 points
Alex Sorenson had a 17 point, 12 rebound double-double, and added 5 assists and 3 steals
Connor Raridon - 15 points, 12 assists (to 1 TO), 3 steals
Matt Cappelletti had 14 points and 4 blocks
Mike Pollick with 11 points
Aiden Chang added 10

For Elmhurst:

Jake Rhode, 18 points
Derek "Dangerous" Dotlich, off the bench with 14 points and 7 rebounds
Lavon "Banjo," or is it "Hot Dog" Thomas, 13 points

I should note that my reference to Mr. Dotlich as "dangerous" is a compliment. I like how he shoots it.
Mr. Thomas on the other hand needs to lose the mustard from his act of hitting a three and then running back strumming his banjo all the way down the court. Youthful exuberance I know. In post game discussions, many NCC fans described his actions amusing and opined that his energy would be better spent just getting back and playing a little defense.
Other major factors in the NCC victory were their holding Jeremy Ireland, a good guy who is having a great season, to 6 points which is 10 points under his average, and to holding EC's Lance Gardner scoreless. In the EC win last week both players were huge as Ireland had 21, and Gardner 15.

[lmitzel]

For Elmhurst:

Jake Rhode, 18 points
Derek "Dangerous" Dotlich, off the bench with 14 points and 7 rebounds

I should note that my reference to Mr. Dotlich as "dangerous" is a compliment. I like how he shoots it.

I know I shouldn't nitpick after a win, but Dotlich should have only had 12 points last night. Late in the first half, Connor Raridon was called for a Flagrant 1 (which I thought was a ticky tack call, but that's another argument), and Dotlich hit both free throws. But it was actually Justin Fox who was fouled on the play, which was argued by the NCC bench. They checked with us at the table, but none of us saw the play in real time, so Dotlich got the free throws. It wasn't until halftime that we watched the replay and saw the mistake. And to the official's credit, he owned up to it in the second half. What's done is done.

Lavon "Banjo," or is it "Hot Dog" Thomas, 13 points

Mr. Thomas on the other hand needs to lose the mustard from his act of hitting a three and then running back strumming his banjo all the way down the court. Youthful exuberance I know. In post game discussions, many NCC fans described his actions amusing and opined that his energy would be better spent just getting back and playing a little defense.

Thomas had a good stretch in the second half. I personally had no issue with the air guitar/banjo celebration after one of his threes, though the optics of doing that with your team still trailing isn't great.

[kiko]

Lavon "Banjo," or is it "Hot Dog" Thomas, 13 points

Mr. Thomas on the other hand needs to lose the mustard from his act of hitting a three and then running back strumming his banjo all the way down the court. Youthful exuberance I know. In post game discussions, many NCC fans described his actions amusing and opined that his energy would be better spent just getting back and playing a little defense.

Thomas had a good stretch in the second half. I personally had no issue with the air guitar/banjo celebration after one of his threes, though the optics of doing that with your team still trailing isn't great.

I thought Thomas played well, especially in the second half.  He was a big reason why Elmhurst stayed within sniffing distance for most of the second half.

I was not as impressed by Fox as some of the Elmhurst faithful in the posts up yonder, but to each their own, I suppose.

[voxelmhurst]

Lavon "Banjo," or is it "Hot Dog" Thomas, 13 points

Mr. Thomas on the other hand needs to lose the mustard from his act of hitting a three and then running back strumming his banjo all the way down the court. Youthful exuberance I know. In post game discussions, many NCC fans described his actions amusing and opined that his energy would be better spent just getting back and playing a little defense.

Thomas had a good stretch in the second half. I personally had no issue with the air guitar/banjo celebration after one of his threes, though the optics of doing that with your team still trailing isn't great.

On a scale of 0 to Dikembe Mutombo getting dunked on while waving his finger to the crowd, I would rate Lavon's musical performance a .491 in terms of detriment to the team/distraction to the game.

Also...how do we know it's a specifically a banjo that he is miming? Maybe he is playing bouzouki, as an homage to Greek teammate Pavlos Marakis. 

I thought Thomas played well, especially in the second half.  He was a big reason why Elmhurst stayed within sniffing distance for most of the second half.

I was not as impressed by Fox as some of the Elmhurst faithful in the posts up yonder, but to each their own, I suppose.

I probably didn't make this point as nuanced as it needed to be. I wasn't meaning to suggest that Fox was one of the standouts in the game amongst all players. In terms of Elmhurst players who exceeded my expectations, he was one of them, along with Thomas. I expected Rhode and Dotlich to get their points. Fox, as a freshman coming off the bench on the road in front of a hot crowd, played pretty well in the first-half (6 points on 3/4 shooting and a great block on Raridon, in 9 minutes of play) so I felt he was worth a mention with regard to expectations tailored to him and Elmhurst.

[AndOne]

Thomas did play well offensively, and I didn't mean to imply otherwise.
But, dude, play a little defense (NCC pounded you inside), and wait to strum your banjo until after you win. 😏

[voxelmhurst]

Thomas did play well offensively, and I didn't mean to imply otherwise.
But, dude, play a little defense (NCC pounded you inside), and wait to strum your banjo until after you win. 😏

Well, here's to great music and defense the rest of the way. 

[AndOne]

Thomas did play well offensively, and I didn't mean to imply otherwise.
But, dude, play a little defense (NCC pounded you inside), and wait to strum your banjo until after you win. 😏

Well, here's to great music and defense the rest of the way. 

A nice combination indeed. 

[kiko]

I thought Thomas played well, especially in the second half.  He was a big reason why Elmhurst stayed within sniffing distance for most of the second half.

I was not as impressed by Fox as some of the Elmhurst faithful in the posts up yonder, but to each their own, I suppose.

I probably didn't make this point as nuanced as it needed to be. I wasn't meaning to suggest that Fox was one of the standouts in the game amongst all players. In terms of Elmhurst players who exceeded my expectations, he was one of them, along with Thomas. I expected Rhode and Dotlich to get their points. Fox, as a freshman coming off the bench on the road in front of a hot crowd, played pretty well in the first-half (6 points on 3/4 shooting and a great block on Raridon, in 9 minutes of play) so I felt he was worth a mention with regard to expectations tailored to him and Elmhurst.

No worries.  I wasn't familiar with him prior to the game, so didn't know what his baseline contribution typically might be.  I was just surprised to see him mentioned.  He did contribute in the scoring column, but I thought his shot from distance looks odd -- like it requires a really long wind-up, meaning he can't just be open but would need to be Open to get a clean look.

Your comment reminded me of a couple of weeks ago when the Wheaton faithful was effusively praising Spencer Peterson against North Central; I'm pretty sure I watched the same webstream as everyone else, and I thought he was a liability more often than not.  We all come at this with different biases and depth of information, so we sometimes view the game through differently colored glasses.

[iwu70]

AO, congrats to Raridon on his records -- he's going to set career marks out there that will be almost impossible to match.  He's such a talented player -- all 'round.  As much as we all sing the praises of Sorenson, etc., I think Raridon is all the more the "complete" player. 

Happily surprised by my Titans -- we all had them in 3rd or 4th earlier, and they may well yet falter and finish there, but the way they are playing, the lead they now have in the conference race, I'm hoping for a CCIW championship.  Gotta keep it going at this high level now.  Obviously, didn't look all that good after that loss to CC at home some weeks back.  The Titans have really come together now and figured it out . . . to all the Titan nation's great pleasure, even surprise.

Big game now at Carver . . . Wednesday night.

'70

[markerickson]

I wondered about Coach Slyder's intention of sitting Lake and Kirby for too much against Carroll.  I did not watch the IWU debacle, but have read the Coach used the same tactic.  I am opposed to open tryouts because upperclassmen Lake and Kirby deserve through their dedication and performance at least 30mpg. 

[iwumichigander]

I wondered about Coach Slyder's intention of sitting Lake and Kirby for too much against Carroll.  I did not watch the IWU debacle, but have read the Coach used the same tactic.  I am opposed to open tryouts because upperclassmen Lake and Kirby deserve through their dedication and performance at least 30mpg.

Mark - there is a lot games to be played yet.  IWU went on a 20 to 8 run building onto a 19 point lead at the half, and by midway through the second half the game was out of reach.  Why risk Lake and Kirby to injury?  Ron Rose was reaching into the end of his bench and basically had the starting five from the JV team on the floor --- and they extended the lead.
IMHO Slyder did the right thing.