MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[iwu70]

UIC 81 IWU 60  -- Exhibition in Chicago.

Wallen 16
Rose 13

Titans shooting a poor percentage from three and also overall.  Perhaps UIC is a great defensive team, but I think it is early season rust, poor marksmanship generally.  No one, save for Wallen, seemed to have a particularly good night. 

Coach Rose playing lots of people.  U of I at State Farm Hall/Assembly Hall, tomorrow night.  No rest.

Augie at ISU Noon on Saturday -- another exhibition. 

IWU'70 

[Titan Q]

UIC 81
IWU 60

* Doug Wallen: 16 pts, 3 reb, 2 assists
* Brady Rose: 13 pts, 2 reb, 3 assists
* Alex O'Neill: 4 pts, 8 reb

IWU trailed by 1, 23-22, with 8:29 to play in the 1st half.  But as most of these games go, the D1 team pulled away.

No Titan played more than 22 minutes tonight.

IWU lost the boards by just 2, 46-44.

UIC's coach said they are the most athletic team in the Horizon League.  So some real tough matchups for the Titans in this one.

Sophomore Doug Wallen scoring 16 vs a D1 team was a great sign.  He has a really high ceiling.

Champaign tomorrow night vs the Fighting Illini.

[Titan Q]

Illinois Wesleyan @ U. of Illinois, 7pm

Titans
G - Brady Rose, 6-3/185 Sr
G - Collin Bonnett, 6-4/190 Sr.
G - Jason Gregoire, 6-4/205 Sr.
F - Miles Curry, 6-6/205 Jr.
C - Alex O'Neil, 6-9/245 Jr.

Fighting Illini
G - Trent Frazier, 6-1/170 So.
G - Ayo Dosunmu, 6-5/185 Fr.
G - Aaron Jordan, 6-5/210 Sr.
F - Kipper Nichols, 6-6/220 Jr.
F - Giorgi Bezhanishvili, 6-9/235 Fr.

Big Ten Network Plus stream ($) - https://www.btn2go.com/game/illinois-wesleyan-at-illinois-on-11022018

WJBC Radio - https://portal.stretchinternet.com/wjbc/

Live stats - https://fightingillini.com/sidearmstats/mbball/summary


Pantagraph - https://www.pantagraph.com/sports/college/basketball/men/iwu-opens-with-pair-of-di-exhibitions/article_f6fdd874-0a7c-5142-a3be-2eee48d5f94e.html

IlliniScoop.com - https://illiniscoops.com/2018/10/31/illinois-basketball-illinois-wesleyan-matchup-preview-prediction/

FightingIllini.com - https://fightingillini.com/news/2018/10/30/mens-basketball-illini-set-for-friday-exhibition-against-illinois-wesleyan.aspx

Champaign News-Gazette - http://www.news-gazette.com/sports/illini-sports/2018-11-02/illinois-vs-illinois-wesleyan-preview.html

Illini Board - https://www.illinoisloyalty.com/Forum/threads/illinois-vs-illinois-wesleyan-exhibition-friday-november-2nd-7-00pm-ct-btn-plus.24637/

Doug Wallen article - http://www.news-gazette.com/sports/prep-sports/2018-11-02/c-u-native-wallen-dons-new-colors-brings-cheering-section.html

[robertgoulet]

UIC 81
IWU 60

* Doug Wallen: 16 pts, 3 reb, 2 assists
* Brady Rose: 13 pts, 2 reb, 3 assists
* Alex O'Neill: 4 pts, 8 reb

IWU trailed by 1, 23-22, with 8:29 to play in the 1st half.  But as most of these games go, the D1 team pulled away.

No Titan played more than 22 minutes tonight.

IWU lost the boards by just 2, 46-44.

UIC's coach said they are the most athletic team in the Horizon League.  So some real tough matchups for the Titans in this one.

Sophomore Doug Wallen scoring 16 vs a D1 team was a great sign.  He has a really high ceiling.

Champaign tomorrow night vs the Fighting Illini.

Earlier this week I actually thought IWU was going to beat UIC when I saw they were playing. Shows what I know.

[Augie15]

Thanks to Q for the template I am using for the preview of the Augie/ISU game.

Augustana @ Illinois State University, 12pm - Saturday Nov 3

Augustana
G - Nolan Ebel, 6-1/175 Sr.
G - Chrishawn Orange, 6-2/180 Sr.
F - Pierson Wofford, 6-4/200 Jr. (RS)
F - Carson Frakes, 6-5/180 So.
C - Micah Martin, 6-11/240 Jr.

Redbirds
G - Zach Copeland, 6-4/185 Jr.
G - Matt Hein, 6-3/185 Jr.
G - William Tinsley, 6-6/195 Sr.
G/F - Matt Chastain, 6-6/190 So.
F - Phil Fayne, 6-9/220 Sr.

WZND Radio - http://wznd.com/

Stat Broadcast - http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=237309

Ticket Information - https://ev9.evenue.net/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/SEGetEventInfo?ticketCode=GS:ISU:B18:B02:&linkID=illinoisst&RSRC=SIDEARM&RDAT=sgl

Augie Ticket Info / Preview - https://athletics.augustana.edu/news/2018/10/30/mens-basketball-ticket-information-announced-for-isu-exhbition.aspx

Augie Live Video - https://portal.stretchinternet.com/augustana/

Augie Live Stats - http://www.augustana.net/athletics/mbasketball/xlive.htm

[badgerwarhawk]

WARHAWKS scrimmage Elmhurst this coming Tuesday.

[iwumichigander]

You guys forgot that I posted about opera. 

'70

Mark, your chance to redeem yourself is if you can find an opera singer to laud from some other CCIW school!

Perhaps Eastman or the Academy of Vocal Arts would have interest in joining the CCIW as affiliate members so we have enough schools to merit a Pool 'A' berth in the opera tourney. 

. Opera artists from Wheaton College -
Sylvia McNair '78 soprano    Wendy White '75 mezzo-soprano
From IWU - Dawn Upshaw, Kirstin Chambers,

[Titan Q]

U. of Illinois 83
IWU 67

* Charlie Bair: 16 points (6-7 FG, 4-5 3-point)
* Brady Rose: 14 points, 6 rebounds
* Grant Wolfe: 6 points, 8 assists

Overall, I'll take it.  The Titans had tons of trouble with the Illini's pressure defense and turned it over a crazy 29 times.  But the Titans shot 48% from the field and 52% from 3 vs a Big Ten team.  And out-rebounded the Illini 34-30.

Main takeaways from these two D1 exhibitions are that IWU has a lot of talent.  Sophomore Doug Wallen led the team in scoring last night, and sophomore Charlie Bair tonight.  And sophomore Grant Wolfe was good tonight. 

When this team puts all the pieces together, against D3 competition, there is a chance for a very big season.

[Mr. Ypsi]

U. of Illinois 83
IWU 67

* Charlie Bair: 16 points (6-7 FG, 4-5 3-point)
* Brady Rose: 14 points, 6 rebounds
* Grant Wolfe: 6 points, 8 assists

Overall, I'll take it.  The Titans had tons of trouble with the Illini's pressure defense and turned it over a crazy 29 times.  But the Titans shot 48% from the field and 52% from 3 vs a Big Ten team.  And out-rebounded the Illini 34-30.

Main takeaways from these two D1 exhibitions are that IWU has a lot of talent.  Sophomore Doug Wallen led the team in scoring last night, and sophomore Charlie Bair tonight.  And sophomore Grant Wolfe was good tonight. 

When this team puts all the pieces together, against D3 competition, there is a chance for a very big season.

That would be excellent timing!  I'd probably have trouble talking Mrs. Y into Salem again, but Fort Wayne is less than 3 hours away!  (Not that I'm counting any chickens just yet! )

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

That would be excellent timing!  I'd probably have trouble talking Mrs. Y into Salem again, but Fort Wayne is less than 3 hours away!  (Not that I'm counting any chickens just yet! )

Welp... that's it, folks. Pack up the IWU season. It's over. Ypsi was eying the chickens. He couldn't help himself. No chance IWU has a good season now, right?

Damn Ypsi. Even I'm disappointed in you.

https://media.giphy.com/media/t9ctG5MZhyyU8/giphy.gif

[Titan Q]

Both IWU exhibitions are in the books now.  A few of my takeaways from the UIC and Illinois games...

Rotation
The rotation, here in the early going, seems to be:

G: Rose (Wolfe, Coderre)
G: Bonnett (Rose)
G/F: Gregoire (Wallen)
F: Curry (Bair)
F/C: O'Neill (Baker)

Brady Rose, 6-3 Sr PG/SG
Rose scored 27 points in two games against the quickest, most athletic defenders he will see this season.  Against the Illini, he had 14 points and 6 rebounds, going 5-11 from the field and 3-3 from 3-point range.  He's become a very complete player and heads into this season as one of the elite guards in Division III.  Opposing defenses have to work very hard to keep him in check because he can score so many different ways.

Doug Wallen, 6-5 So F
It looks like the 6-5 combo forward is going to play a big role for the Titans as a sophomore.  Wallen played more 4 than 3 in HS, but at IWU they've put him exclusively at the wing (3) and he looks good there.  Wallen is a big, strong, athletic kid that can shoot it, take it to the basket, and score in the low post.  It looks like he will be one of the first players off the bench and will be on the floor a lot.

Grant Wolfe, 5-11 So PG
Wolfe, a pure PG, is IWU's first guard off the bench.  He hasn't quite put it all together yet, but I think he's really close. Wolfe is a smart, hard-working PG - I think he has a chance to be really good.  8 assists last night vs the Illini and really competed well vs much bigger, quicker defenders.  I believe as the season goes on, Wolfe will get better and better.

Charlie Bair, 6-7 So F
Bair is a blue collar, hard-working post player.  He was a tremendous rebounder at Glenbard South.  Bair can score around the basket and also step out and shoot it.  In IWU's two D1 exhibition games, he went 8-9 from the field and 5-6 from beyond the arc.  Seems like the Titans will want Bair on the floor down the stretch of close games - he just seems like a guy who makes plays and does the right things.


I believe this is IWU's most talented team since the 2013-14 Final Four squad (with Victor Davis, Andrew Ziemnik, Dylan Overstreet, etc). The Titans have a really nice mix of skill, size, and athleticism, and they are two-deep at four positions. The one spot they are not is the 5 - they don't have a backup true 5.  But nowadays most teams do not have one true 5, let alone two (the exception being Augustana, which seems to have about seven). Against 90% of D3 teams, the Titans won't lose much with one of their 6-6 4s playing the 5 while O'Neill is out.

Bring on the real games...I'm excited to watch the Titans play.

[iwu70]

Share much of Q's assessment.  Pleasantly surprised about Bair and the contributions he can make, the range he seems to have.  Other performances didn't surprise me.  Of course, most of the TITANS and the overall team effort, now rounding into form, into shape.  These exhibitions must have been very helpful to get to game-ready, game-speed, for the D3 schedule.  We're going to need solid, consistent contributions from O'Neil and Baker, and others in the 4-5 positions.  Guard play was never going to be much of an issue. 

Augie vs. ISU today at Noon.  I'll be interested to see how the Doggies do against a very athletic, if young, ISU MVC squad.

Time for football --

IWU'70

[Yogao]

Looking at the live stats it appears Benning is playing.  Must have only had a very minor case of the kissing disease. Glad to see him back!

[Gregory Sager]

It was probably only a peck on the cheek.

[augiefan]

ISU 41 Augie 28 at the half. A 9-0 run by the Redbirds in the final 2 minutes turned a close game into a one sided game. Augie's starters are doing their job, but the bench is contributing next to nothing. Good to see Wooford back on the court and playing well.