MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Gregory Sager]

Augie beat Wheaton, 93-83, and with NCC's loss that means that Augie has clinched a share of the CCIW title.

[kiko]

I'm not entirely convinced this was an upset in Naperville tonight... that is a good basketball team down in Bloomington.

Elsewhere:

Augustana 93, Wheaton 83, Aston Francis 35 in Rock Island

Carroll 60, Carthage 57 in the battle for the Gouda Cup in Waukesha

Carroll moves two games ahead of Millikin in the win column in the battle for the sixth tournament slot.

[Gregory Sager]

Carroll 60
Carthage 57

[Mr. Ypsi]

I'm not entirely convinced this was an upset in Naperville tonight... that is a good basketball team down in Bloomington.

Elsewhere:

Augustana 93, Wheaton 83, Aston Francis 35 in Rock Island

Carroll 60, Carthage 57 in the battle for the Gouda Cup in Waukesha

In November I would have agreed with you.  By now, it was definitely an upset.  Back then, I thought with some breaks, the Titans might even get to Ft. Wayne.  Now, while I'm not throwing in the towel, it would be somewhat surprising if they even play in the national tourney at all.

[Yogao]

Wofford 21 pts on 10 - 12 shooting
Benning 18 pts 3-5 on 3pt attempts
Ebel 16 pts 9-12 FTs 6 reb  11 points in the last 6 minutes of the game
Orange 14 pts 6 reb

Francis 35 pts on 13-32 shooting 7-16 on 3pt attempts 2-3 from the line  8 reb
Hawkings 13 pts all in the first half

Augie never could pull away in the game every time they got up 5-7 points Wheaton had an answer.  Even with a 10 point lead in the last 3 minutes Francis kept hitting tough 3s and it didn't feel safe until the final buzzer. 

Congrats to Augie for their 5th consecutive (at least share) of the CCIW title. 

[Titan Q]

IWU 72
NCC 64

https://static.northcentralcardinals.com/custompages/MBK/mbk1819/Mbb22.htm

* Brady Rose: 16 pts, 5 reb, 3 assists
* Doug Wallen: 14 pts, 12 reb
* Jason Gregoire: 10 pts, 2 reb, 3 assists
* Colin Bonnett: 9 pts, 6 reb, 2 assists

* Tommy Koth: 24 pts, 6 reb
* Matt Cappelletti: 11 pts, 7 reb
* Connor Raridon: 8 pts, 8 reb, 3 assists


IWU really played an outstanding 2nd half.  Sophomore Doug Wallen was great on both ends of the floor - 14 points, 12 rebounds, and had a big hand in Connor Raridon's 3-13 shooting night.

Big road win for the Titans as they try to grind out that 4-seed.

IWU loses a lot to graduation but I really like that returning group that is in the rotation this year - Doug Wallen, Grant Wolfe, Matt Leritz, Charlie Bair, Peter Lambesis, Alex O'Neill.

[kiko]

I'm not entirely convinced this was an upset in Naperville tonight... that is a good basketball team down in Bloomington.

Elsewhere:

Augustana 93, Wheaton 83, Aston Francis 35 in Rock Island

Carroll 60, Carthage 57 in the battle for the Gouda Cup in Waukesha

In November I would have agreed with you.  By now, it was definitely an upset.  Back then, I thought with some breaks, the Titans might even get to Ft. Wayne.  Now, while I'm not throwing in the towel, it would be somewhat surprising if they even play in the national tourney at all.

I don't expect the Titans to be playing beyond the conference tournament -- they dug too big of a hole earlier in the year, and their only viable path now would likely require them to go through Augustana.  But they are playing better now than they were a few weeks ago, and I saw nothing this evening that suggested they are a notch below North Central or Wheaton, despite what the standings suggest.

[Titan Q]

I'm not entirely convinced this was an upset in Naperville tonight... that is a good basketball team down in Bloomington.

Elsewhere:

Augustana 93, Wheaton 83, Aston Francis 35 in Rock Island

Carroll 60, Carthage 57 in the battle for the Gouda Cup in Waukesha

In November I would have agreed with you.  By now, it was definitely an upset.  Back then, I thought with some breaks, the Titans might even get to Ft. Wayne.  Now, while I'm not throwing in the towel, it would be somewhat surprising if they even play in the national tourney at all.

I don't expect the Titans to be playing beyond the conference tournament -- they dug too big of a hole earlier in the year, and their only viable path now would likely require them to go through Augustana.  But they are playing better now than they were a few weeks ago, and I saw nothing this evening that suggested they are a notch below North Central or Wheaton, despite what the standings suggest.

There is not really any separation between IWU, North Central, and Wheaton. IWU just didn't close out some games and, thus, is lower in the standings.

[kiko]

I'm not entirely convinced this was an upset in Naperville tonight... that is a good basketball team down in Bloomington.

Elsewhere:

Augustana 93, Wheaton 83, Aston Francis 35 in Rock Island

Carroll 60, Carthage 57 in the battle for the Gouda Cup in Waukesha

In November I would have agreed with you.  By now, it was definitely an upset.  Back then, I thought with some breaks, the Titans might even get to Ft. Wayne.  Now, while I'm not throwing in the towel, it would be somewhat surprising if they even play in the national tourney at all.

I don't expect the Titans to be playing beyond the conference tournament -- they dug too big of a hole earlier in the year, and their only viable path now would likely require them to go through Augustana.  But they are playing better now than they were a few weeks ago, and I saw nothing this evening that suggested they are a notch below North Central or Wheaton, despite what the standings suggest.

There is not really any separation between IWU, North Central, and Wheaton. IWU just didn't close out some games and, thus, is lower in the standings.

Exactly what I am suggesting.

[iwu70]

Augie quite remarkable, in the win over WC, shooting 60% from the field.

I can't see any of the CCIW teams stopping them in the CCIW tournament for the AQ, esp. playing at home.

Very happy to see the Titans finally finish off a game in style, against a top-flight, well-ranked team.  Wallen the difference tonight.     

'70

[mwunder]

But, they were supposed to be good this year, based on experience and transfers coming in, and we can see how that went.

In all likelihood, they are going to miss the conference tourney again this year, even with an expanded field.  That means they have only qualified for it three times in the fourteen years.   This is not acceptable, in my opinion. 

K-Mark.  Your second point, I agree with you 100%.  Unacceptable, but Carthage, Kenohsa and 40K per year is a tough sell for any coach. 

The first comment, I disagree with 100%.  At the beginning of the season, they only had two players who played any significant minutes in the CCIW the previous season, Perry and Baltimore, who was second team CCIW.  Everyone else was a wildcard.  They were picked to finish tied for 6th in the league by the coaches and Perry hasn't played a minute so I can see why they didn't achieve that position.  The fact that they can't find a way to win a close one can be attributed to a lot of factors including experience and coaching. 

The end of the IWU game is a microcosm of the Carthage season.  Put yourself into position to win and then free-lance.  No one set a screen for Baltimore to get open and then it's Chinese fire drill after that.  Both inexperience and coaching are to blame.  Just not sure which deserves more of that blame.  Same thing at the end of the Augie game.

Hi Michael Wunder,

Good to always get your Carthage perspective.  I know you are agreeing with my one statement, the only thing I would add is the location and cost doesn't seem to have the same impact on other programs at Carthage.  The men's volleyball is consistently ranked high in the nation so they are pulling in top notch recruits....the football and baseball teams have been more than competitive as of late and the women's programs are making their respective conference tournaments.

As far as your disagreement on my other statement, we just may need to agree to disagree.  Let me at least give you my reasoning for my orignal comments.  A preseason ranking of 6th place made sense based on where they ended last year and who you mentioned they had coming back.  My point was Bosko knew what type of team he was going to be able to put on the court vs. what the other coaches knew going into their rankings.  Sean Johnson was a known entity even though he wasn't a starter last year.  Frankly, he was starting to see more and more minutes toward the end of the year and I think it would have been tough to keep him out of the starting lineup if Perry was back this year.  There is no way you can play them at the same time so seeing Johnson get the full time minutes only solidifies him as a solid player this year.  Remember, Bosko raved about him as he came into school and basically said he was going to be a star someday. 

Additionally, you had Kedrowski coming back who was a starter as a freshman.  So, he knows the system and was able to step right in.  Then you had Laketa who was an experienced player who also stepped right in as a very good offensive threat. 

So, I saw four players, Baltimore, Johnson, Kedrowski and Laketa who Bosko saw as a strong core.  He stated in the write up before the season how strongly he felt about this team and certainly didn't feel like a 6th place ranking was accurate.  This doesn't include another transfer he had talked up too, Crishawn Cook.  I think he was out injured for awhile, came back for a few games and has been no where to be found since.

Again not disputing your opinion of my opinion, just felt there was more perspective on why I commented the way I did....what looks to be an 8th place finish is not what was anticipated with the players coming in and returning.  Would they have won more with Laketa in the lineup, probably.   But we have seen other teams overcome injuries and still find a way to win.

I can certainly see your side of the coin...I'm just not a big believer in anyone coming into the CCIW and making a huge impact, transfer or not.  Sure, there are exceptions, Perry being the one that jumps to mind where Carthage is concerned, but they are rare.  For every Perry, there have been too many players who don't produce anything, ever.  Bosko is right to talk his players up in the pre-season, but I never saw them as a threat to anyone with the single, PROVEN player they were returning (after Perry got hurt).  Laketa was a nice get, but wasn't a starter at Alma.  Kedrowski has had flashes this season, but is inconsistent as well.  Somehow, Johnson can vanish at times in that offense, but he's certainly improved with playing time.

I think next season is their season.

[Gregory Sager]

Wofford 21 pts on 10 - 12 shooting
Benning 18 pts 3-5 on 3pt attempts
Ebel 16 pts 9-12 FTs 6 reb  11 points in the last 6 minutes of the game
Orange 14 pts 6 reb

Francis 35 pts on 13-32 shooting 7-16 on 3pt attempts 2-3 from the line  8 reb
Hawkings 13 pts all in the first half

Who is "Hawkings"?



You're not thinking of this guy, are you?

[thunder38]

I wasn't able to follow along other than live stats but anyone able to explain how the game was handled by the refs in Rock Island? 50 fouls from two teams who are statistically among the best in the conference defensively seems unlikely. I don't think Luke Peters has come close to fouling out all season and he could barely stay on the floor tonight.

The fact that Wheaton was able to hang as close as they were for so long with all of their bigs and Peters in foul trouble from jump street was pretty impressive to me.

[duckfan41]

I wasn't able to follow along other than live stats but anyone able to explain how the game was handled by the refs in Rock Island? 50 fouls from two teams who are statistically among the best in the conference defensively seems unlikely. I don't think Luke Peters has come close to fouling out all season and he could barely stay on the floor tonight.

The fact that Wheaton was able to hang as close as they were for so long with all of their bigs and Peters in foul trouble from jump street was pretty impressive to me.

Game had pretty good flow for the first 8 or so minutes, and then the refs did their best to harmonize their whistles the rest of the night. Absolutely brutal and inconsistent on both ends for both teams.

[voxelmhurst]

Elmhurst 91
North Park 64

Toby Marek: 16 pts
Matt Szuba: 11 pts, 9 rebs
Jake Ellis: 11 pts
Jeremy Greenlee: 7 rebs
Antonio Gardner: 3:0 a:to
Alan Nikoletic: 3:1 a:to

Jeremy Ireland: 30 pts, 11 rebs
Derek Dotlich: 15 pts, 6 rebs, 3:0 a:to
Rayn Patton: 14 pts
Jake Rhode: 11 pts, 6:2 a:to
Nick Perry: 3:1 a:to

This was a weird game. Elmhurst basically blew the doors off of NPU in the first half, going into the locker room with a 46-26 lead. Tom Slyder didn't start Veggie Tangen in the second half ... and he ended up not playing Veggie at all in the final stanza. After a brief opening interlude, Matt Szuba came out -- and he stayed on the bench for the rest of the game, too, So it was Toby Marek and a handful of reserves, with a couple of brief cameo appearances by fellow starters Antonio Gardner and Izaiah Sanders, for the rest of the game. The weird thing is that it worked; whether it was the sheer hustle of NPU's bench guys or the utter disinterest of the Bluejays, the Vikings shaved down a 27-point deficit to 15 points with 6:03 to go on a Marek trey.

I've seen plenty of 15-point leads evaporate in six minutes or less. But Tom Slyder still withheld his two top scorers, and the moment passed. EC went back to feeding Jeremy Ireland, who was unstoppable in the low post even when Szuba and Tangen were playing, and the 'jays cruised to the win. It was a head-scratcher.

UPDATE: Mystery partially solved. Veggie's occasionally balky back stiffened on him in the locker room, which explains why he sat out the second half. Still dunno about Szuba, although it's always possible that he did or said something that incurred the coach's displeasure when he came out of the game early in the second half.

Not much I can add to this one. Ireland's 30 points are a career high. He's led the jays in scoring the last 3 games and has really taken his game up a notch. 

Elmhurst's 7th CCIW win of the season comes with 3 regular season games to play. Theyve beaten every team below them in the standings and lost to every team above them. The remaining schedule will not be easy as they travel to Wesleyan before finishing at home to an ascendant Carroll and to 10-3 North Central. Though they've already eclipsed their CCIW win total from last year, the fact that the Jays have led road games @ NCC, Augie, and Wheaton, all in the second half, only to lose these games should make Bluejay fans still wanting more from the rest of this season.