MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Titan Q]

Curious of the chances of NCC, especially if they lose tonight, going 0-1 this week while other Pool C candidates could go as much as 2-1 this week. Also, the chances of FOUR CCIW teams getting in with IWU beating NCC in the Final. I really think NCC needs a win tonight. I'm not an expert though.

I'm confident NCC is out if they lose tonight.  As is, I see them at #17 (of 20).  I think they need 1-1 to keep pace with the rest of the Pool C competition. I think 0-1 would push them on the wrong side of the bubble.

[Titan Q]

I still believe Wheaton gets in with a loss tonight.  But the Thunder would be absolutely down at the very end of the bubble.

.678/.567/4-5

I believe that gets in...but sub-.700 WP is always dicey.  (I do think their SOS and RRO would be separating factors though.)

[BobbyO]

At the half Wheaton up by 2. Two wings for Wheaton not moving on offense.

[Gregory Sager]

The pea in Tom Flynn's whistle must be worn down to the size of a pinhead at this point. Tons of fouls, and it seems like he's calling all of 'em.

[Gregory Sager]

North Central 94
Wheaton 87

Exciting, well-played game.

Maybe Matt Cappelletti (27 pts, 10 rebs) ought to think about getting concussed more often.

[Gregory Sager]

Blaise Meredith played strong D on Aston Francis. The Wheaton star got his 30, but it took him 24 shots to get it, and Meredith only let Francis get to the line four times. Francis was 4-16 from downtown, with the vast majority of his attempts being really low-percentage shots. At the other end, Meredith had a very nice game himself with 19. Connor Raridon had a 'quiet" 21-9-7.

Wheaton did have other people contribute besides Francis, as four of his teammates hit double figures. But NCC won the rebounding battle, 37-31 (including 11-7 on the offensive glass), and really seemed to have more juice down towards the end of a game that was tight the whole way than Wheaton did.

[duckfan41]

In a game of runs, NCC got the last and most important one. Great game overall! Whistles got insane in the second half which disrupted the flow that was played with in the first half, but oh well. Wheatons fate now in the hands of the committee which is less than ideal.

[lmitzel]

I don't know if I'd call Francis' night a "quiet 30," but it kind of seemed like it. Got a couple early ones to fall, then was quiet for a while. I was kind of surprised late in the game when the Augie announcers said he only had 18. He did a good job getting to the basket late when his threes weren't falling, and the supporting cast played fairly well.

Was glad to see Cap was back to form, plus a monster night from Meredith. Hopefully this is enough to get a Pool C spot worst case scenario.

[Gregory Sager]

Augustana 89
Illinois Wesleyan 65

[iwu70]

Augie, too good.  Blowing out, almost doubling up the Titans in the second half, showing why they are ranked #3 nationally.  Great defense in the 2nd half. 

Congrats to the Titans on their season, to Coach Rose, all the staff and players. Good luck to the seniors for all future endeavors.  Have surely enjoyed watching you guys play the game you love during your IWU careers.   Not what we hoped for this season, but not for lack of effort. 

Titans finish 18-9.

Looks like CCIW might get three teams in. . . stay tuned.  NCC played very well tonight too, in the second half.

Good luck to Augie in the national tournament.  Hope they can finally win the last one.  No easy road, even for a team as good as Augie.

IWU'70

[Mr. Ypsi]

Augustana 89
Illinois Wesleyan 65

Yeah, Titans 29, Vikings 16 early.  Augie is SO balanced (Bob's pumping for Ebel earlier notwithstanding) that they are DAMNED hard to beat.  For anyone who doesn't want to do the math, from Augie's low point, they went 73-36.

[augie77]

That was a very un-Ypsi like calculation you performed for all of us.   

[Gregory Sager]

Augustana 89
Illinois Wesleyan 65

Yeah, Titans 29, Vikings 16 early.  Augie is SO balanced (Bob's pumping for Ebel earlier notwithstanding) that they are DAMNED hard to beat.  For anyone who doesn't want to do the math, from Augie's low point, they went 73-36.

I was focused upon watching our ladies play at King Arena this evening, so I just peeked in at the game at Carver whenever there was a stoppage. IWU had a healthy lead in the high single digits and low double digits every time that I checked, and it seemed as though whenever I clicked over the Titans were grabbing another defensive rebound after an Augie shot had rimmed out. Then the game at King went to the half, I came over to the men's game, and all of a sudden Augie's within a bucket. I watched the end of the half play out, with the two Ebel triples in the final minute putting Augie ahead going into the locker room, and I thought to myself, "That's it. The Titans had their chance, and Augie took it away from them at the end of the half, and now they'll never get the momentum back." Turns out that I was right, but I didn't expect it to be that much of a clinic for the Doggies in the second stanza.

[GoPerry]

Congratulations to NCC on a great game tonight. They deserved the win after making all the plays when they had to.  Matt Cappalletti and Blaise Meredith  were scorching all night and seemed to play with a vengeance from 2 weeks ago.  Same for Connor Raridon who dominated in the way he always does.  If not for Aston Francis, he'd have been my pick for MOP.  Outstanding performances by all three.

There were obvious times when the Cardinal's defensive scheme was in an "anybody but Francis" mode.  And for the most part, I would say the Thunder stepped up pretty well while Francis had a fairly pedestrian night.  But NCC just shot the lights out it seemed.  Bottom line: Francis or not, Wheaton is not going to win giving up 94 points; their highest of the season.  NCC had to win and they played like it.

I'm not sure what got into the officials in the 2nd half.  With only 3 minutes gone they had already called 8 fouls.  With over 11 minutes remaining, they had called 18.  It was brutal; contagious to all three.  The shorter one with the crewcut seems especially over-zealous whenever I see him out there.

The Cardinals are a good enough team to warrant a Pool C. But I have to pull for Augie tomorrow for the sake of Wheaton's Pool C chances.
 

[GoPerry]

I still believe Wheaton gets in with a loss tonight.  But the Thunder would be absolutely down at the very end of the bubble.

.678/.567/4-5

I believe that gets in...but sub-.700 WP is always dicey.  (I do think their SOS and RRO would be separating factors though.)

  Wheaton finishes 19-8, .704 WP right?  Still dicey:  susceptible to more thieving.