MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Gregory Sager]

Here's the thing about last night's game in the airplane hangar -- BU won it just as much as NCC lost it. It's not correct to say that NCC's cold shooting was on account of a bad night, while BU's cold shooting was on account of good D by the Cards. That makes it sound like NCC outplayed the Bennies, when in fact the opposite is true. Benedictine earned the win, fair and square.

This won't look like a bad loss at the end of the season after BU wins the NACC.

[Titan Q]

IWU 74
Anderson 65

* Pete Lambesis: 25 pts, 7 reb
* Cory Noe: 16 pts, 4 reb
* Keondre Schumacher: 12 pts, 3 assists
* Doug Wallen: 7 pts, 6 reb, 5 assists

IWU got 61 points (out of 74) from sophomores and freshmen.

Pete Lambesis was great tonight for IWU on both ends of the floor.

The Titans played without starting PG Grant Wolfe (17 ppg, 3 rpg, 4 apg).  It was really a nice grind out road win.

[Mr. Ypsi]

Q,

Any word about the nature or severity of Wolfe's injury?

[Titan Q]

Q,

Any word about the nature or severity of Wolfe's injury?

Yes, I have word.

[Pat Coleman]

Q,

Any word about the nature or severity of Wolfe's injury?

Yes, I have word.

😂

[AndOne]

Here's the thing about last night's game in the airplane hangar -- BU won it just as much as NCC lost it. It's not correct to say that NCC's cold shooting was on account of a bad night, while BU's cold shooting was on account of good D by the Cards. That makes it sound like NCC outplayed the Bennies, when in fact the opposite is true. Benedictine earned the win, fair and square.

This won't look like a bad loss at the end of the season after BU wins the NACC.

BU's bad shooting? The Eagles shot 43.8%. The nation's D3Hoops current #1 ranked team is currently shooting 44.4%. Comparatively, it appears BU's shooting was really not that "bad." 

Furthermore, when a team basically dares the opponent to go ahead and take the outside shots they then miss, and which BU did for the most part, that's certainly more NCC's having a bad night than tough D by BU.

North Central would have loved to have shot 43.8%. That would be leaps and bounds above their paltry 28.3%. It could well have been enough to win the game.

I don't believe that it was stated that NCC played good D.

And it was definitely stated that BU earned the win. Read "Don't get me wrong. BU played very well, and got a well deserved win."

So there's the real thing about last nights game in the airplane hangar. 

[Ultimate Titan Fan]

When Calvin beat the Titans, I thought this Calvin team would be a top 25 team in no time. They just shot the lights out. They played well against Augie, but lost. I can certainly understand that loss. Then they lost to Anderson. Then tonight, they got spanked by cellar dwellers Aquinas. So, I'm wondering what happened to their blistering shooting percentages? Did Calvin just have a once-in-a-season shooting streak against the Titans?

[Titan Q]

Elmhurst (4-0) hosts #23-Wabash (4-1) today at 4pm CT. The Bluejays are led by 5-11 G Jake Rhode (22.8 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 2.3 apg), and the Little Giants by 6-1 G Jack Davidson (24.8 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 4.0 apg). Both are D3hoops.com preseason All-Americans.

[voxelmhurst]

Elmhurst (4-0) hosts #23-Wabash (4-1) today at 4pm CT. The Bluejays are led by 5-11 G Jake Rhode (22.8 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 2.3 apg), and the Little Giants by 6-1 G Jack Davidson (24.8 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 4.0 apg). Both are D3hoops.com preseason All-Americans.

Should be a good one. Wabash beat Elmhurst pretty good last year in Indiana. I'm sure the Jays are primed to make this year a different story.

I'm sure the wedding I'm going to today will have the game on at the bar. 

[GoPerry]

Ripon 68  Wheaton 66  OT

Nyameye Adom      17 pts, 8 rebs
Collin Uveges         13 pts
Tyson Cruickshank   10 pts, 8 asst
Gavin Hawkins      10 pts 5rebs
Cade Alioth          7 pts, 10 rebs

Trent Jones           13 pts 8 rebs
David DeValk         13 pts, 7 rebs
Kyle Rutkowski      10 pts 9 rebs

Not a pretty shooting night for the Thunder, 24-68 for 35% from the field, 7-28(25%) from three.  Didn't see the game so not sure if the Red Hawks defense had a large impact on that stat or not.

Wheaton 4-2 going into the league opener, a nice relaxing trip to Bloomington on Wed night.  The Thunder have taken the last two at the Shirk but it will be a sizeable challenge to make it three in a row.

[Titan Q]

Elmhurst 83
#23-Wabash 66

https://elmhurstbluejays.com/boxscore.aspx?path=mbball&id=4824

Elmhurst is a very talented and complete team.  They will be right in the middle of the CCIW title picture.

[Titan Q]

Really big Central region non-conference game at noon in St. Louis - #17-Augustana (4-1) at #15-Wash U. (5-1). 

In a very crowded Central Region picture, it seems to me that a loss today would really hurt either team (both already have a loss).  And in these games vs fellow regional powers it can be a "two shot swing" kind of thing in terms of regional ranking criteria -- in addition to the hit to winning %, you also lose the all-important head-to-head result.  (And you also potentially lose the important common opponent criteria -- example, in ranking Wash U vs Elmhurst on Selection Sunday, Elmhurst has a sweep over Augie but Wash U has a loss to Augie. That can be a deciding factor.)

I've watched both teams play multiple times this year in the early going.  On a neutral court I think I'd favor Wash U by a slim 1 point or so.  Coming into the season I would have expected that margin to be a lot bigger - the Bears haven't looked as good as I thought they would yet.  With the game in St. Louis, I'll favor the Bears by 3 today.

Things I will be keeping an eye on:

* The Pierson Wofford/Justin Hardy matchup is one of the best head-to-head forward matchups you will see this season in Division III. Two crazy athletic guys that can do a lot of impressive things.  Each guy is quick enough to guard the other...but as far as I see, neither team really has a second option for guarding these guys (because it takes both quickness and size). Will be interesting how it plays out in the moments one is on the floor and the other isn't.

* How will Wash U handle big Micah Martin's presence? Martin can significantly alter a game just by his physical presence - he makes it very hard to score in the paint.  Will Martin shut down Wash U's inside game...and will he affect Justin Hardy's dribble penetration? (And Martin's sub, 6-9/227 Donavan Ferguson, presents similar problems on the defensive end -- so the Bears have 40 minutes of trouble here.)

* This game features the two biggest Chicago area D3 guard recruits in the last few years -- Jack Nolan (Benet Academy) and Jack McDonald (Geneva HS). These two won't necessarily guard each other, as Nolan is more of a 2 and McDonald a 1, but fun to see how they play today in the same game. I think McDonald could have a big game today.

And if watching the game wasn't good enough, you get to listen to one of the best in Division III while doing so -- Wash U play-by-play man Jay Murray. https://portal.stretchinternet.com/wustl/

Should be a great one.


#17-Augustana (4-1)
G - Jack Jelen, 5-10/176 Jr.  3.2 ppg, 1.2 rpg, 4.8 apg
G - Jarrett Tribble, 6-2/157 Jr.  10.8 ppg, 2.2 rpg, 0.8 apg
F - Pierson Wofford, 6-3/198 Sr.  17.6 ppg, 6.0 rpg
F - Justin Bottorf, 6-6/202 So.  8.0 ppg, 4.4 rpg
C - Micah Martin, 6-11/242 Sr.  15.8 ppg, 7.3 rpg
-------
F - Jacob Pauley, 6-4/178 Jr.  6.8 ppg, 3.4 rpg
G - Jack McDonald, 5-11/163 Fr.  6.2 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 4.0 apg


#15-Wash U (5-1)
G - Matt Nester, 5-11/190 Sr.  11.3 ppg, 2.0 rpg, 3.0 apg
G - Jack Nolan, 6-1/170 Jr.  17.0 ppg, 2.2 rpg, 2.2 apg
F - Justin Hardy, 6-5/205 So.  19.5 ppg, 8.5 rpg, 3.2 apg
F - DeVaughn Rucker, 6-5/200 Sr.  7.2 ppg, 4.2 rpg
C - Hank Hunter, 6-9/235 Sr.  9.7 ppg, 7.2 rpg
-----
G - Payden Webb, 6-0/170 Jr.  4.8 ppg
G - Jonathan Arenas, 6-3/190 Sr.  3.7 ppg, 7.2 rpg, 2.7 apg

[WUPHF]

Just a few thoughts...

If past games are a predictor, there will be a few guys on Wofford including Arenas and Rucker who are both quick and capable enough if the overall team defense is clicking.

If Hardy can dribble penetrate on the Missouri State front court, he can handle anyone in Division III if the rest of the team is doing there job.

[Titan Q]

If Hardy can dribble penetrate on the Missouri State front court, he can handle anyone in Division III if the rest of the team is doing there job.

After Martin's 2nd swat of a Hardy dribble drive please think of me, my friend!

[voxelmhurst]

Elmhurst 83
#23-Wabash 66

https://elmhurstbluejays.com/boxscore.aspx?path=mbball&id=4824

Elmhurst is a very talented and complete team.  They will be right in the middle of the CCIW title picture.

Oddly enough, this one was NOT on in the bar at the wedding, so the box score/recap is all I have to go on. Per the recap, all of Rhode's 19 points came in the second half, which is when Elmhurst blew the game open after it was tied at 33 at halftime. Another strong game for Militello (15 pts, 5 rebounds, 3 assists) and Thomas had his second straight double-double (14 pts, 11 boards). Jack Davidson was held to just 5 points for Wabash.

I'm starting to sound like a broken record but Militello and Thomas have done an incredible job thus far at the 4 and 5 spots. I was worried how Elmhurst would fare in the paint and on the boards after Jeremy Ireland graduated, but these two have really excelled in their new starting roles. Ebrahim Jobe has also done a great job coming off the bench to add scoring and rebounding. He might go on to become one of the best 6th man's in the league.

Can't wait to see them compete in the CCIW.