MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[CarrollBooster]

Watched the stream of Carroll vs. Elmhurst game last night.  I don't know where everyone sits down on the Elmhurst stream and announcer presentation/quality, but I find both to be very enjoyable and well done.  The Elmhurst announcer was a good balance of home team enthusiasm and game description, and actually did a good job on the opposing team in terms of stats and relevant information.  So well done.

Carroll at least played hard, and the game was very competitive through the first half and the beginning of the second half.  Honestly, I think Elmhurst came out super flat probably thinking this game was one they wouldn't have much trouble with.  Impressed with the Elmhurst athleticism and balance.  Johnson and Hooker are obviously very good players, but Ittounas, Zapinski, Pearson, Honrbuckle and Dalipi all played well.  Most of all impressed with John Baines.  Super-calm and stayed patient when Carroll got out to a big lead early, and most importantly made very visible adjustments coming out of halftime to get easy shots and find/exploit matchups that Elmhurst wanted to attack.  So well done to Elmhurst and Coach Baines.

For Carroll -- they competed right from the tip which was good to see coming off the Augustana game which was the opposite.  Stieneke was great all night, had 16 in the first half and his motor on the floor is top end of the CCIW.  Surprised he probably played less than 10 minutes in the second half which was a bit of a head scratcher, not sure what was happening there.

Again, this is my first year of really watching the Pio's.  When they come to play, generally I think they can play close with most teams, when they don't, they have no chance.  They have talent that "flashes" up and down the line-up -- but no consistency in play, not much consistency in minutes/line-ups/rotations and they have significant gaps in games when they can't find enough offense.

But better last night for 25 minutes.  Not much hope for the North Park game Saturday -- who it seems in terms of athleticism up and down the line up and play style is similar to Elmhurst.   

[markerickson]

Julian Campbell impressed me with several facets of his game.  Listed at 6'8" 280, he has a light touch, can run the floor, and hustles.  North Park failed to even attempt drawing a second foul on Mr. Campbell in the first half.  I think Coach D did a fine job limiting Julian's minutes.  When Julian played in the second half, same outcome.  He ended the game with one foul. He did not deserve any on the offensive end, unlike Daniel Carr who ended his game at NPU with ZERO fouls yet repeatedly climbed NPU players' backs, striving for an offensive board.

I too chatted with Bosko after the game.  I am certainly not a student of the game, but I have always preferred a man-to-man D. Bosko ran exclusively a man-to-man during his NPC tenure.  Bosko smiled and nodded with approval when I noted Coach Smith also relies on man-to-man.  Bosko said something like, "That's the way I was taught."

Soft zones suck.  A 1-3-1 can come in handy at times.

[Next Man Up]

Ok – the embarrassingly obvious question:  Why isn't Mitch Lewis playing 30+ mins?  He only clocked 18 mins tonight and thank goodness because Wheaton could not stop him – at all.  He ended up with 20 pts.

I do not have an answer to this, other than to say that the Cardinal offense looks like a completely different system when he is in the game, which I'm sure can't be easy to adjust to from a rhythm standpoint.  Everything flows through him and there is a little bit of Mitch and the Jordanaires when he is in, even if Matt Helwig is also on the court.

I still maintain that he's got an old man at the YMCA game.  He's coming off the bench, doesn't really have a lot of hops and isn't the fastest guy around, so all the young stallions running the court at open gym don't see the threat.  But he's got great footwork, is a really good passer and has a feathery touch, and you pretty much realize after a couple of sequences that you've got your hands full.

To be sure, this is pure speculation, but, given his football injuries that prevented his playing at all in the 2021 spring season, and then ended his fall 2021 season at Illinois State prematurely, might the residual effects from these injuries limit his effective playing time while requiring periodic breaks. Just a guess.

* In 109 minutes of PT so far this seasom, Mitch Lewis has scored 98 points!

[Gregory Sager]

North Park 61
Carroll 58

Shamar Pumphrey: 20 pts, 6:3 a:to, 4 stls
Jordan Boyd: 13 pts, 7 rebs, 3 stls
Marquise Jackson: 11 pts, 5 stls
Jalen Boyd: 3 stls

Aaron Wafford: 21 pts
Paradisio Dante: 12 rebs, 5 blks

Take the win any way that you can get it. Despite grabbing a mind-boggling 20 offensive rebounds (to CU's six) and 22 turnovers by the Pios (including 15 NPU steals), the Pios were able to take the Vikes right down to the wire, courtesy of really horrific shooting by the Park -- .288/.250/.591.

But ... who cares? Have I mentioned yet that in this league you take your wins any way you can get them?

[lmitzel]

What was a tight first half (tied at 28) turned into a runaway thanks to an 18-0 Cardinal run early in the 2nd half to get NCC back on track with a 72-48 win over the visiting Big Blue.

Shea Cupples: 19 pts
Matt Helwig: 17 pts, 6 reb, 5 ast
Ethan Helwig: 10 pts, 4 reb
Jeff Hemmelgarn: 8 pts, 5 reb

JT Welch: 16 pts
Drake Stevenson: 9 pts
Nate Straughter: 9 pts

[petemcb]

No Mitch Lewis today?

[iwu70]

IWU over Augie, 65-50.  Augie got within five several times in the second half, but the Titans pulled away. 

Key to this one was a great defensive effort all-round on Dan Carr, mostly by Evan Schneider.  Carr held to 5 points and 9 rebounds.

AC:
Chase 17
Knuth 9
Hawkins 9

Carr on 5 and 9 with all points coming from the FT line, including two of them off the Cody Mitchell T.  Carr was 0-6 from three.

IWU:
Heflen a career game, 21
Sroka 14 and 9
Mitchell 12 and 7
Bazzell, a great help from the three point line where the Titans have struggled.  11
Evan Schneider 8 rebounds

Titans shoot 45%, 37% from three, AC shot 29% and 12% from 3.   

IWU goes to 8-6, staying in the CCIW race.  Two games to go with NPU and another with WC.   We'll see.  They played better today, but Augie contributed by playing poorly, too.  Still way too many TOs, and lack of caring for the ball.   It's just maddening sometime.  I think Ron Rose may be pulling out his hair.   

Some pretty strange work going both ways by the zebras in this one, too.

'70

[lmitzel]

No Mitch Lewis today?

Out due to illness, I guess.

[USee]

Wheaton led Carthage by as many as 23 I believe when the Firebirds stormed back to make it a 2 pT game in the final minute before the Thunder hung on to win a big one at King Arena 74-70

[GoPerry]

Wheaton led Carthage by as many as 23 I believe when the Firebirds stormed back to make it a 2 pT game in the final minute before the Thunder hung on to win a big one at King Arena 74-70

Wheaton 76-70 actual final.

Cruickshank had a big one with 27 pts, 8 rebs.  Andrew Williams, 15 and 7.  Tj Askew 13 and 9

Bulatovic n 17 and 10.  Julian Campbell 16 pts.  Antuan Nesbitt  10 pts, 11 rebs

The Firebirds had a terrible start which had a lot to do with Wheaton defense giving up nothing easy.  But credit Carthage for coming out strong and catching a Thunder team expecting to cruise in the 2nd half.  The Redbirds forced 9 turnovers from Wheaton in the 2nd half and were +7 on the offensive boards. 

Not the prettiest but we'll take the win.

[Next Man Up]

No Mitch Lewis today?

Out due to illness, I guess.

Yes, battling some bugs. But in his stead this afternoon up stepped little used Jeff Hemmelgarn who contributed 8 points on 4 of 8 shooting, with two of his four baskets being very entertaining dunks. Jeff also made perhaps the hustle play of the day when he dove to save a ball from going out of bounds, knocking it to a teammate to start the Cards off on a successful break.

[USee]

Bob Quillman had a model for teams winning the conference which is: win your home games and over half your road games and you usually win the league. +1 for a road victory and -1 for a home loss ( zero for a road or home win). +4 wins the league most years. Here is the standings:

Carthage +3
Wheaton +2
NPU +1
IWU +1
NCC 0
Elmhurst -1
Augie -1
Carroll -1
Millikin -4

[iwu70]

Yes, Q's formula was always useful to see where we are.

Big game at IWU on Wednesday -- NPU @ IWU, basically for second place in the standings and a chance to stay close, to chase Wheaton.  Should be interesting.  IWU is playing better now, but I would think NPU would be favored.

IWU'70

[iwu70]

IWU has a crucial patch now -- 4 games in six days, including the two re-scheduled games on the West Coast.  If they can go 4-0 in this stretch it will be herculean. . .  with all the travel etc.   Linfield and George Fox in Oregon, then back to CCIW play.  Key first game is to win at home vs. 5-2 NPU.

'70

[Next Man Up]

Bob Quillman had a model for teams winning the conference which is: win your home games and over half your road games and you usually win the league. +1 for a road victory and -1 for a home loss ( zero for a road or home win). +4 wins the league most years. Here is the standings:

Carthage +3
Wheaton +2
NPU +1
IWU +1
NCC 0
Elmhurst -1
Augie -1
Carroll -1
Millikin -4

Zero for a road loss or home win, me thinks.
USee's fingers were just flying a little too fast over the keys. No big deal. He had it right before the info in parenthesis.