MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Gregory Sager]

Apropos of nothing, the new D3hoops.com Top 25 poll came out yesterday. Wheaton stayed right where it was at (#8), while North Park stayed in the ORV category but dropped from 50 points to 12.

[iwu70]

Greg, it seems that in the CCIW composite schedule Carroll is now playing in the women's national championship game . . .  pretty arrogant I would say!   

I'm not surprised that IWU is not in that first alphabetical ranking list.  Nice to see so many CCIW teams there . . . let's hope the league gets 2-3 teams in this year.   

IWU'70

[bbfan44]

Congratulations to Tyson Cruickshank for being named to D3Hoops Team of the Week.

[iwu70]

Congrats to Tyson Cruickshank on the weekly honor . . . again..   He's having a monster year.  Likely the MOP of the year.

IWU'70

[voxelmhurst]

Carroll 65, Elmhurst 64.

Dismal shooting performance from both teams, if we're being honest. Elmhurst especially shot themselves in the foot from the foul line. 9-17 on the night. Not good enough.

[mr_b]

Final from Kenosha: North Park 87, Carthage 84

[iwu70]

IWU scratches by in Decatur in a low-scoring affair, 57-51.

The Titans needed that one. 

IWU'70

[Gregory Sager]

North Park 87
Carthage 84

Marquise Jackson: 24 pts
Jordan Boyd: 20 pts, 10 rebs, 4 stls
Jalen Boyd: 11 pts
Davante Robinson: 10 pts
Kolden Vanlandingham: 7 rebs

Fillip Bulatovic: 21 pts
Antaun Nesbitt: 20 pts, 7 rebs
Colton Sigel: 15 pts
Julian Campbell: 12 pts, 9 rebs
AJ Johnson: 10 pts

North Park almost blew a six-point lead in the final forty seconds -- two spectacular money treys in the corners by the Firebirds, coupled with a really ill-advised NPU drive to the basket that resulted in a blocked shot by Carthage when the Vikings should've simply dribbled out the final eight seconds, made this one more nerve-wracking for us Parkers than it should've been. (I was able to catch the final minute of the game after winding up the postgame show for the NPU women's team here in the crackerbox). But it all came out in the wash, as the Vikings prevailed on the road to earn the reverse split with Carthage. Coupled with Elmhurst's upset loss to Carroll, this all but clinches a first-round bye in the CCIW tourney for North Park.

[lmitzel]

Wheaton 72, NCC 62

I had this up at the table for most of the NCC-Carthage women's tilt, and while the Thunder started well, the Cardinals kept pace for a while and even took a couple leads. But in the second half, it seemed like every time I looked down the Thunder had buried another triple (9-13 in the 2nd half).

Tyson Cruikshank: 33 pts, 5 ast
Nick Schiavello: 10 pts
Andrew Williams: 8 pts, 10 reb

Matt Helwig: 16 pts (9-21 FG, 2-9 3PT)
John Blumeyer: 11 pts, 8 reb
Mitch Lewis: 11 pts

Not gonna say the last two for NCC are must win... but they probably are.

[kenoshamark]

Entertaining game at the Tarble Arena tonight.  Carthage played a strong game and had a lead a few times in the second half, but just couldn't withstand the North Park runs.  I thought the keys for Carthage were minimizing the turnovers.  They had 16 for the game, but I would venture they had double digits of them in the first half alone.  Of the 16 turnovers, it only related into 18 fast break points. 

Carthage used Bulatovic, Nesbitt and Johnson to take turns bringing the ball up the court as to not just wear one person out.  Thought this was a nice strategy and helped limit the turnovers.  Unfortunately, Steve doesn't have a long rotation so there were a few tired errors towards the end. 

Carthage did get all five starters in double figures so again, they were able to spread the scoring around and not just have to rely on 2 or 3 scorers.

I'm really feeling like Nesbitt is their best overall player right now.  Bulatovic will get his points, but Nesbitt is just so efficient with not forcing things, passing the ball, making his free throws and being able to create his own shots. 

I like Campbell and he will be a force in the future, but his next pass will be his first.  Regardless where he gets the ball, he is going to launch it.   Just a little to anxious for my liking, but he will learn. 

As far as North Park, Jackson is the real deal...so quick and strong.  I like how they play defense and put pressure on the other team.  Better start cleaning up their FT shooting though, that will hurt them. 

[GoPerry]

Wheaton 72, NCC 62

I had this up at the table for most of the NCC-Carthage women's tilt, and while the Thunder started well, the Cardinals kept pace for a while and even took a couple leads. But in the second half, it seemed like every time I looked down the Thunder had buried another triple (9-13 in the 2nd half).

Tyson Cruikshank: 33 pts, 5 ast
Nick Schiavello: 10 pts
Andrew Williams: 8 pts, 10 reb

Matt Helwig: 16 pts (9-21 FG, 2-9 3PT)
John Blumeyer: 11 pts, 8 reb
Mitch Lewis: 11 pts

Not gonna say the last two for NCC are must win... but they probably are.

Too much Cruickshank ( 10-13 shooting, 6-9 three) and not enough Helwig ( 6-21, 2-9 trey) for North Central.  #12 in red had plenty of good looks but could not get anything to fall.  His two treys and a few other baskets came in the last 2 or 3 mins when Wheaton was up by 16 and looking to close it out with the game in hand.

A rather strange game in that NCC was a +8 on the offensive glass (9-1) and a +9 on turnovers (4 vs 13) resulting in NCC having 21 more shot attempts (63-42).   That wouldn't typically spell victory unless you shot 20-42 from the field and 14-28 from trey and 18-20 FT like Wheaton did.  Thank you for only playing Mitch Lewis 14 mins or Wheaton's whole starting five would've fouled out guarding him.

[Gregory Sager]

Caleb Newman, a 6'1" guard from T.F. South, has committed to North Park. He had a lot of pursuit from Benedictine, and had UW-Platteville and D2 UI-Springfield interested in him as well.

https://thelansingjournal.com/2023/01/13/bouncing-back-caleb-newman-leads-red-wolves-in-points-rebounds-after-last-years-injury/

[Gregory Sager]

Here's what I have so far in terms of CCIW verbal commits. Please feel free to add to the list:

Carroll
Dennis Estepp, 6'0", Grayslake Central

Carthage
Andy Nash, 6'4", Benet

Illinois Wesleyan
Jackson Niego, 6'0", Lyons

North Park
Caleb Newman, 6'1", T.F. South

Again, these are verbal commits. Doesn't mean that: 1) they've put in a deposit; 2) they're registered for 2023-24 classes; 3) they'll show up on campus in the fall; or 4) they'll show up for the first practice of the season. Such is the nature of the beast in D3.

[lmitzel]

Updated with three rounds to go.

z-Wheaton	12-2
x-North Park	10-3
Carthage	7-6
Elmhurst	7-6
Illinois Wesleyan	7-6
North Central	6-8
Augustana	5-8
Millikin	4-10
e-Carroll	2-11

Wheaton locked up a bye to the weekend, but that was the only clinching that occurred last night. In that three-way tie, Carthage has the edge thanks to a 2-1 head-to-head record (Elmhurst is 2-2, IWU 1-2).

Your clinching scenarios for Saturday are as follows.

• North Park clinches a bye to the weekend with a win at Elmhurst OR losses by Carthage vs Millikin AND Illinois Wesleyan at North Central.
• Illinois Wesleyan clinches a berth in the CCIW Tournament with a win at North Central.
• Carthage clinches a berth in the CCIW Tournament with a win vs Millikin AND either a North Central loss vs Illinois Wesleyan OR an Augustana loss vs Carroll.
• Elmhurst clinches a berth in the CCIW Tournament with a win vs North Park AND either a North Central loss vs Illinois Wesleyan OR an Augustana loss vs Carroll.

The NCC-Augie situation, assuming that's who we're looking at for the final spot, means that the NCC-IWU game is more or less must-win for the Cardinals. The exact tiebreaker scenario is too up in the air at the moment (I don't want to go through 4,096 possible combinations) but salvaging a split with the team in green puts the Cardinals in decent position pending Augie's finale against North Park.

[Gregory Sager]

Nicely done, Lucas!