MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Titan Q]

Here is the Pantagraph article, the boxscore, and the audio from Ron Rose's postgame interview on WJBC after the IWU/Carthage game...

http://www.pantagraph.com/articles/2008/02/03/usports/doc47a5467056d78256540361.txt

http://www.iwu.edu/~iwunews/sports/mbb2008/IWMBB19.HTM

http://www.wjbc.com/wire2/podsports/00803_IWURose020308_225158.htm


When we interviewed IWU senior Darius Gant immediately after the loss to Augie Wednesday - after an 18 point, 15 rebound performance - he was very disappointed.  Darius basically assumed responsibility for the inability of the Titans to close the game out, saying something to the effect of, "As a senior captain, this is on me."

That's why last night was impressive to me.  Gant was an absolute force the entire game, pulling down 20 rebounds, but especially down the stretch with the game on the line, in a very similar spot as the Augustana game.  With IWU down 71-70 with 3:48 to go, Gant demanded the ball in the low post, got it, and scored to put the Titans up 1.  After a Carthage miss, it was the same thing on the next possession to put IWU up 3 with 2:59 to go.  Freshman Travis Rosenkranz scored to make it a 5 point game at 1:59, then Gant delivered the dagger -- a fast break dunk to push the Titan lead to 7 with 1:21 to go.

Down the stretch, Darius got every big rebound and made every big offensive play necessary for the Titans to win an important conference game.  We once again had him on the postgame show, and he said, "After the Augie game, I just really felt bad, and I felt like as a senior leader I had to do whatever I can.  I know everyone that's come before me - Dauksas, Keelan, Zach - when there were situations like that, those guys stepped up and did amazing things, so as a senior leader I felt like it's my responsibility just to make sure tradition gets passed on."

Bosko said in the Carthage press release, "We didn't have a matchup for Darius Gant.  He's a wonderful player, I like the way he plays, and I give him all the credit."  The Red Men really just do not have an answer for Gant athletically.  In two games vs Carthage, Darius has 34 points, 37 rebounds, and is 12-19 from the field.  He helped IWU to an incredible 48-28 rebounding edge over the visitors last night, and when you out-rebound your opponent by 20, I gotta believe you're going to win just about every time.

Steve Djurickovic was just a ton again.  The kid made a number of tough mid-range jumpshots to stop IWU runs throughout the game and was his usual aggressive self in going to the basket.  I actually think IWU did a pretty good job on him, holding him to 10-24 from the field, but the bottom line is he still scored 28 points.  He just has such great balance with the ball in his hands and just knows how to play the game.

This was a big win for the Titans.  Darius Gant's 22 & 20 performance is on the long list of "special performances" I've seen from great IWU players over the years at the Shirk Center in important CCIW games.  It was great to see a senior step up and lead the way to a win.

[iwumichigander]

I see the IWU-Carthage Box shows that Justin Anthony started for Wesleyan tonight in the place of Travis Rosenkranz. This can't be true---Can it? Is Rosenkranz injured again?

Carthage must have made an entry error in the stat software as Rosenkranz is #10.  IWU has it correct on their site 

[Titan Q]

Any word on whether Jack Sikma will lace up the ol' canvas Chucks and make an appearance?

I don't think Jack will be there, but I'm pretty sure the Titans will start three 1st Team All-Americans - Bryan Crabtree ('97), Adam Dauksas ('06), and Keelan Amelianovich ('06) - and have other All-Americans and All-CCIW players on the roster, like Luke Kasten ('03).  The Titans will be ready!

Titan Hammer, does the uni still fit???

[Titan Q]

Home win = 0 points
Home loss = -1
Road win = +1
Road loss = 0


Augustana (6-2): +2 (road wins at IWU, EC)
Carthage (5-3): +1 (road wins at EC and MU, home loss to NPU)
Illinois Wesleyan (5-3): +1 (road wins at MU, NPU...home loss to AC)
North Central (3-5): +0 (home loss to EC, road win at WC)
Wheaton (4-4): +0 (road win at EC, home loss to NCC)
Elmhurst (4-4): -1 (home losses to CC, WC, AC...road wins at NPU, NCC)
Millikin (2-6): -1 (home losses to IWU and CC, road win at NPU)
North Park (3-5): -2 (home losses to EC, IWU, MU...road win at CC)


Location of remaining games (home/road):

Augustana (6-2): 3 home/3 road
Carthage (5-3): 3 home/3 road
Illinois Wesleyan (5-3): 3 home/3 road
Elmhurst (4-4): 2 home/4 road
Wheaton (4-4): 3 home/3 road
North Central (3-5): 4 home/2 road
North Park (3-5): 2 home/4 road
Millikin (2-6): 4 home/2 road

Upcoming schedule:

February 6
North Park @ Augustana
Wheaton @ Carthage
Elmhurst @ Millikin
Illinois Wesleyan @ North Central

[Naperick]

Can anyone explain North Central's 6 game winning streak over Wheaton?  Is it just one of those things that happen?

I'll give it a try Naperick-----

1. Its the Karma. NCC has been able to brew up the right kind against WC.    8)   
2. As Mr. Sager aptly suggests, the nemesis factor. Todd Raridon seems to have Coach Harris' number.   
3. Over the last 3 years, the Thunder may have had the brightest single star, but on a position by position match up basis, they simply have not had as strong a team as have the Cardinals.   

Thanks for your post, AndOne.

[Naperick]

Last Wed Chris Childs doesn't play a minute for Elmhurst in an OT win against NCC. Sat night he starts, plays 27 minutes, and scores 2 points on 1 for 6 shooting in a loss to Auge. Whats up with that EC fans?

I have seen the last 3 Elmhurst games (2 losses) and I think coach Shearer is just looking for the right combination and can't find it.  Point guard play has been a major problem for the 'Jays and no one has stepped up.  They have tried 3 different guys from what I can see at the games.  Childs has a nice assist/turnover ratio but is not much of a threat to score.

[Naperick]

Cool upcoming promotion at Wheaton...........

OF SPECIAL INTEREST TO WESLEYAN AS WELL AS WHEATON FANS----

The 2/16 game at Wheaton will future a preliminary bout----an alumni game between  teams of former players for the two schools.   8)   8)   8)

That sounds like it would be fun to watch.  I hope nobody gets hurt.  I hope a CCIW poster sees the game and gives us a report.

[Naperick]

Home win = 0 points
Home loss = -1
Road win = +1
Road loss = 0


Augustana (6-2): +2 (road wins at IWU, EC)
Carthage (5-3): +1 (road wins at EC and MU, home loss to NPU)
Illinois Wesleyan (5-3): +1 (road wins at MU, NPU...home loss to AC)
North Central (3-5): +0 (home loss to EC, road win at WC)
Wheaton (4-4): +0 (road win at EC, home loss to NCC)
Elmhurst (4-4): -1 (home losses to CC, WC, AC...road wins at NPU, NCC)
Millikin (2-6): -1 (home losses to IWU and CC, road win at NPU)
North Park (3-5): -2 (home losses to EC, IWU, MU...road win at CC)


Location of remaining games (home/road):

Augustana (6-2): 3 home/3 road
Carthage (5-3): 3 home/3 road
Illinois Wesleyan (5-3): 3 home/3 road
Elmhurst (4-4): 2 home/4 road
Wheaton (4-4): 3 home/3 road
North Central (3-5): 4 home/2 road
North Park (3-5): 2 home/4 road
Millikin (2-6): 4 home/2 road

Elmhurst is in real danger of missing the CCIW tourney.  They have to win their final 2 home games against NCC and NPU and must win at least two of four road games at MIL, IWU, CAR, and WHE.  That won't be easy and 8-6 may not be good enough to make it to the tourney.

[Naperick]

This is probably the wrong place to ask but what does the Karma number mean?  How does that work?  Mine is dropping faster than the stock market which makes me think that my posts are not liked by other CCIW posters.  That's ok and I understood that before I ever made my first post.  I just want to know how the process works.  I'm sorry for posting my questions on this thread.

[Viking Mike]

AndOne,

    Swetella has an abdominal strain and has not started the last two games for this reason.  While Dain's scoring has been down (10ppg), he is a dominant defensive force inside and has been clutch in close games with his steals, rebounding, and free throws.  It is frustrating that a guy of his stature doesn't average 18ppg and 9 rebounds per game, but make no mistake, he is a big key to Augie's success this year and the last two.  In Coach G's system, he plays a lot of players and Dain's minutes are sometimes limited.  Dain also has a habit of silly fouls at times which can limit his minutes.  All in all though, Dain performance has been great.  Last night he and Rukavina held Elmhurst's big guy in check.  He also got a critical rebound with the game still in balance and converted 2 free throws to ice the game.  The player of the game last night, however, was Wessels!  He scored 22 points and was a monster on defense all night.  I don't know how many steals he had but there were many.  Big win for the Vikings last night.  Now they have to take care of business in the Carver Center next week with North Park and Carthage coming in.

[Naperick]

AndOne,

    Swetella has an abdominal strain and has not started the last two games for this reason.  While Dain's scoring has been down (10ppg), he is a dominant defensive force inside and has been clutch in close games with his steals, rebounding, and free throws.  It is frustrating that a guy of his stature doesn't average 18ppg and 9 rebounds per game, but make no mistake, he is a big key to Augie's success this year and the last two.  In Coach G's system, he plays a lot of players and Dain's minutes are sometimes limited.  Dain also has a habit of silly fouls at times which can limit his minutes.  All in all though, Dain performance has been great.  Last night he and Rukavina held Elmhurst's big guy in check.  He also got a critical rebound with the game still in balance and converted 2 free throws to ice the game.  The player of the game last night, however, was Wessels!  He scored 22 points and was a monster on defense all night.  I don't know how many steals he had but there were many.  Big win for the Vikings last night.  Now they have to take care of business in the Carver Center next week with North Park and Carthage coming in.

Viking Mike, I agree with your post.  Wessels was the player of the game but Swetella maybe had the play of the game with that huge rebound.

[Titan Q]

After pulling down 20 rebounds, the Pantagraph quoted Darius Gant as saying the following last night...

"It's a matter of hustle. (NBA Hall of Famer) Bill Russell said rebounds happen below the rim."

Gant, who is listed as 6-4 (and is probably 6-3), leads the CCIW in rebounding:

1. Gant, Darius-IWU (6-4) - 11.4
2. Wiele, Andy-WHEATON (6-8) - 10.8
3. Ruch, Brent-ELMHURST (6-9) - 9.0

[titanhammer]

Any word on whether Jack Sikma will lace up the ol' canvas Chucks and make an appearance?

I don't think Jack will be there, but I'm pretty sure the Titans will start three 1st Team All-Americans - Bryan Crabtree ('97), Adam Dauksas ('06), and Keelan Amelianovich ('06) - and have other All-Americans and All-CCIW players on the roster, like Luke Kasten ('03).  The Titans will be ready!

Titan Hammer, does the uni still fit???

Probably not, but doesn't matter.  They have plenty of former players and don't need to reach down the depth chart to someone that played around the time half these guys were born.  Although, I know Bryan likes it when I play:  anyone that doesn't shoot and sets a screen for him to get open...he likes.

[Titan Q]

IWU freshman shooting guard Sean Johnson is really a streaky player.  It seems that in most games he has a flurry where just starts feeling it...


@ Carthage - 14 pts from 18:56 to 11:12, 2nd half
@ Elmhurst - 20 pts from 18:54 to 2:15, 2nd half
@ North Park - 8 pts from 17:34 to 9:36, 1st half
vs Augustana - 9 pts from 7:41 to 3:44, 2nd half
vs Carthage - 13 pts from 16:22 to 6:29, 2nd half


He'll be having a game where you don't even know he's on the court, and then all the sudden he's making 23-footers.  I'd like to see a more consistent performance from Sean, and I think that will happen as he gets older, but the kid is fun to watch.

[voxelmhurst]

Last night was quite possibly the most frustrating game I've seen Elmhurst play in the last several years.  I will give credit to Augie, who deserved to win, but I must say that the majority of Elmhurst's 17 turnovers were entirelly self inflicted.  Passes going out of bounds when a player wasn't looking, foolish lobs fifteen feet ahead of their target, out of control dribbling straight into a defender.  All of these things happened more than once and they happened for the entire 40 minutes.  I feel if Elmhurst only had their composure a bit more in this game, they probably could have won.

Ruch finished with 12 and Burks with 11, but they had a combined 6 points at halftime and they only started scoring cosistently down the stretch.  Both had shockingly uncharacteristic performances, especially Ruch, who often times wasn't even hitting rim with his hook shots.  Burks going 3 for 8 from the line is just unbelieveable.  But it was that sorta night at RAF.

I must say I do not like Elmhurst's chances after this loss.  Six games remain with four of those on the road.