MBB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association

[HOPEful]

Hope draws Mount St. Joseph at the Augustana pod. Not a great location for fan travel, but they get a pretty soft first round game.

Agreed. Might have to make my way over the border into Davenport to try and find some Toppling Goliath beverages at a local establishment.

I really like Alma's match-ups! Would love to see the Scots make a deep run in their first ever postseason!

[Flying Dutch Fan]

Quick stat comparison of Hope & Mt St Joseph.  One common opponent (Albion beat MSJ by 4 their 2nd game of the season).

Offense	% 2pt	% 3pt	% FT
Hope	51.2	35.2	72.4
Mt. St. Joseph	54.1	37.5	74.7
Defense	% 2pt	% 3pt
Hope	47.1	35.3
Mt. St. Joseph	51.8	33.8
Rebounding	Team	Opp	Margin
Hope	37.1	33.5	3.6
Mt. St. Joseph	29.4	32.3	-2.9
Scoring	Team	Opp	Margin
Hope	79.2	68	11.2
Mt. St. Joseph	73.6	69.2	4.4
3 point shooting	Attempts	Made	Made/game
Hope	551	194	7.5
Mt. St. Joseph	550	206	7.6
Blocks	Total	per game
Hope	79	3
Mt. St. Joseph	39	1.4
Steals	Total	per game
Hope	226	8.7
Mt. St. Joseph	153	5.7
Turnovers	Total	per game
Hope	327	12.6
Mt. St. Joseph	243	9
Assists	Total	per game
Hope	390	15
Mt. St. Joseph	366	13.6
Assist/Turnover
Hope	1.19
Mt. St. Joseph	1.51

[sac]

Someone give Dante Hawkins a hug for his last second heroics against Wheaton and Havover and to Harrison Blackledge for the clutch free-throws at Calvin, to Ben Gardner for the big defensive rebound and free throws at Adrian, to Brock Benson for the big free throws and rebounds at Albion and Chad Carlson for the big shots at Adrian.

[HOPEful]

Someone give Dante Hawkins a hug for his last second heroics against Wheaton and Havover and to Harrison Blackledge for the clutch free-throws at Calvin, to Ben Gardner for the big defensive rebound and free throws at Adrian, to Brock Benson for the big free throws and rebounds at Albion and Chad Carlson for the big shots at Adrian.

I hadn't stopped to think about that... but if Dante misses 1 of those 3 free throws, Hope's season is probably over. 

[sac]

I don't think that's a probably.

[Hopester]

Someone give Dante Hawkins a hug for his last second heroics against Wheaton and Hanover and to Harrison Blackledge for the clutch free-throws at Calvin, to Ben Gardner for the big defensive rebound and free throws at Adrian, to Brock Benson for the big free throws and rebounds at Albion and Chad Carlson for the big shots at Adrian.

Also, Mitchell O'Brien against Wheaton, (10 points in just over a minute I believe) who has since fallen out of the rotation. Totally a team effort to get to this point. They are now in, so there is a chance. Hopefully all the close calls and the battles under pressure will have this team well tested for the gauntlet they will probably have to go through.

Side bar, if Hope does pull off the upset and get to the sweet 16, then they will almost certainly be flying somewhere. As only 3 other teams in the rest of the region are within the 500 miles, and they all have to get past St. Thomas.

I really hope that is a problem we have to face.

See you all in Rock Island!

[HupHolland]

Speaking of Hanover, Mount St. Joseph also split with them 75-61, 69-81 with each team winning at Home. The lions are led by there 3 senior guards; Travis Combs 11.1ppg, Femi Thompson 12.1ppg, and Joel Scudder 15.1ppg. They do start a 6'8 kid but don't get much production out of him

[sac]

They are a better offensive version of Albion.  They also play at a deliberate pace.

[sac]

On the Alma side of things.  The Scots will play at 5pm Friday, the hosts at 8pm which suggests a split session at John Carroll.  I suspect the Scots will travel very, very well to Cleveland.

I watched some of Denison's game with Wittenberg, they have better size than most MIAA schools.  One very good 3-pt shooter.  I would make Alma a favorite but I'm not exactly sure by how much.

[Flying Dutch Fan]

They are a better offensive version of Albion.  They also play at a deliberate pace.

Better against a significantly weaker schedule than Albion using SOS:

Albions .564
MSJ .482

Hope .504

[sac]

Pull out Earlham and their SOS is around .522


Four Factors
eFG%
Hope  51.8%
MSJ     54.9%

TORate%
Hope   15.2%
MSJ      12.6%

OReb%   
Hope     32.6%
MSJ        26.2%

FTRate
Hope      30.6%
MSJ         25.1%

[wiz]

Hello everyone,

I am nervous.

That is all. Carry on.

I find this helps  https://youtu.be/vv-xLUXuycw

I don't watch the NBA, but I'll watch this guy.

Very impressive.  This ties Todd Hennink's 12-14 three point attempts when he scored 41 points in Calvin's 1990 victory over Malone. 

[Flying Dutch Fan]

Massey gives Hope an 84% chance of winning, with a predicted score of 76-66.

[pointlem]

Massey gives Hope an 84% chance of winning, with a predicted score of 76-66.

And, if Hope wins on Friday, Massey gives Hope a 19% chance of beating Augustana, with a predicted score of 68-78.

Indeed, that Saturday matchup--on the home court of the #2 team--probably is the biggest barrier Hope will face, and certainly bigger than any they'd face the ensuing weekend. Not an easy road!

[Dutch_Man]

Sounds like tickets go on sale at 4pm CST at the Carver Center... I would assume that this would mean tickets aren't being sold separately at each school?!? I also wouldn't assume that the Hope/Mount St. Joseph game would sell out but for fans driving to Rock Island without a ticket in hand seems silly... Drive 4.5 hours... wait in line... hope to get a ticket... Am I getting this right?

"The NCAA has set ticket prices for both nights at $10.00 for adults and $5.00 for students. Tickets, which will all be general admission, go on sale at 4:00 p.m. on Friday and 5:00 p.m. on Saturday."
http://www.athletics.augustana.edu/news/2016/2/29/mens-basketball-vikings-open-ncaa-tournament-versus-westminster.aspx