MBB: University Athletic Association

[Gregory Sager]

Jake Fenlon hit a trey at the buzzer to give Chicago a 74-72 victory in Cleveland over Case Western Reserve, a victory that, quite frankly, the Maroons didn't deserve.

They took a one-point lead on a Waller Perez layup off the glass with 13 seconds left, and then surrendered an open jumper from the free-throw line to CWRU's David Black with four seconds remaining. The Maroons then got the ball to the frontcourt in a pass that took nine-tenths of a second off of the clock, ran a perfect backdoor screen play that resulted in a Blaine Crawford dunk in the space of barely a second -- and had it waved off because somebody with the Maroons entourage (couldn't tell who) called a timeout that nullified the play. Fortunately for the visitors, on the ensuing inbound they got the ball into Fenlon's hands, and he drained the game-winner just before the buzzer went off.

I say that the Maroons didn't deserve the win because of how absolutely abysmal they were at the line. I've noted several times how poorly Chicago shoots FTs -- 62% as a team coming into the game -- but tonight the South Siders totally bottomed out at the line to the tune of 11-32 (34%). I'm sorry, but if you make barely a third of your free throws, in spite of the fact that you're at the line a whopping 32 times, then you deserve to lose.

To Chicago's credit, the Maroons did wear down the gritty but undermanned Spartans in the paint, and that was a big key to the game. CWRU has a couple of fairly decent bigs in T.J. Duckett and Eric Black, and the Maroons attacked them early and often, to the point where both Spartans bigs had fouled out with three and a half minutes left. Even before that, the foul trouble on Duckett and Black had really opened things underneath the basket for Crawford, Collin Barthel, and (especially) Perez to do damage. Chicago outrebounded CWRU by twelve, and had a huge 21-8 advantage on the offensive glass that really spelled the difference in the game.

Kudos to Chicago for coming back from a fourteen-point first-half deficit (the Maroons missed their first seven treys of the ballgame, eventually shooting 32% from downtown), but they must've headed into the locker room wondering just how they managed to pull out that win in spite of that truckload of clanked freebies.

Perez led the way with 17 and 6, Tyler Howard had a quietly solid 12-5-7 night, the big hero Fenlon finished with 11 points, and Crawford had a 10 and 14 double-double. Barthel had nine boards as well. For the Spartans, Colin Zucker had 14 and six assists, Duckett fouled out with 14 and seven caroms, Sam Hanson scored a dozen, and reserves Eric Black and Connor Nally had 11 and 10 points, respectively. David Black contributed eight boards to the losing cause.

[WUPHF]

Emory fends of the upset bid by Brandeis with a big performance in overtime. 

The final score: 94-85.

[WUPHF]

So, no upsets tonight with Washington University, Rochester, Chicago and Emory getting wins.

Not much to say about that Washington University win over Carnegie Mellon, 70-47.

An awful game indeed in the first with both teams unable to score.  Unfortunately, for the Tartans, the poor shooting continued in to the second half.  The Serbinator did not play in the first half, but he did play a subdued 18 minutes in the second.

As far as the Bears were concerned, they ended up shooting a mediocre 5-22 from the three point line, but I think they might have been 0-15 before they started hitting.  They were not rushing the shot either...  They had 48 rebounds (+8), but should have had more.  Andrew Sanders had a big game, scoring 22 with 12 of those coming from the charity stripe.  David Schmelter finished with 10 and 10 rebounds.

[Greek Tragedy]

Emory fends of the upset bid by Brandeis with a big performance in overtime. 

The final score: 94-85.

Yeah, down 12 at halftime, I was a bit worried for Emory.

[WUPHF]

Yeah, down 12 at halftime, I was a bit worried for Emory.

I am convinced that Brandeis or Carnegie Mellon are going to get a win against someone in the Top 4.  I just hope it is not my team.

[Greek Tragedy]

Yeah, down 12 at halftime, I was a bit worried for Emory.

I am convinced that Brandeis or Carnegie Mellon are going to get a win against someone in the Top 4.  I just hope it is not my team.

Emory may be my adopted team since I have Gigax in one league and Chris Avant in another futures/early bird league. 

[WUPHF]

Emory may be my adopted team since I have Gigax in one league and Chris Avant in another futures/early bird league. 

Definitely a smart regular season call.

It is interesting...if you go back and look at the high school stats for Adam Gigax, there is no way to predict that he might be one of the best in the league.  He averaged 5 points per game his senior season, for example, though I guess he had a few Division I bound teammates.

[WUPHF]

Washington University vs. Case Western Reserve is about to ready to tip.  The Rough Riders will be wearing one to best basketball jerseys I have ever seen.  They will also be playing in Adelbert Gymnasium which opened in 1919.

Live Stream: http://case.edu/livestream/athletics/

[jaybird44]

Wash-U ahead 44-40 at halftime after leading by as many as 16 points in the first half.  Bears very much missed the presence of Matt Highsmith, who is in street clothes and not playing today.  With him off the bench, I think they keep a lead in double-digits.

It will be interesting with a very short bench how the Bears fare in the 2nd half, especially if foul trouble erupts around them.

[Gregory Sager]

Carnegie Mellon beat Chicago in Pittsburgh, 89-80. The Maroons cut a 19-point deficit early in the second half down to two points with 8:05 to go, but the Tartans then responded with a ten-point run of their own to salt it away. Jack Serbin had 22 and 11 for CMU, and was joined in double figures by Ryan Maha, who scored 20, and Seth Henry, who added a 12 and 10 double-double. Chicago was paced by Jake Fenlon, who hoisted up a prodigious 21 trey attempts today; he made ten of them for 30 points. Waller Perez added 13 and seven, and Blaine Crawford scored 11 for the Maroons, who now will likely have to run the table over their next seven games to have any hope of reaching postseason play.

[WUPHF]

Carnegie Mellon is too talented not to get a big win in the league. They are a threat to get a few more.  Congratulations to the Serbinator and the Tartans.
__________

Rochester defeats NYU in a relatively low scoring affair.  NYU is showing promise in what is seriously the biggest UAA rebuild I have ever seen.
__________

Emory gets the win over Brandeis, 84-75 thanks largely to the 27 point, 10 rebound performance of Adam Gigax.  5-10 from three point range.
__________

Washington University fends off Case Western Reserve, 88-77 after a red hot start which included a 16 point lead.  The Bears made 11 of their first 12 shots and shot 68 overall in the first quarter, but they cooled off significantly in the second half shooting a mere 36 percent.  The Bear shot just 21 percent from the perimeter.

The Spartans, on the other hand, used the three point shot to stay in the game.  Three point shooting and the 21 point performance by T.J. Duckett who gave the Bears front court fits.

The rest of the stats looked good including the 22 assists.  Kevin Kucera dished out 8 of those including a few highlight reel passes to Andrew Sanders who finished a career high 30 points.  Sanders has a shot at player of the week honors but may be edged out by Gigax who finished with three more points, but needed an extra period to do it.  It is not often the league leading team has no player of the week honors, but alas...

The fact that Matt Highsmith did not play is a concern.  As Coach Edwards always says, this team has 7 starters and the loss of Highsmith would be as big as any.  Let's see...

Incidentally, Washington University ranks 3rd nationally in assists to turnovers according to the last set of stats.

[WUPHF]

We have officially reached the half-way point in league play and so a quick look at the standings...

7-0 Washington University
6-1 Rochester
5-2 Emory
4-3 Carnegie Mellon
3-4 Chicago

I'll say this now because I may lose my chance to say it, but this is more or less how I predicted it early on.  Well, I had Chicago in fourth, but I think the Maroons will move back in to fourth next weekend.

I am going to go ahead and say that this is a three-team race.  Three teams would have to experience too many let-downs for Carnegie Mellon and Chicago to have a chance even if it is technically possible.  Carnegie Mellon and Chicago are playing for spoiler status.

Weekend No. 5 will feature the top 4 and bottom 4 with Carnegie Mellon and Case Western Reserve at Washington University and Chicago with Rochester and Emory on the road at NYU and Brandeis.

THEN, WEEKEND NO. 6 MAY DECIDE THE CONFERENCE with Emory and Rochester traveling to Washington University and Chicago.

Weekend No. 7 has Washington University and Chicago on the road at Brandeis and NYU with Rochester and Emory serving as hosts to Carnegie Mellon and Case Western Reserve.

Weekend No. 8 has Washington University and Emory at home against Chicago and Rochester...possibly for all the UAA marbles.

[Smitty Oom]

Is the UAA the conference that does no postseason tournament?

EDIT: I just looked it up... It does have the Ivy League type of AQ. Makes sense with this league, although a neutral site for a whole tournament or final four would be very fun as well!

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

Is the UAA the conference that does no postseason tournament?

EDIT: I just looked it up... It does have the Ivy League type of AQ. Makes sense with this league, although a neutral site for a whole tournament or final four would be very fun as well!

The UAA is the only conference in the entire NCAA who does not have a basketball tournament to determine an AQ. Ivy used to be as well, but this year debuts their first-ever tournament.

As we have discussed on Hoopsville the last two shows, while the idea is nice... it is rather complicated for this conference. Not going to happen at least in the short-term.

[WUPHF]

In my time following the league, the UAA has had a championship game of sorts in Women's Basketball between Washington University and Chicago.  The winner decided the champion...or at least would gave forced a coin toss if Chicago had won.  That was a great season. 

I follow the UAA student newspapers and periodically, they write on the subject of a conference tournament.  I looked through my bookmarks to find what I thought was the best student perspective on the matter.  The author even referenced D3Hoops.com.

I do not agree with everything, in general, I agree and have grown to love it the way the UAA decides it.

https://www.chicagomaroon.com/2010/02/26/would-a-uaa-tournament-build-suspense-or-simply-undermine-the-regular-season/