MBB: University Athletic Association

[Gregory Sager]

Chicago 90
Rochester 87

For a refreshing change of pace, Chicago made its free throws tonight, or enough of them to get by, and it made all the difference in the world. The Maroons have cornered the market on losing close ones this season, and that's directly connected to the fact that they stink at the stripe (60.6% coming into this game). But tonight was a different story.

The Maroons controlled the game almost from the get-go. After surrendering a layup to Zack Ayers in the first minute, the South Siders rang up seven straight points to take a lead that they would not relinquish until the game's final minute. They used a 16-4 run down the stretch in the first half to open up what had been only a one-point lead, and they eventually went into the locker room at intermission up by eight at 45-37.

In the second half they picked up right where they had left off, maintaining a lead that bounced around in the 8-to-12 range for most of the latter stanza before Jake Fenlon buried a 25-footer with a hand in his face as the shot clock expired to put the Maroons at their high-water mark, 81-66, with five and a half to go. I thought to myself, "When you make a shot like that this late in the game to put your team up by 15, which is its biggest lead of the game, it's practically guaranteed to take the heart out of your opponent."

As it turned out, I seriously underestimated the Yellowjackets, who are #4 for a reason. They mounted a furious charge to take their first lead since the opening minute on a Tucker Knox trey from the top of the key with 56 seconds remaining. That made it 85-84 in favor of the visitors, and the large Rochester contingent that was on hand was in full roar. (There are four Chicagolanders on the UR roster, which probably had a lot to do with the fact that the 500 fans in Ratner were split about 50/50.) During that 19-3 run by the Yellowjackets the Maroons went 3-7 from the FT line, and it began to feel like an all-too-familiar scenario for Chicago.

After a timeout, the Maroons ran a play that put both Fenlon and Noah Karras on the far side of the floor. Knowing full well what havoc those two can wreak from anywhere within 23 feet of the basket, the entire Yellowjackets defense swung to their right -- including the guy who was guarding Tyler Howard, who happened to have the ball in his hands in front of the Maroons bench. He sauntered right down the open path to the basket in front of him until Knox managed to come across and foul him at the rim. For once a Maroon made gut-check free-throws, as Howard sank both attempts to put the Maroons back in front, 86-85, with 40 seconds to go. On the ensuing play Rochester managed to get a great look close in, but a five-foot baseline runner was airballed (I could've sworn it was Knox who tossed up the errant shot, but the PBP says it was Ryan Clamage) with 19 seconds left. Jordan Baum grabbed the weak-side rebound, Knox fouled him (fouling out in the process) and, again, a Maroon surprised me by making two clutch foul shots. Seven seconds later Ayers mishandled the ball on a drive, Howard grabbed the ensuing inbound and was fouled, he again made a pair of big FTs, and that was pretty much the ballgame.

Fenlon led the way with 24 points, including eight treys, and was joined in double figures by three of his fellow starters: Howard had 13 (and three steals as well), Collin Barthel had 12 points, and Blaine Crawford contributed an 11 and 10 double-double. Baum had an immaculate 4:0 floor game.

For Rochester, Ayers had a monster 24 and seven in only 20 minutes played, but when you watch that guy play you wonder if he doesn't drive his coach Luke Flockerzi right up the wall. Here's a guy who is 6'10 who can knock down treys from the top of the key like they're layups, but is so awful at the free-throw line that he airballs one of them in crunch time.  (To be fair, he's just under 68% for the season, but he looked terrible there tonight.) He's adept enough with the ball in his hands to take his man off the dribble from the perimeter (and Crawford is no slouch, quickness-wise, as a defender), yet when you throw him the ball in the low post he rushes his shot half the time and clanks it. Meanwhile, the baby-faced assassin scored 20 and had eight rebounds and three steals, plus four assists to only one turnover, but it still felt like a quiet night for him. Perhaps that's because I watched the UC @ UR game online, and Borst-Smith basically ripped out the heart of Chicago and danced the flamenco on it all by himself in the Kodak City. He may look like someone who should be going to bed early so that he can get up and ride his bike on his paper route tomorrow morning, but he's easily one of the most talented players in all of D3. Mack Montague chipped in 12 points, while smart and sneaky-quick PG Jacob Witting dealt seven assists without a turnover.

Great win by the Maroons, who finally managed to close out a good opponent. Alas, it's too little, too late as far as the postseason is concerned, but it nevertheless guarantees the South Siders a winning season, and it's something really tangible upon which they look back with pride at the end of the season.

[blue_jays]

Chicago 90
Rochester 87

For a refreshing change of pace, Chicago made its free throws tonight, or enough of them to get by, and it made all the difference in the world. The Maroons have cornered the market on losing close ones this season, and that's directly connected to the fact that they stink at the stripe (60.6% coming into this game). But tonight was a different story.

The Maroons controlled the game almost from the get-go. After surrendering a layup to Zack Ayers in the first minute, the South Siders rang up seven straight points to take a lead that they would not relinquish until the game's final minute. They used a 16-4 run down the stretch in the first half to open up what had been only a one-point lead, and they eventually went into the locker room at intermission up by eight at 45-37.

In the second half they picked up right where they had left off, maintaining a lead that bounced around in the 8-to-12 range for most of the latter stanza before Jake Fenlon buried a 25-footer with a hand in his face as the shot clock expired to put the Maroons at their high-water mark, 81-66, with five and a half to go. I thought to myself, "When you make a shot like that this late in the game to put your team up by 15, which is its biggest lead of the game, it's practically guaranteed to take the heart out of your opponent."

As it turned out, I seriously underestimated the Yellowjackets, who are #4 for a reason. They mounted a furious charge to take their first lead since the opening minute on a Tucker Knox trey from the top of the key with 56 seconds remaining. That made it 85-84 in favor of the visitors, and the large Rochester contingent that was on hand was in full roar. (There are four Chicagolanders on the UR roster, which probably had a lot to do with the fact that the 500 fans in Ratner were split about 50/50.) During that 19-3 run by the Yellowjackets the Maroons went 3-7 from the FT line, and it began to feel like an all-too-familiar scenario for Chicago.

After a timeout, the Maroons ran a play that put both Fenlon and Noah Karras on the far side of the floor. Knowing full well what havoc those two can wreak from anywhere within 23 feet of the basket, the entire Yellowjackets defense swung to their right -- including the guy who was guarding Tyler Howard, who happened to have the ball in his hands in front of the Maroons bench. He sauntered right down the open path to the basket in front of him until Knox managed to come across and foul him at the rim. For once a Maroon made gut-check free-throws, as Howard sank both attempts to put the Maroons back in front, 86-85, with 40 seconds to go. On the ensuing play Rochester managed to get a great look close in, but a five-foot baseline runner was airballed (I could've sworn it was Knox who tossed up the errant shot, but the PBP says it was Ryan Clamage) with 19 seconds left. Jordan Baum grabbed the weak-side rebound, Knox fouled him (fouling out in the process) and, again, a Maroon surprised me by making two clutch foul shots. Seven seconds later Ayers mishandled a pass, Howard grabbed the ball and was fouled, he again made a pair of big FTs, and that was pretty much the ballgame.

Fenlon led the way with 24 points, including eight treys, and was joined in double figures by three of his fellow starters: Howard had 13 (and three steals as well), Collin Barthel had 12 points, and Blaine Crawford contributed an 11 and 10 double-double. Baum had an immaculate 4:0 floor game.

For Rochester, Ayers had a monster 24 and seven in only 20 minutes played, but when you watch that guy play you wonder if he doesn't drive his coach Luke Flockerzi right up the wall. Here's a guy who is 6'10 who can knock down treys from the top of the key like they're layups, but is so awful at the free-throw line that he airballs one of them in crunch time.  (To be fair, he's just under 68% for the season, but he looked terrible there tonight.) He's adept enough with the ball in his hands to take his man off the dribble from the perimeter (and Crawford is no slouch, quickness-wise, as a defender), yet when you throw him the ball in the low post he rushes his shot half the time and clanks it. Meanwhile, the baby-faced assassin scored 20 and had eight rebounds and three steals, plus four assists to only one turnover, but it still felt like a quiet night for him. Perhaps that's because I watched the UC @ UR game online, and Borst-Smith basically ripped out the heart of Chicago and danced the flamenco on it all by himself in the Kodak City. He may look like someone who should be going to bed early so that he can get up and ride his bike on his paper route tomorrow morning, but he's easily one of the most talented players in all of D3. Mack Montague chipped in 12 points, while smart and sneaky-quick PG Jacob Witting dealt seven assists without a turnover.

Great win by the Maroons, who finally managed to close out a good opponent. Alas, it's too little, too late as far as the postseason is concerned, but it nevertheless guarantees the South Siders a winning season, and it's something really tangible upon which they look back with pride at the end of the season.

Over his past 4 games, Fenlon has lit teams up for 25 three-pointers (52 percent). When he gets rolling, he's one of the best shooters in D3 with a lightning release.

Chicago will also be glad not to see Borst-Smith ever again. Over his 4 years and 8 games versus the Maroons, he's averaged 21.4 points per game (versus his career average of 14.5 PPG).

[jaybird44]

Wash-U's 2nd-half performance vs. Emory was probably the best half that it played this season.  53-26 advantage, fueled by 56% shooting (18-32) and rebounding edge of 29-10.  What is also very encouraging is that the Bears are taking the right shot, no matter where it is in the halfcourt...no settling for 3s or a rushed shot early in a possession.  21 assists (8 by Kevin Kucera) and only 10 turnovers can lead to a high shooting percentage if the shot selection is excellent.  Wash-U is now averaging 94.25 ppg in its last 4 contests. 

The defense was very good, limiting Emory to 39.7% shooting and 2-13 from 3-point range (15%).  Wash-U's 3-point defense has been underrated this season...no situations have developed where the Bears are in an uneven exchange of getting 2s while giving up 3s.

First half wasn't bad for Wash-U...but I was wondering if it had squandered an opportunity to get a double-digit lead with Emory's Adam Gigax limited to 7 minutes and 4 points because of 2 early fouls.  That turned out to be a needless concern, because Wash-U held him scoreless in 9 2nd-half minutes on 0-5 shooting (0-4 from 3-point range).

Andrew Sanders has avoided 2 early fouls in the last several games, and he has become one of the top scorers in the region in the last 5 games.  21 points last night, and averaging 22.8 ppg in the last 5 games.  Clinton Hooks 15, Matt Highsmith 13 off the bench, Kucera with 12, and David Schmelter with perhaps the best overall performance of 12 points, 9 rebounds, and 3 blocks.  Marcus Meyer had 8 points off the bench on 4-4 shooting.

It was a perfect Friday night...a Wash-U win to keep its UAA record perfect at 10-0, and Rochester took a damaging loss at Chicago.  The Bears can now clinch the UAA title with a win at home vs. Rochester Sunday...that would give them a 3-game lead with 3 to play, and the Bears would have the head-to-head tie-breaker advantage over Rochester.

[WUPHF]

He may look like someone who should be going to bed early so that he can get up and ride his bike on his paper route tomorrow morning, but he's easily one of the most talented players in all of D3.

In my time following the UAA, I would say that Sam Borst-Smith would among the players on the top of my list of players most likely to find a home on a Division I roster.  He is not Duncan Robinson, but he there are certainly Patriot League and Ivy League schools that could use him.

[WUPHF]

Halfway through the weekend No. 6, a look at the standings.

10-0 Washington University
8-2 Rochester
6-4 Carnegie Mellon
__________
5-5 Emory
5-5 Chicago
__________
3-7 Brandeis
2-8 NYU
1-9 Case Western Reserve

The prospects of a Washington University win over Rochester tomorrow have been discussed.  If Rochester were to get the win, however, it would set up an intriguing final weekend game between Washington University and Chicago should the top two teams go undefeated next weekend.  Washington University would need to win that game to avoid a tiebreaker scenario.

[WUPHF]

Sundays...

[WUPHF]

If you need a video on how to defend Rochester, I know where to get it.  Scoring on the other hand...

[WUPHF]

Rochester gets the key road win to stay in it.

At least we can say we held Sam Borst Smith to one made field goal.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

The focus of Division III basketball now turns towards the second Regional Rankings. At the same time, conference regular seasons are wrapping up and the pressure of conference tournaments is increasing.

Teams are still trying to jockey themselves for the chance to keep playing in March, but sometimes focusing on March causes teams to lose focus of the next game. Upsets and trip-ups seem to happen often once Regional Rankings start coming out.

On Sunday night's Hoopsville, Dave chats with teams who are hoping to remain on top of their conference standings and thus eventually punch their ticket automatically to the NCAA tournament. But what about the distractions? What about the pressures? Or has it become somewhat routine for some teams?

Hoopsville is presented by D3hoops.com and airs from the WBCA/NABC Studio starting at 7:00 PM ET LIVE. You can watch the show on the official show page here: http://www.d3hoops.com/hoopsville/archives/2016-17/feb12 ... or you can watch the live simulcast on Facebook Live. If you miss the show, you can catch-up on Demand or listen to the podcasts (which will be uploaded at the conclusion of the show).

A reminder the Sunday edition of Hoopsville primarily covers the Northeast, Atlantic, South, and Central regions, but we will answer any questions about all of Division III throughout the show. You can also send your questions to the show and have them featured on the Hoopsville Mailbag segment. Email them to hoopsville@d3hoops.com.

And please consider helping Hoopsville stay on the air like you might help your public television station. The annual fundraising campaign has less than three weeks remaining, but we are no where close to reaching our goal. Click here for more information: Hoopsville Fundraising Page

Guests include (in order of appearance):
- Mark Edwards, No. 5 Washington Univ. men's coach
- Mitch Oliver, Albertus Magnus men's coach
- Judy Blinstrub, Babson women's coach (WBCA Center Court)
- Darrin Travillian, Maryville (Tenn.) women's coach
- Eric McNelley, Eastern men's coach

You can also tune into the podcast(s) after the show has aired:
SoundCloud: www.soundcloud.com/hoopsville
iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/hoopsville/id1059517087

Don't forget you can always interact with us:
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Fundraiser: https://igg.me/at/hoopsville-fundraiser-2017

[WUPHF]

Rochester defeats Washington University to go 1-1 on the season and stay in contention for the title.  The final score: 74-61.

Both teams started slow and struggled offensively.  Rochester found their way late in the first and went in to the locker room up 31-22.  The Yellowjackets were able to extend the lead to 14 in the second half before the Bears began to mount a comeback.  Washington University pulled to within 5 with just over two minutes left but could not close out the game.

Washington University is not a great three point shooting team and that showed today.  Only Jake Knupp scored from outside.  Knupp did go 5-9 from downtown and finished with 17 points and 4 rebounds.  The Bears had only two other players in double figures.  Michael Bregman finished with 10 and Andrew Sanders finished with 11. 

Rochester made Sanders and David Schmelter work much harder today.  They both pounded the ball inside, but the calls that they were getting on Friday did not happen today.

Both teams played tremendous defense.  I do think opponents of either team will definitely be watching this tape.  Rochester held Washington University to 34% shooting and just 12 assists overall.  Washington University was ready for those Rochester pick and rolls and defended the perimeter well, holding Rochester to a 7-22 effort from three point range.  Clinton Hooks struggled offensively, but almost single handily held Sam Borst-Smith to one made basket on 1-8 shooting. 

Washington University remains one game ahead of Rochester and can still get the title with wins over NYU and Brandeis on the road next weekend and Chicago at home in Week 8.
__________

Emory defeated Chicago, 99-88 behind a 36 point effort by Adam Gigax.  Gigax went 13-18 including 5-7 from the perimeter.  Emory was 9-16 from downtown.  This is the best result for Rochester and Washington University as Emory was regionally ranked last week.

In other games, Carnegie Mellon destroyed NYU and Case Western Reserve got their second UAA win over Brandeis.

[WUPHF]

OK, looking ahead with three games left and the UAA title yet to be decided.

Weekend No. 7: Rochester hosts Carnegie Mellon and Case Western Reserve on Friday and Sunday.  Carnegie Mellon lost to Rochester by 30 at home.  Hard to imagine that happens again, though also hard to imagine a Rochester loss in either game.

Washington University travels to the campus of Pace University to play NYU and Brandeis.  Also hard to imagine a loss to NYU, but crazier things have happened.  The Judges have a nice win over Emory at home and been close to a few other big wins at home including a one-point loss to Tufts.

Weekend No. 8: Rochester travels to Emory while Washington University hosts Chicago.

[WUPHF]

The second most important UAA rankings of the season: Winter All-Academic Team.

No. 1 Chicago
No. 2 Washington University
No. 3 Carnegie Mellon

http://static.psbin.com/e/5/3x2k6f53yfdbvg/16-17_UAA_Winter_A-A_Release.pdf

[WUPHF]

Washington University leads NYU at the half, 51-31.

That is 51 points without a made three-point field goal while NYU has 7 which held them close during a 10 minute stretch.  Andrew Sanders and Jimmy Martinelli are tied at 14 points.
__________

Case Western and Emory are locked in a tight game.  The Spartans hold a one point lead with one minutes left.

Rochester held off a Carnegie Mellon run and finished strong winning the contest 82-67.  Zach Ayers finished with 22 to lead all scorers.  Jack Serbin had 18 and 8 rebounds.

[WUPHF]

Washington University defeats NYU, 91-66.

The Bears were great in every regard except for three-point shooting.  They probably would have finished 0-6 if not for freshman Matt Nester. 1-7 is dreadful, but not a problem tonight.

Andrew Sanders and David Schmelter were phenomenal tonight, scoring 24 and 17 respectively with a combined 14 rebounds.  Matt Highsmith and Jake Knupp each finished with 10.  Knupp is the leading three point shooter, but he scored his points in the paint tonight.  Kevin Kucera finished with 12 assists.  The team finished with 26 assists and 6 turnovers along with 37 rebounds (+10).

For NYU, Jimmy Martinelli and Ross Udine led the way with 19 points each.  Martinelli finished with 8 rebounds.  Martinelli is a freshman...

Washington University remains one game ahead of Rochester going in to the Sunday games against Brandeis and Case Western Reserve.
__________

Emory pulled out an overtime win over Case Western Reserve, 99-92.
__________

Chicago defeated Brandeis, 82-74.

Noah Karras had played limited minutes with only one start in the three games since his record breaking performance against Case Western Reserve. But, he started again tonight and led all scorers with 25 on 7-11 shooting from the perimeter.

[magicman]

WUH,

If Chicago beats Wash U, the Bears and Rochester will end up tied at 12-2 in the conference. Both teams would have a loss to each other and a loss to Chicago. What would be the next tiebreaker? Since it would be the same down through the list of teams from top to bottom, is it the road record of conference games? (Wash U would win 7-0 to 6-1, if that's the case.)