MBB: University Athletic Association

[WUPHF]

AGREED... Tyler Nading, Aaron Thompson should both be obvious entrants....

+1 Hmmm...you got me thinking maybe I should nominate.

[jaybird44]

Wash-U is starting to demonstrate that not only can it score with the best offensive teams in the country, it can also defend well.

The Bears held Rochester to 39% overall shooting, 4 points under its average.  Andrew Sanders had 3 steals, Matt Highsmith had a couple of blocks, and David Schmelter had one of each to go along with 11 rebounds.

The defense turned to quick offense several times, with Wash-U enjoying a 15-2 edge in fast break points, and a 14-3 advantage in points from turnovers (Wash-U only had 6 turnovers, Rochester 15--including 10 in the 2nd half).  And, after Rochester's Ryan Clamage had 22 points against Wash-U in their first meeting, he was held to 7 points on 3-12 shooting.

So, in the battle between the #1 offense in the UAA (Wash-U) and the #1 defense (Rochester), the Bears led by 26 points with 6:19 left in the 2nd half en route to a 77-63-victory...mainly because their defense has significantly improved during UAA games.

Now, all this won't mean much unless Wash-U answers the earlier Sunday wake-up call well (11:00 a.m. Central) vs. Emory...

[deiscanton]

Feature game of the day--

Emory 38 Wash U 37 at halftime.

David Schmelter has a double double to lead Wash U with 12 pts and 10 rebounds.

Whitt Rapp leading Emory with 10 pts and 5 assists.

I have been listening to the game on KWUR internet audio with the student commentary- because my WiFi is having problems with the video feed.  Very entertaining game with insightful student commentary so far.

[deiscanton]

The other halftime scores have all of the home teams leading--

1.). Carnegie Mellon 45, Brandeis 24
2.). Case Western Reserve (wearing the Case Tech Rough Rider uniforms today-- Throwback Weekend) 29, NYU 24 (Game being played at Adelbert Gym)
3.). Chicago 35, Rochester 25

[deiscanton]

Final of our feature game of the day--

Wash U 82, Emory 69

Wash U takes a 2 game lead in the UAA with 5 games left to play, and has the head to head tiebreaker sweep over Emory.

Looking forward to see if at least 1 Top 25 voter decides to go the unconventional route and give a #1 vote to Wash U.  Or will Whitman hold on to all 25 of their #1 votes?

[deiscanton]

All of the home teams won on the men's side today--

1.). Carnegie Mellon 72, Brandeis 58-- Carnegie Mellon gets their first UAA win of the season-- no one is going 0-14 on the conference season.

2.). Case 73, NYU 57

NYU will need 2 wins in the next 5 games to finish with at least a .500 mark and become eligible for ECAC tournament selection.

3.). Chicago 90, Rochester 83

[WUPHF]

Absolutely loved watching Washington University get the win today.

Regarding David Schmelter, I'll have to think about this, but I would say this was his best game in his best UAA weekend in his best month in his best year in a Washington University uniform.  Especially considering the stakes.

17 points and 16 rebounds and 3 assists with only 2 personal fouls in 36 minutes (he had zero fouls against Rochester).  Schmelter would shoot 16 free throws while Christopher Avant and Matt Davet would finish the game with 4 fouls each.  Adam Gigax would foul out.  When Schmelter got the ball...Emory had no answer.

It is worth mentioning that he did this without Andrew Sanders on the floor for most of the game.  Foul trouble has generally not been a problem this season, but Sanders was only able to play 20 minutes today.  Take Sanders out of the game though and this greatly changes the way teams must defend the paint.

Kevin Kucera (19), Matt Highsmith (16) and Jack Nolan (11) would join Sanders and Schmelter in double figures.

Emory looked like they might be ready to get revenge late in the first half as they began to exploit the screens and the subsequent defensive mismatches they created, but Washington University made the necessary halftime adjustments and played much better defense in the second.

Matt Davet was the most valuable freshman on the floor today finishing with 13 points including 3-7 from three point range.  Davet is going to be very good.  Williams finished with 12 but needed 14 shots to get there.

[y_jack_lok]

^^^ That's a fabulous write up of the game. +1. Glad you are back on the boards. I was sitting upstairs so didn't feel Schmelter's intensity in the way you describe it, but reflecting on it I can see why you say that.

Having watched online the game at Emory last weekend, the Eagles looked like a completely different, and much better, team today, both offensively and defensively, especially in the first half. After Wash U was able to establish a bit of a lead (8-9 points) in the second half I think Emory got worried and didn't execute as well.

Romin Williams is very deceptive with his hesitation moves. Seems like he shouldn't be attempting 3-pointers, though -- at least based on today's performance.

Out of curiosity -- what is the correct pronunciation of Gigax? The Emory announcer from last weekend's broadcast said Jee-jax. The Wash U announcer said Gig-ax.

[jaybird44]

Our PA announcer Scott Cummings conferred with the Emory staff before the game and the pronunciation given was gee (as in lee)-gacks.  Hard Gs on both syllables.

In the ebb and flow of the game, especially when the pace was fast, I tried to emphasize the long "e" of the first syllable but it may have softened closer to a short "i" sound.  My apologies if that was the case.

[y_jack_lok]

^^^ Thanks for the explanation. I put the hyphen in the wrong place. Sorry about that. Should have been Gi-gax. And yes, the Wash U PA announcer, not you,  (I should have been more specific), used hard Gs. I have no doubt that you got it right every time. 

[jaybird44]

Scott checked with Emory staff because there has been at least a couple of different pronunciations of Gigax's name circulating among the populace.  Unfortunate...

[WUPHF]

+1. Glad you are back on the boards.

Thanks man...glad you were able to make the game.  I am not sure if sitting so close to the court gives me a better perspective or just exaggerates everything I see.

Romin Williams is very deceptive with his hesitation moves. Seems like he shouldn't be attempting 3-pointers, though -- at least based on today's performance.

Williams was a point guard in high school and was tasked with running the point in a few games when Whit Rapp was out with the injury.  Williams ran the point for a few possessions in this game and had two highlight reel assists.  Rapp has earned his starting point guard role and then some (current Division III No. 2 in career assists), but Williams needs to be looking for the assist regardless of his role.

[WUPHF]

Looking forward to see if at least 1 Top 25 voter decides to go the unconventional route and give a #1 vote to Wash U.  Or will Whitman hold on to all 25 of their #1 votes?

One thing that has changed in the last two weekends: Rochester went from a three loss team to a seven loss team including two losses to Chicago.

Rochester was a bit of a legacy in the rankings this season after losing 45 points per game and 15 rebounds per game between three of the 10 best players from the league last season.  The voters may be thinking that Rochester should have never been ranked.

Voters may be too busy sorting out the rest of the poll to worry about the Top 3 teams.  Not to mention the fact that Whitman travels to Whitworth this week.

[deiscanton]

Looking forward to see if at least 1 Top 25 voter decides to go the unconventional route and give a #1 vote to Wash U.  Or will Whitman hold on to all 25 of their #1 votes?

One thing that has changed in the last two weekends: Rochester went from a three loss team to a seven loss team including two losses to Chicago.

Rochester was a bit of a legacy in the rankings this season after losing 45 points per game and 15 rebounds per game between three of the 10 best players from the league last season.  The voters may be thinking that Rochester should have never been ranked.

Voters may be too busy sorting out the rest of the poll to worry about the Top 3 teams.  Not to mention the fact that Whitman travels to Whitworth this week.

Yeah, I would not be surprised to see Whitman still unanimous #1 either.  I think Whitman wins Tuesday night as well.

Looking forward to seeing Wash U on Friday-- although maybe not looking forward to potentially seeing Wash U score 100 points on the Brandeis men!😐

[y_jack_lok]

Romin Williams is very deceptive with his hesitation moves. Seems like he shouldn't be attempting 3-pointers, though -- at least based on today's performance.

Williams was a point guard in high school and was tasked with running the point in a few games when Whit Rapp was out with the injury.  Williams ran the point for a few possessions in this game and had two highlight reel assists.  Rapp has earned his starting point guard role and then some (current Division III No. 2 in career assists), but Williams needs to be looking for the assist regardless of his role.

On December 2nd Emory lost at Hampden-Sydney. I wondered how that happened as Hampden-Sydney has turned out to be pretty bad (5-16 at the moment). A check of the box score shows Romin Williams starting and Whitt Rapp not playing. Perhaps that is at least a partial explanatilon.