MBB: University Athletic Association

WUPHF · November 26, 2019, 11:57:31 PM

Oh, and yes, Chicago lost to Wheaton tonight.

I watched the ending of that game.

The Thunder played well down the stretch.

Maybe there is a method to the madness of the voters who had Wheaton on their ballots.

The Maroons have played the toughest schedule in the league, but after that initial win over Millikin, have lost 5 straight games. The rest of the non-conference schedule is much more manageable.

jaybird44 · November 27, 2019, 10:35:02 AM

WashU may have still been basking in the afterglow of winning the Lopata Classic. Fell behind 8-0, 10-2, and 15-7...while at the apex of its performance, Webster shot 10 for 16 (.625). From there, the Bears limited the Gorloks to 11 of 40 shooting to bring the final percentage down to .375 (21-56). Jack Nolan deserves a lot of credit for taking turns holding Webster's Josh Johnson to 10 points (2 in the 2nd half)...ten points below his average.

WashU's 14 treys were three away from tying the program's single-game record. It's now averaging 9.2 3s/game. The trend is encouraging, especially if it can be maintained and enhanced in conference play. Nolan had all six of his in the 2nd half, and Matt Nester had 4 to go along with a season-high 6 assists. Payden Webb added a much-needed 3 as his fellow Bears were slow to get out of the gate.

Justin Hardy is starting to put together a nice collection of double-doubles. His 11 points/11 rebounds combo was his second D-D of the season. And, Hank Hunter is averaging 9.7 ppg in 22 mins/game for a 17.6 pts/40min average.

Things are looking good so far this season...but the Bears need to brace themselves for the landing of the #17 Augustana Vikings this Sunday for a high noon battle Sunday at the WashU Fieldhouse. It will be a part of a busy weekend, as the women of WashU host the Midwest Challenge at 2:00/4:00 Saturday and Sunday!

WUPHF · December 01, 2019, 05:42:05 PM

Washington University defeats Augustana, 73-70.

The Bears prevailed in a game that was hard fought from beginning to end. Nolan struggled from the perimeter but found lots of other ways, finishing with a game high 28 points.

Hunter had a game registering 14 points (5-7, 4-5 FT) and 7 rebounds in just 20 minutes of play interrupted by fouls. Hunter, along with Micah Martin, struggled with fouls for most of the game.

Rucker and Arenas has 8 and 7 rebounds respectively including several late in the game. Rebounds and second chance opportunities were key to this win. Arenas also had 4 assists and is second on the team overall with 20 assists for the season.

By the way, I prefer the offensively more judicious Payden Webb. He had a quiet game offensively with only 3 points, but played good basketball otherwise.

In other UAA games this weekend...

Carnegie Mellon with a quality 71-70 win over Salisbury
UChicago beats Washington College, 85-51
Rochester destroys Keuka, 80-46
Emory defeats Pfeiffer by a record setting margin, 124-112
Rochester over Utica, 69-58
NYU defeats Rosemont College, 88-73
Emory gets a challenge from Maryville, but up 18, I am going to call it a win.

WUPHF · December 02, 2019, 05:53:42 PM

The strength of schedule talk got me to thinking about the games we have left before conference play begins...

Massey is easy so I'll go with that.

Chicago has played a tough schedule at No. 5 but has a 2-7 record to show for it. The Maroons may be able to go 4-0 over the next month to begin conference play just under .500.

Washington University is in second at No. 24.

Everyone else has an SOS at 101 or above.

The SOS with games to be played before conference play begins:

No. 5 Chicago has four games left including Claremont-Mudd-Scripps
No. 24 Washington University has four games left including Illinois Wesleyan
No. 101 Case Western Reserve has five games left including UMass-Dartmouth and Albion
No. 120 Emory has four games left including UW-Oshkosh and Guilford
No. 136 Brandeis has five games left including Tufts
No. 190 Carnegie Mellon has six games left
No. 227 Rochester has three games left including Swarthmore
No. 320 NYU has four games left

WUPHF · December 03, 2019, 09:22:24 PM

Brandeis defeats 0-6 Lasell in overtime, 84-81.

The Judges trailed for most of the game, but Colin Sawyer with the late game heroics forced the overtime and edged the winless Lasers.

Lasell has one of the smallest gyms but the crowd was very loud.

I've seen this with Emerson live streams and a few other Boston area teams. How does a team like this with a record like this in a city like this draw such a crowd? People were snowed in?

Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan) · December 04, 2019, 06:42:48 AM

Quote from: WUPHF on December 03, 2019, 09:22:24 PM
Brandeis defeats 0-6 Lasell in overtime, 84-81.

The Judges trailed for most of the game, but Colin Sawyer with the late game heroics forced the overtime and edged the winless Lasers.

Lasell has one of the smallest gyms but the crowd was very loud.

I've seen this with Emerson live streams and a few other Boston area teams. How does a team like this with a record like this in a city like this draw such a crowd? People were snowed in?

It was a weeknight, so you probably had students around - plus Brandeis is the rich school, almost literally across the pond. I'm sure there's a bit of a rivalry, plus I'm sure it was easy for visiting students to get there, too.

WUPHF · December 04, 2019, 11:58:15 PM

I am sure that is right about the Lasell and Emerson crowds.

Brandeis is certainly drawing crowds as they had last season.

Otherwise, a host of UAA games tonight with the league finishing 5-0 for the evening.

Emory, Case Western Reserve, New York University, Carnegie Mellon and Washington University posted victories. Not a lot to say. These wins were expected.

WUPHF · December 06, 2019, 04:42:49 PM

If you are bored and looking for #d3hoops content, here is a profile of Washington University guard Jack Nolan in the student newspaper.

https://www.studlife.com/sports/2019/12/04/athlete-of-the-week-jack-nolan-dishes-about-stepping-into-bigger-shoes/

WUPHF · December 09, 2019, 09:23:02 AM

UAA games over the weekend...

Case Western Reserve defeats Adrian, 78-63
Brandeis falls to Tufts 68-61 but rebounds against Salem State, 97-65
Carnegie Mellon over Behrend
Emory defeats Piedmont, 96-71 to score 90+ for the sixth game.
Chicago over Kalamazoo, 100-84

Massey does not always have the number of Division III games correct, but currently shows an overall conference record of 47-19 and with all the disclaimers, lists the league at No. 3 behind the WIAC and CCIW.

WUPHF · December 09, 2019, 06:18:21 PM

Just a quick UAA footnote: Emory picked up two more No. 1 votes in the latest Top 25 poll after picking up two No. 1 votes last week.

Swarthmore has Johns Hopkins on Tuesday (tomorrow).

Depending on the result, Emory has RV Oshkosh and No. 20 Guilford in a few weeks.

y_jack_lok · December 09, 2019, 07:15:42 PM

^^^ Just to be specific, the #20 you refer to is current #20 Guilford.

Results of the games you mention will either futher cement the top two spots or alter things considerably. Swathmore has no games, after Hopkins on Tuesday, until next year. Since Emory's games are the week after Christmas we won't see how these games are reflected in the polling until the first poll of 2020.

WUPHF · December 09, 2019, 11:38:17 PM

Yes, No. 20 Guilford is the team.

Guilford should be ranked No. 20 or better when they play Emory as they only have LaGrange ahead.

WUPHF · December 10, 2019, 11:36:28 PM

Washington University defeats Fontbonne, 86-44.

Kevin Davet led all players with 16 points on 7-8 shooting to go along with 4 rebounds in 10 minutes on the court. Davet had played just 8 minutes between two games prior to this evening. Not much else to say.

In the other UAA game of the evening...

Rochester rallied in the second half to defeat Ithaca, 68-63.

The Yellowjackets get a long break before playing Swarthmore on January 2nd.

WUPHF · December 18, 2019, 02:04:23 PM

In UAA games this week, NYU defeated Hunter College and Chicago defeated CalTech behind yet another big game from Cole Schmitz.

Washington University has a key game against Illinois Wesleyan and rather than recap why this 40 game non-conference rivalry is go good, I thought I would propose that another rivalry be rekindled if only for one game.

In the good old days, Washington University regularly played games against the Missouri Valley and Big 8 conference teams as well as other regional programs, including a few that are currently in Division I. Looking at a few of the records:

31-34 Drake
15-26 Creighton
25-15 Grinnell
15-45 Kansas
07-27 Kansas State
31-72 Missouri
15-24 Oklahoma State
37-29 Saint Louis
15-13 Valparaiso

There are the more contemporary rivals including Fontbonne (19-1), Webster (23-3) and Illinois Wesleyan and programs that are not exactly rivals, but have the makings of a rivalry including Augustana, Wheaton, Westminster and so on.

But one program that I would like to see on the schedule an exhibition is Missouri University of Science and Technology. The Missouri School of Mines and the University of Missouri-Rolla used to compete with Washington University football and basketball all the time. The basketball program has a 48-5 record against the Miners.

OK, back to the schedule at hand...

hopefan · December 18, 2019, 11:54:25 PM

Heard in a gym in Orlando Florida....Next season Hope in the Lopata at Wash U.... a possible Hope Wash U match up in a final? I might have to drive 1100 miles to see that one!!!! Hope will have just about everyone back next year... they will be good...

I preached to Coach Edwards for 25 years for this matchup... though they had a great rivalry in the NCAA tourney, Hope never was invited to Lopata.. now 2 years out of St. Louis far away in Florida, it happens... Darn....