MBB: University Athletic Association

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

I definitely did not expect the University of Chicago to lose to Rochester, but Rochester was tough at home during non-conference play.

The conference has three teams tied at 4-3 including Case Western Reserve, Emory and Chicago.

At this point a year ago, Rochester was the clear favorite, but they went 1-3 over the last four games of the season giving Washington University one of two big breaks they needed to take the crown.  Three UAA teams would go on to postseason.

It is hard to imagine a Washington University meltdown, but things happen.  Also hard to imagine more than one bid.

This was kind of mentioned, but the trip for Chicago was brutal... left Chicago on Friday for Atlanta at about the same time they would have left for an Illinois Wesleyan game thanks to a canceled flight. As a result, their game in Atlanta was at 10 PM and they didn't finish until after midnight. They then were up at 5am to catch their flight to Rochester. As a result, the team was exhausted and it caught up with them in their Sunday game.

[WUPHF]

Another look at Massey as we enter the second half of conference play.  The UAA remains in a virtual dead heat with the CCIW as the best conference according to Massey.  It is worth noting that the top half of the conference is weaker than in the past few seasons while the bottom half is definitely stronger.  Last season, for example, Rochester and Emory finished at No. 38 and No. 27 while Carnegie Mellon finished in the mid-2XX range.

No. 5 Washington
No. 47 Chicago
No. 48 Emory
No. 56 New York
No. 76 Case Western Reserve
No. 108 Carnegie Mellon
No. 127 Brandeis
No. 145 Rochester

[ADL70]

Pivotal weekend for the Spartans.  They swept Brandeis and NYU at home, if they can accomplish the same feat on the road, it will go along way to a top half finish.


Edit

Nevermind

[WUPHF]

Washington 77
Rochester 61

Washington University defeats Rochester 77-61 to hand Coach Edwards his 600th win. Congratulations Coach! The Bears were led by Chris Klimek who scored 23 points on 10-12 shooting and officially joined 20 other former Bears to have eclipsed the 1,000 career points mark.  It is worth noting that while he is a senior, this is after only three seasons on the floor.

Emory broke the tie for second with a road win over Chicago, 82-74.  Chicago had the lead with two minutes left, but Jake Davis and someone else drained three pointers to give Emory the lead and they held on for the win.  Emory improves to 5-3 in conference play, but they must travel to St. Louis for a Sunday match-up with 8-0 Washington.  A Washington University win on Sunday would give the Bears a four game lead on the field with only three road games left along with two home games.

[Gregory Sager]

Alex Foster made that shot, WUH.

Those of us in the stands at Ratner were treated to a very entertaining and fast-paced game. Chicago actually led most of the way and looked like the better team, although I was impressed with the way that Emory kept mixing up its defenses to keep the Maroons off-balance. Some matchup zone, some extended 1-3-1 (with long-armed 6'9 Austin DaGue at the point), and a lot of trapping.

Jake Davis (28 pts, 10 rebs) was the reason why the Eagles won the game. He was a monster in the second half, scoring 16 points and basically propelling Emory back into the game and eventually into the late lead with his jumpers. He's not flashy, but he's a highly effective offensive force.

[y_jack_lok]

The Bears were led by Chris Klimek who scored 23 points on 10-12 shooting and officially joined 20 other former Bears to have eclipsed the 1,000 career points mark.  It is worth noting that while he is a senior, this is after only three seasons on the floor.

Do you know if he plans to go to grad school at Wash U and play another season?

[WUPHF]

Jake Davis (28 pts, 10 rebs) was the reason why the Eagles won the game. He was a monster in the second half, scoring 16 points and basically propelling Emory back into the game and eventually into the late lead with his jumpers. He's not flashy, but he's a highly effective offensive force.

Your Chicago updates are always much appreciated.  It looks like Davis is a monster again today in St. Louis with 20 first half points so far.

Washington University and Emory are tied at 40-40 at the intermission.  The Bears are shooting well, but have had 6 turnovers so far.

[WUPHF]

Washington University gives the rankings committee something to think about.

[jaybird44]

Indeed.  Wash-U was able to regain the poise it had lost at times in the first half, to outscore Emory 54-40 in the 2nd half.  Emory seemed to be intent on getting under the skin of the Bears at every opportunity...lots of contact on reach-in attempts to gain steals, words in the ears, shoulder and chest bumping after baskets or stoppages of play.  Unfortunately, Wash-U took that bait early and often and did some pushing and jawing of its own in the first half.  Officials didn't pull the reins tight and tell both teams to knock it off, which I thought was a mistake on their part. 

Game was tied at 40 at halftime, after Jake Davis poured in 20 for Emory...including the last basket of the half to erase a 9-point deficit.  Wash-U was able to settle down and not get rattled in the 2nd half, and channeled its efforts into improving its defense.  The Bears held Emory to 35% shooting in the 2nd half, including a 2-for-11 stifling from 3-point range.  Davis ended up with 36, but even he was limited to 33% in the 2nd half.  On the offensive end, the Bears shot 54% for the game and 61% in the 2nd half.  WashU extended the lead to 20 with under 6 minutes to play, and settled for the 14-point win with reserves on the floor for both teams.

Chris Klimek and Alan Aboona each had 25 points, and Tim Cooney added 15 points.  Nick Burt had a career-high 6 assists to go with 9 rebounds.  David Fatoki, Jordan Rapp, and Will Patt combined for 14 points off the bench.  Emory had McPherson Moore and Alex Foster with 11 points each, and Will Trawick had 10,

Where will Wash-U end up in the upcoming poll?  I have the number "3" in my mind for some reason...but folks here don't seem to be too concerned on where the Bears end up in the balloting.  There still is a lot of flour that needs to be sifted before the biscuits are baked and pulled out of the oven at the end of the season.  I'm far more interested in the regional rankings when they are released this week. 

[WUPHF]

Washington 95
Brandeis 82

Washington University moves to 10-0 in the conference after a big road win over Brandeis.  The Bears shot 60 percent from the floor and 60 percent from three point range thanks largely to Alan Aboona who went 6-7 from three point range and 10-10 from the line.  His 30 point performance was exceeded only by Matt Palucki who finished with 32.  Everything he tossed up tonight seemed to drop.

Brandeis looked much better than an 11-10 team.  Brandeis started out hot from three point range, but eventually cooled enough to shoot 50 percent overall.  Congratulations to Ben Bartoldus who scored his 1,000th career point tonight.

Washington travels to New York to play an NYU squad that lost at home to Chicago 68-63.

[jaybird44]

I was surprised that the men's game was so high scoring, given the defensive struggle that was featured in the women's game.  But, if the trio of Aboona, Palucki, and Chris Klimek are shooting well as a unit, opponents have to try and keep up.  I would imagine that Brandeis would have preferred a more modest score in the 60s or 70s.

Some folks watching box scores from afar may be alarmed about the 4-point production from the WashU bench last night.  WashU had 19 fouls...and Tim Cooney, Nick Burt, and Klimek each had 4.  One might think that Mark Edwards was experimenting to see if those starters could log minutes without fouling out.  Klimek played 32 minutes and scored 17 points...Burt had 8 points in 27 minutes, and Cooney logged 23 minutes.  I'd say that experiment worked.  Matt Palucki logged his customary 36 minutes, and Aboona punched in for 39 minutes.  The starters were ironmen last night.

Noe, let's see what happens at NYU after one day of rest.  This may be a game that is geared to test the mettle off the bench, especially after 3 starters put in over 30 minutes at Brandeis.  The Bears' bench has improved significantly over the course of the season, so I'm not wringing my hands in worried fashion.

One more win clinches the outright UAA crown and the AQ...safe travels to the Bears as they try to secure it in snowy NYC.

[WUPHF]

Washington-NYU tied 55-55 with 10 minutes left in the game.  The use of the bench today may be more necessity than experimentation.  The officials have not been particularly consistent on the calls today.

[WUPHF]

Klimek with four fouls, Cooney and Burt with three each. 

[WUPHF]

Washington with a two point lead with two minutes left.

[WUPHF]

Final in a nail biter.

Washington 79
New York 75