MBB: University Athletic Association

[jaybird44]

Wash-U wins tonight at Webster, 80-70 over a determined Gorloks team that made the Bears work extremely hard to post another 50% shooting performance from the floor.

Watched the 1st half in person then monitored live stats in the 2nd half.  Webster's personnel has great hops and good closing foot speed...that made its 2-3 zone very dangerous and hard to dissect.  Wash-U did a great job of moving the ball around the perimeter, side-to-side, and into the paint for good shots--but it was extremely hard work and took a lot of patience to get the best shot on each possession.  Some of the bullet passes the Bears had to throw were close to breaking fingers, it seemed.  But that was needed to find seams in that well-played zone.

Wash-U led 25-10 at one point in the first half, but Hunter Ward cut it to 2 on a 3-pointer with about 3 minutes left in the half.  Unfortunately, Webster turned the ball over deep in the shot clock on its subsequent possession, and Wash-U went on an 8-2 run to lead 35-27 at halftime.  The Bears were able to extend the lead to 17 in the 2nd half, and was able to hold back Webster 80-70.

Wash-U shot 50.8% from the floor and 6 of 18 from 3-point range...Webster was 43% overall and 6 of 18 from the arc.  Wash-U had a 42-32 edge in rebounding, which may have been the most important edge since it kept the Gorloks from getting extra chances to cut into the Bears' lead.  Wash-U was led by Matt Palucki's 21 points/10 rebounds, Nick Burt had 17 points/6 rebounds/8 assists, and David Fatoki had 9 points/9 assists/5 rebounds.  Webster was led by Ahmad Smith's 33 points, CJ Moore's 14 points, and Hunter Ward added 9 points/8 rebounds.

All in all, Wash-U played well in front of a vocal crowd that was intent on getting inside the Bears' ears and minds.  Now, onto another big game with the IWU Titans Saturday night...

[WUPHF]

In advance of the Illinois Wesleyan-Washington University match-up this weekend, a cursory glance at the series. The first meeting between the two teams was during the 1933-1934 season, but they have since played 34 times and Illinois Wesleyan leads 20-15.  They have played every season since Y2K with the following results:

2000-2001 IWU 94-86
2001-2002 WUSTL 81-58
2002-2003 WUSTL 88-75, IWU 85-73 (NCAA)
2003-2004 WUSTL 65-61
2004-2005 IWU 90-70
2005-2006 IWU 83-56
2006-2007 WUSTL 75-63
2007-2008 WUSTL 69-66
2008-2009 WUSTL 93-86
2009-2010 WUSTL 76-71, IWU 75-70 (NCAA)
2010-2011 WUSTL 83-75
2011-2012 IWU 71-56
2012-2013 WUSTL 67-57, IWU 71-67 (NCAA)
2013-2014 IWU 98-73

[howardjp]

http://www.d3hoops.com/columns/around-the-nation/2014-15/tell-it-to-the-judges-brandeis#.VIsIOrObZdM.facebook

Nice piece on Brandeis, post-Amherst win, be interesting to see how the kids develop as they enter league play

[WUPHF]

http://www.d3hoops.com/columns/around-the-nation/2014-15/tell-it-to-the-judges-brandeis#.VIsIOrObZdM.facebook

Nice piece on Brandeis, post-Amherst win, be interesting to see how the kids develop as they enter league play

Have you been following Brandeis closely again this season?  What is your take?

[WUPHF]

I was excited to wake up to a story on KSDK NewsChannel 5 that Washington University had moved to No. 1 in the D3Hoops.com poll, but did they have to use footage from the 83-75 loss to Calvin in the NCAA tournament?

[WUPHF]

The UAA is 46-19 after the first month or so of non-conference play with 1-3 games left for each squad before league play begins.

In 2013, I had suggested that the UAA had suggested that in my time following the conference, I did not remember seeing the top 4 teams rank so low and the bottom 4 teams rank so high.  The final rankings were closer to the norm, but it was definitely interesting to see this early in the season.

The 2014 Massey Ratings have the top 6 teams in the top 100 rankings which is great to see.

December 2013
No. 20 Washington U. 6-2
No. 36 Emory 6-3   
No. 64 Carnegie Mellon 5-1
No. 76 New York University 6-1
No. 88 Brandeis 6-3
No. 109 Chicago 5-4
No. 127 Case Western Reserve 5-1
No. 144 Rochester 5-5

December 2014
No. 1 Washington University 10-0
No. 20 Emory 7-1   
No. 40 Chicago 6-3
No. 41 Carnegie Mellon 7-0
No. 69 Case Western Reserve 6-1
No. 100 New York University 4-2
No. 140 Brandeis 3-5
No. 172 Rochester 4-6

[WUPHF]

It is always interesting to read through the archives. 

Last year, after Washington University dropped a close one to Carthage and a not-so close one to Illinois Wesleyan, there were posts all over D3boards.com suggesting that the Bears were overrated with only four guys worth mentioning.  What a difference a year makes.

I know not everyone agrees, but depth remains a concern in 2014-2015, though as I had previously said, it remains to be seen how much of a concern it will be.  In the game against Illinois Wesleyan, the Bears featured two starters, Matt Palucki and Nick Burt, from 2013-2014 along with two 2013-2014 reserves in David Fatoki and Brandon Staffeil.  Three others who did not play last season saw significant meetings including freshman Matt Highsmith, sophomore Michael Bregman, and junior Mitch Styczynski.

By the way, congratulations to Fatoki on his unreal, career-defining game against the Titans.  Congratulations to Styczynski who also had a career game.  Styczynski and Bregman played remarkably well.

[iwumichigander]

It is always interesting to read through the archives. 

Last year, after Washington University dropped a close one to Carthage and a not-so close one to Illinois Wesleyan, there were posts all over D3boards.com suggesting that the Bears were overrated with only four guys worth mentioning.  What a difference a year makes.

I know not everyone agrees, but depth remains a concern in 2014-2015, though as I had previously said, it remains to be seen how much of a concern it will be.  In the game against Illinois Wesleyan, the Bears featured two starters, Matt Palucki and Nick Burt, from 2013-2014 along with two 2013-2014 reserves in David Fatoki and Brandon Staffeil.  Three others who did not play last season saw significant meetings including freshman Matt Highsmith, sophomore Michael Bregman, and junior Mitch Styczynski.
I
By the way, congratulations to Fatoki on his unreal, career-defining game against the Titans.  Congratulations to Styczynski who also had a career game.  Styczynski and Bregman played remarkably well.

i think the depth problem could resolve itself as the underclass men get minutes.  Palucki is a handful of matchup problems for most teams.

[WUPHF]

I think the depth problem could resolve itself as the underclass men get minutes.  Palucki is a handful of matchup problems for most teams.

I agree and I am definitely not complaining.  This has been an incredibly fun season so far and it is just getting started.

No one has had an answer for Matt Palucki yet.  He has definitely stepped up his game so far, going from 14 points per game to 18 points per game and 7 rebounds per game to 9 rebounds per game.  I forgot to mention that he eclipsed the 1,000 points mark for his career on Saturday becoming the 23rd player at Washington University to do so. 

Also, a few numbers on how he compares nationally:

8th in double doubles
27th in total points and 95th in field goals made
48th in three point field goal percentage and 76 in three point field goal attempts
23rd in total rebounds and 72nd in rebounds per game
63th in free throw percentage and 60th in free throws attempted

[DagarmanSpartan]

Lord have mercy on my Spartans, who are going to play a Division I opponent this weekend.

[WUPHF]

Emory had a respectable showing against the College of Charleston.  Hopefully, Case Western Reserve can say the same about tonight.  At least the video stream is free: http://www.campusinsiders.com/network/patriot_league/live/mens-basketball-case-western-reserve-at-bucknell

[ADL70]

The remainder of CWRU's OOC schedule has been pretty blah. 

Should help prepare the Spartans for WUStL and Emory.

[ADL70]

Spartans down only 2 38-36 at the half.  Spartans were down 9, but battled back and had a 2 point lead for a time 5-4 mins left in the half.

Spartans have only 3 turnovers.  Shooting 7-12 on 3s

I give the Bucknell play-by-play guy props for doing his homework on the CWRU team, but he has to be the most obnoxious play-by-play caller I have head in a long time.

Spartans stayed within 10 till about 9 minutes left, then the game got away.

Final 88-65

[WUPHF]

Mitch!

[jaybird44]

Stick is gaining lots of confidence from his recent success.  Today he was especially needed to stabilize the interior when Nick Burt fouled out with around 5 minutes left.  If Mitch playing with such confidence, I would have been quite concerned down the stretch.