MBB: University Athletic Association

[WUPHF]

Hope, University of the Ozarks, and UW-Whitewater.

First weekend of December.

Washington University has just a 2-1 record against Hope, but that loss still stings.
__________

In UAA games, Case Western Reserve got the win over Alvernia.

[WUPHF]

The UAA went 3-0 in games tonight...

Case Western Reserve got the win over UMass Dartmouth, 90-83. 

Cole Frilling finished with 27 points and 10 rebounds.  Cole Frilling!

Carnegie Mellon defeated Washington and Jefferson, 87-70.
__________

Washington University got the win over rival Illinois Wesleyan, 97-88 in an instant classic.

Jack Nolan was sensational down the stretch, but this was a good team win with Rucker taking full advantage of his additional minutes, finishing with 17 points and 7 rebounds.  Rucker was 9-11 from the line.  Webb played very good minutes off the bench and stepped up when other guys had to go to the bench. 

The Bears need to watch the tape and see what they did right in terms of rebounds and wrong in terms of turnovers.

[WUPHF]

Chicago has a good game going against Claremont Mudd Scripps, leading for almost the entire game but could not capitalize on opportunities in the final minute. Staggs win 67-66.

[WUPHF]

A few thoughts on the UAA as the teams play their last 1-2 non-conference games.

The league has exceeded my expectations thanks in part to strong play so far by Carnegie Mellon and Rochester and an over 70% win percentage.

Rochester has an 8-1 behind the play of Kailan Lee and Ryan Algier but the Yellowjackets have played a mediocre schedule and lost to the best team they played.  Swarthmore is next...

Chicago has played the toughest schedule so far but could finish conference play and the season with a losing record.

Brandeis, Carnegie Mellon, Case Western Reserve are all going to be ready for an upset.

Rochester may be biggest threat for an upset against Emory or Washington University, but the Eagles and Bears could go undefeated against the other 6 teams.

Here are the latest Massey Ratings (with SOS)...

No. 6 Emory (80)
No. 11 Washington University (23)
No. 34 Rochester (186)
No. 77 Brandeis (107)
No. 104 Chicago (7)
No. 106 Carnegie Mellon (243)
No. 117 Case Western Reserve (198)
No. 209 NYU (342)

[WUPHF]

A quick look at some of the UAA newcomers...

NYU
Nick Maracuk, So Transfer, 34 minutes, 10 points, 5 rebounds

Miles Somerville, FY, 27 minutes, 10 points, 3 rebounds

Rochester
Ross Gang, So, 20 minutes, 10 points and 5 rebounds

Chicago
Bryce Hopkins, FY, Forward, 19 minutes, 10 points, 4 rebounds

Case Western Reserve
Cole Frilling, FY, Forward, 23 minutes, 11 points, 6 rebounds

Carnegie Mellon
Nick Nakasian, FY, Guard, 19 minutes, 9 points per game

And a host of other honorable mentions.

[deiscanton]

I watched the first half of West Conn v NYU on my Fire tablet.

Ethan Feldman did not start nor play first half for NYU.

Dom Cristiano came off the bench for the first time this season.  2-3 from 2 or range for 4 pts and 1 rebound in 8 minutes of play.

Jaden Narwal got the start in place of Ethan Feldman.

NYU trails by 7 at halftime.

[deiscanton]

Final from Hunter Sportsplex in New York as West Conn defeated NYU today, 80-63.

The NYU men take a trip to the Boston area on January 8 for a game against the Pine Manor Gators at Brunelli Court in Chestnut Hill, MA at 6 PM Eastern. It will be the first meeting ever between these two teams.  NYU was scheduled last year to face Wheelock in the final year of Wheelock's existence as a school.before Wheelock became part of Boston University.  That game was canceled due to weather.

In the bigger game today in Atlanta--

Emory defeated UW-Oshkosh, 87-80, to go to 10-0 on the season.  Emory has a rematch with Guilford tomorrow.  Emory defeated Guilford earlier this season.

[WUPHF]

A few thoughts on the Emory win over UW-Oshkosh.

The five starters for Emory each finished in double figures today and incidentally, four of those starters continue to average in double figures on the season.

Romin Williams scored 24 points today and leads the league with an average of 20.7 points per game; his closest competitors are averaging 19.4 and 18.0.

Emory is currently leading the league in rebounds and was credited for 53 boards today (+16).  Lawrence Rowley finished with 16 rebounds to go along with 11 points for the double-double.

Freshman Greg Lawrence is slowly working his way in to the rotation, averaging 14 minutes per game over the last 3 games and scoring 7 points tonight.

The Eagles coughed up the ball 17 times today including 14 Oshkosh steals.  Emory had been averaging 14 turnovers per game before tonight.  They looked uncharacteristically sloppy today.

[deiscanton]

On a side note--

Congrats to Wash U on capturing the D3 10 Pounds of Gold on December 19 with the victory at Illinois Wesleyan.

Bears first title defense is tomorrow at Millikin.

If Wash U can hold on to that prized possession heading to the games with Emory, maybe we can cue the song "Into the Fire" by Dokken. (Current theme of the National Wrestling Alliance).😃

[hasanova]

Final in ATL:  #21 Guilford 70, #2 Emory 69

Exciting finish to say the least.  GC trailed 48-57 with about 6 minutes to go, but kept plugging.  GC took a 67-66 lead on an inside basket with 14 seconds remaining before EU's Romin Williams hit a long three with three seconds left to go up 69-67.  This appeared to ice it as the Quakers had no time out, but guard Jaylen Gore hit a running three-pointer at the buzzer for the win.  Now 10-2, Guilford avenged a bad season-opening loss to the previously undefeated Eagles in Greensboro back in November.

[WUPHF]

I am enjoying the holidays in WIAC country so unfortunately I did not get to watch the game today. 

Emory had moved to second in the Massey Ratings after the Oshkosh game and results around the Division moved the UAA ahead of the CCIW for second place in the conference ratings.  Massey had given Emory a 75% chance of a win.

I did watch the replay of the final possessions and unfortunately for Emory, the defender lost his man on that final shot and a heck of a shot it was.

Emory shot 44% from three-point range, 89% from the line and outrebounded Guilford 38-37 during their first meeting, but shot 37% from three-point range, 64% from the line and got outrebounded 30-38 today.

Emory finishes non-conference play with a 10-1 record and looks to bounce back.

[y_jack_lok]

I didn't think the defender lost his man. He wasn't right on him when the ball was inbounded but definitely tracked him downcourt. Seemed more like he was being very careful not to foul. Just my impression. The video of the final 24 seconds is in this Tweet: https://mobile.twitter.com/GuilfordMBB/status/1211798917433741312

[WUPHF]

I thought about how to say poor defensive effort and went with lost his man. He may have purposely backed off but that was a mistake.

[y_jack_lok]

I thought about how to say poor defensive effort and went with lost his man. He may have purposely backed off but that was a mistake.

Agreed. A little more of a defensive effort could have slowed down his man for the fraction of a second needed to keep the shot from getting off in time, or made it a tougher shot from a little farther out. The guy was pretty close to the three point line when he took the shot.

[WUPHF]

Washington University loses a tough one to Millikin, 63-61.

The Bears had to play without the services of two starters today and the offense struggled accordingly.

The officials ignored an obvious foul (I think that one gets called 98% of the time) that would have had Jack Nolan at the line for three shots and then the clock operator let the clock run negating any opportunity for the follow-up; probably a tie-up with the possession favoring the Bears and 2-3 seconds on the clock.  The officials were ready to call it a day.

Washington University fans may remember the last time a Coach Scherer led team got the upset win over the holiday break; an 82-75 loss to Elmhurst in the 2008-2009 season.