MBB: University Athletic Association

[deiscanton]

Halftime in Midwest games--

Wash U 41, Carnegie Mellon 33

CWRU 37, UChicago 33-- If scoreline holds, CWRU will get at least a share of the UAA title and will clinch the automatic bid to the NCAA DIII Men's Basketball Tournament on the first tiebreaker. (2-0 sweep vs Wash U)

[deiscanton]

Finals in Noon Eastern tip games--

NYU 66, Rochester 52

NYU improves to 6-7 in the UAA, 17-7 overall.

Rochester drops to 6-7 in the UAA, 16-8 overall.

Emory 70, Brandeis 67

Emory improves to 7-6 in the UAA, 16-8 overall, and is now in sole possession of 4th place in the UAA-- 1/2 game back of Carnegie Mellon.  The Tartans are currently losing to Wash U at halftime.

Brandeis drops to 4-9 in the UAA, 12-12 overall.

[deiscanton]

Game update--

Emory 67, Brandeis 67 3.6 seconds left.  Emory ball out of a timeout.

Update-- Benjamin Pearce hits the game winning "3" for Emory.

Final score-- Emory 70, Brandeis 67

[deiscanton]

Game update--

UChicago 47, CWRU 45  11:47 left in regulation.-- Maroons take their first lead of the game in a while.

Wash U 58, Carnegie Mellon 48  11:14 left in regulation.

"UAA Basketball titles are won (or lost) on Sundays."-- former Wash U men's basketball coach Mark Edwards.

[deiscanton]

Game update--

UChicago 56, CWRU 51  7:36 left in regulation.

Wash U 70, Carnegie Mellon 49 6:51 left in regulation.

UChicago is doing their best to make sure that the UAA Men's Basketball race will go to the final day and keep Wash U in the hunt for the AQ.

[deiscanton]

Game update--

UChicago 59, CWRU 58  3:55 left in regulation.

Update-- CWRU has retaken the lead.   CWRU 64, UChicago 61  2:44 left in regulation.

CWRU 70, UChicago 61  1:03 left in regulation.   CWRU about to clinch the Pool A automatic bid.

[deiscanton]

Finals in Midwest games--

Wash U 81, Carnegie Mellon 57--  Carnegie Mellon has been eliminated from the UAA title race, and most likely the NCAA postseason.

Wash U improves to 9-4 in the UAA, 18-6 overall-- remains in second place in the UAA-- 1/2 game behind CWRU.

Carnegie Mellon drops to 7-6 in the UAA, 15-9 overall, and is tied with Emory for third place in the UAA.

CWRU 76, UChicago 67-- CWRU clinches the 2022-2023 UAA Men's Basketball AQ by virtue of tiebreaker with Wash U, and wins at least a share of the UAA Men's Basketball title.

CWRU improves to 10-3 in the UAA, 20-3 overall.  With a 1 game lead over Wash U with 1 game to play, CWRU is assured of a trophy from the UAA office for at least a Co-Championship.  Moreover, by virtue of their 2-0 season sweep vs Wash U, the only other team who could tie CWRU for a share of the title, the Spartans clinch the AQ to the NCAA DIII Men's Basketball Championship.

UChicago drops to 3-10 in the UAA, 10-14 overall, and remains in last place in the UAA.

[deiscanton]

  Congratulations to the Case Western Reserve University Spartans on clinching your first ever UAA Men's Basketball Championship and your first ever Pool A automatic bid to the NCAA DIII Men's Basketball Championship.  Great season so far, Spartans, keep it up and here is hoping for a big run to Fort Wayne! 

[E.115]

Bravo, Case Western Reserve!  Hail to the Spartans of Cleveland!

This league really is incredibly balanced with so nailbitter games from top to bottom.

Here's to as many UAA teams making the tournament as elected.

[E.115]

Additionally, great article on the new Termini locker room at CWRU:

https://observer.case.edu/cwru-renames-mens-basketball-locker-room-after-mark-termini/

I love the old picture with "Case Reserve" on the jerseys.   Before the merger, Western Reserve mostly commonly referred to as only "Reserve."  People forget the rival sports teams picked the two most common names and put them together.   "Case Western" only came about because of the repetition and order of the words.  This is why I am always careful to say the complete "Case Western Reserve" when describing the sports teams...to not lose the legacy of the old "Western Reserve."

[deiscanton]

Sunday, February 19, 2023

Daily score predictions for UAA Men's Basketball Games courtesy of:

tomaroonandgold.blogspot.com/p/division-iii-mens-basketball-efficiency.html

I will be listing home team's predicted score first and away team's predicted score second.

These scorelines are based on Matt Snyder's efficiency ratings program going into today.

Warning: For entertainment purposes only-- Do not gamble on these scorelines!

1.)  NYU at Rochester

Rochester 78, NYU 79

Rochester has a 47% chance to win this game, and is a +1.0 point home underdog.

Predicted game tempo is 70 possessions per team

O/U total is 156.5

2.)  Brandeis at Emory

Emory 77, Brandeis 69

Emory has a 77% chance to win this game in regulation, and is an -8.0 point home favorite. 

Predicted game tempo is 72 possessions per team.

O/U total is 145.5

3.)  CWRU at UChicago

UChicago 72, CWRU 76

UChicago has an 33% chance to win this game, and is a +5.0 point home underdog.

Predicted game tempo is 68 possessions per team

O/U total is 148.0

4.)  Carnegie Mellon at Wash U

Wash U 68, Carnegie Mellon 61

Wash U has a 75% chance to win this game, and is a -7.5 point home favorite.

Predicted game tempo is 71 possessions per team

O/U total is 130.5

Reviewing the results from today-- Winner's score first.

1.)  NYU 66, Rochester 52-- NYU won against the spread.

NYU had 70 possessions in the win-- Game tempo was as predicted.

Game total is 118-- Under won that one.67

2.)  Emory 70, Brandeis 67-- Brandeis won against the spread.

Emory had 66 possessions in the game victory-- Game tempo was a little slower than predicted.

Game total is 137-- Under won that one.

3.)  CWRU 76, UChicago 67-- CWRU won against the spread.

CWRU had 67 possessions in the win-- Game tempo was about as predicted.

Game total is 143-- Under won that one.

4.)  Wash U 81, Carnegie Mellon 57-- Wash U easily covers the spread.

Wash U had 65 possessions in the win-- Game tempo was slower than predicted.

Game total is 138-- Over won that one.

[deiscanton]

Here are the tip times for the final round of UAA Men's Basketball play for the season--


Friday, February 24, 2023

Brandeis at NYU--  Game is at the Brooklyn Athletic Facility-- tip time is 6 PM Eastern.  This has been the originally scheduled time of that game since the beginning of the season. 

As you may recall, last season, the Omicron variant played havoc with the Brandeis men's basketball scheduling in the second half of the season.   IMO, the reason why Brandeis at NYU is scheduled this year on the originally released schedule back in October 2022 for Friday evening this week and not Saturday afternoon was that if a new COVID 19 surge did play havoc on the scheduling again this season, the Brandeis at NYU series on both the men's and the women's side could have been played as a home and home series Friday and Sunday of this week.

Saturday, February 25, 2023

1.)  Emory at Rochester-- 2 PM Eastern
2.)  CWRU at Carnegie Mellon-- 3 PM Eastern.
3.)  Wash U at UChicago-- 3 PM Central/4 PM Eastern.

[WUPHF]

Player of the Year:  Mitch Prendergast, CWRU  (although Cole Frilling of CWRU finishes a close second in my picks behind Mitch).

Rookie of the Year:  Benjamin Pearce, Emory

Defensive Player of the Year: I could have gone with Ross Gang of Rochester for his leading the UAA in steals per game if Rochester was higher in the standings.   

CWRU has 2 candidates for the honor-- Cole Frilling is one of the leaders in the UAA in defensive rebounds per game.

However, my pick for DPOY is Umar Rashid of CWRU for his blocked shots stat line in UAA play-- currently leading the UAA at 1.9 blocked shots per UAA game.

I agree with your POY and FYPOY picks, but I think the best defender on the best defensive team repeats as the DPOY this season and does so easily.

[deiscanton]

Player of the Year:  Mitch Prendergast, CWRU  (although Cole Frilling of CWRU finishes a close second in my picks behind Mitch).

Rookie of the Year:  Benjamin Pearce, Emory

Defensive Player of the Year: I could have gone with Ross Gang of Rochester for his leading the UAA in steals per game if Rochester was higher in the standings.   

CWRU has 2 candidates for the honor-- Cole Frilling is one of the leaders in the UAA in defensive rebounds per game.

However, my pick for DPOY is Umar Rashid of CWRU for his blocked shots stat line in UAA play-- currently leading the UAA at 1.9 blocked shots per UAA game.

I agree with your POY and FYPOY picks, but I think the best defender on the best defensive team repeats as the DPOY this season and does so easily.

Okay.  Last season's DPOY was Charlie Jacob of Wash U. (with 12 steals and 1 blocked shot in UAA play in the 2021-22 season.)   However, looking at the Wash U defensive stats for UAA play this season, I see that Charlie Jacob only has 10 steals and no blocked shots in 13 games of UAA play this season.    Drake Kindsvater, on the other hand, has 22 steals and 11 blocked shots in 13 games of UAA play.

So, if a Wash U player should be DPOY, since Wash U has given up the fewest points in UAA play this season. then shouldn't Drake Kindsvater get the honor this season?

However, Charlie Jacob did get DPOY last season, so maybe it is more than just stat lines that determine this honor.  If, on the intangibles, the DPOY goes to Charlie Jacob again, then I am not going to complain.

[WUPHF]

I do think it will be the eye test as it was last year. Jacob did not have box score data to point to, but was regularly the primary defender even defending taller players. 

For example, Jacob played substantial minutes on Harris.  Harris averaged 30 minutes per game but was 3-9 and 5-16 in the two meetings.