MBB: University Athletic Association

[deiscanton]

Halftime at the Palestra in Rochester, NY--

Rochester 39, Emory 36

[deiscanton]

Halftime at Wiegand Gym in Pittsburgh--

Carnegie Mellon 45, CWRU 42

[deiscanton]

Final from the Palestra in Rochester, NY--

Emory 86, Rochester 76

Emory finishes the regular season at 8-6 in the UAA, 17-8 overall-- third place in the UAA.

Rochester finishes the regular season at 6-8 in the UAA, 16-9 overall-- sixth place in the UAA, but with a resume that is arguably better than the UW-Oshkosh 2016-17 resume (17-10, .630 winning percentage) or the UW-La Crosse 2018-19 resume (17-9, .654 winning percentage) because of Univ. of Rochester's 5-0 vs non-UAA RROs UT-Dallas, Nazareth, Ithaca, Middlebury, and Wooster.  Arguably, most of these RROs will be among the top 50 or top 100 resumes in DIII going into the discussion.  (Sam Atkinson in 2018-19, who was national chair of the DIII Men's Basketball Committee at the time, ranked the RROs nationally by means of the NCAA Scoring Tool for purposes of diving into the results v RROs.)

The .640 winning percentage matches UW-Oshkosh 2016-17's resume through 25 games. 

Whether or not Rochester becomes the first non-WIAC team with a win/loss percentage under .667 to get a Pool C bid this year remains to be seen, but Rochester should make the national table for discussion due to their entering the weekend at #2 in Region 3. 

[deiscanton]

Final from Wiegand Gym in Pittsburgh--

CWRU 95, Carnegie Mellon 91

CWRU clinches sole possession of the 2022-2023 UAA Men's Basketball title-- CWRU had clinched the AQ last Sunday.

CWRU finishes regular season in sole possession of first place at 11-3 in the UAA, 21-3 overall.

Carnegie Mellon finishes the regular season tied for 4th place in the UAA with NYU at 7-7 in the UAA, 15-10 overall.

Carnegie Mellon is likely out of the Pool C picture, but still awaits a potential ECAC bid on Monday.

[deiscanton]

Halftime from the Ratner Center in Chicago, IL--

Wash U 26, UChicago 24

[deiscanton]

I am listening to the UChicago pep band on the livestream just before the second half is to start--

Now, I know that it is a popular song to fire up the crowd and get them ready for the game to start-- but as someone born and bred in the Boston area, I always find it strange to hear a pep band perform Dropkick Murphys "I'm Shipping Up to Boston" when neither of the teams playing in the game are representing Boston, nor is the game being played in Massachusetts.  Maybe it is just me.

I find that "I'm Shipping Up to Boston" seems much more natural in Chicago when immediately followed by "Can't Turn You Loose" by the Blues Brothers, but the UChicago band does not play Blues Brothers. 

When not following DIII basketball, I sometimes watch Boston Univ Terriers men's and women's basketball in the Patriot League, and those two aforementioned songs that I just mentioned are always played by the Boston U. pep band either just before the starting lineups are to be announced, or just before the second half is to begin.

[EagleATL]

Final from the Palestra in Rochester, NY--

Emory 86, Rochester 76

Emory finishes the regular season at 8-6 in the UAA, 17-8 overall-- third place in the UAA.

Rochester finishes the regular season at 6-8 in the UAA, 16-9 overall-- sixth place in the UAA, but with a resume that is arguably better than the UW-Oshkosh 2016-17 resume (17-10, .630 winning percentage) or the UW-La Crosse 2018-19 resume (17-9, .654 winning percentage) because of Univ. of Rochester's 5-0 vs non-UAA RROs UT-Dallas, Nazareth, Ithaca, Middlebury, and Wooster.  Arguably, most of these RROs will be among the top 50 or top 100 resumes in DIII going into the discussion.  (Sam Atkinson in 2018-19, who was national chair of the DIII Men's Basketball Committee at the time, ranked the RROs nationally by means of the NCAA Scoring Tool for purposes of diving into the results v RROs.)

The .640 winning percentage matches UW-Oshkosh 2016-17's resume through 25 games. 

Whether or not Rochester becomes the first non-WIAC team with a win/loss percentage under .667 to get a Pool C bid this year remains to be seen, but Rochester should make the national table for discussion due to their entering the weekend at #2 in Region 3.

There were 49 fouls called in the game (resulting in 66 FT attempts), including 5 fouls within the first 90 seconds of the game (all by the same official). In total, Emory had 7 players with 3+ fouls (one fouled out and 2 had 4 a piece). For Rochester, 5 players had 3+ (2 had 4 a piece). Refs definitely impacted the game and made it a FT contest for the last 12 mins. Would have been fun to let them play a little more as both teams definitely tested their bench depth.

Very entertaining, hard fought game. Gutty performances across the board. Both teams are tournament caliber teams. We'll see what Monday brings.

[deiscanton]

Final from the Ratner Center in Chicago, IL--

Wash U 63, UChicago 62

Wash U finishes the regular season in second place in the UAA-- 10-4 in the UAA, 19-6 overall.

UChicago finishes the regular season in last place in the UAA-- 3-11 in the UAA, 10-15 overall.

This concludes conference play in the UAA for the 2022-23 basketball season.

[deiscanton]

Saturday, February 25, 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.)  CWRU at Carnegie Mellon

Carnegie Mellon 78, CWRU 81

Carnegie Mellon has a 41% chance to win this game, and is a +2.5 point home underdog.

Predicted game tempo is 76 possessions per team

O/U total is 158.5

2.)  Wash U at UChicago

UChicago 58, Wash U 63

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

Predicted game tempo is 63 possessions per team.

O/U total is 121.0

3.)  Emory at Rochester

Rochester 78, Emory 75

Rochester has a 59% chance to win this game,  and is a -2.5 point home favorite.

Predicted game tempo is 75 possessions per team.

O/U is 153.5

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

1.)  CWRU 95, Carnegie Mellon 91-- CWRU wins against the spread.

CWRU had approx 73 possessions in the win-- Game tempo just a little slower than predicted.

Game total is 186-- Over wins this one.

2.)  Wash U 63, UChicago 62-- UChicago covers the +5.0 point home underdog spread.

Wash U had approx. 69 possessions in the win-- Game tempo a little quicker than predicted.

Game total is 125-- Over wins this one.

3.)  Emory 86, Rochester 76-- Emory won against the spread.

Emory had approx. 70 possessions in the win-- Game tempo a little slower than predicted.

Game total is 162-- Over won this one.

[E.115]

Several Cleveland news stations covering the CWRU Spartans:

https://www.wkyc.com/article/sports/local-sports/case-western-reserve-mens-basketball-wins-1st-ever-conference-title-2nd-straight-ncaa-division-iii-tournament/95-1dbf46b7-b9be-4556-997f-b6c83aa11d7a

https://www.news5cleveland.com/sports/local-sports/case-western-reserve-university-mens-basketball-team-clinches-first-conference-title-raises-bar-on-program

https://www.cleveland.com/sports/college/2023/02/in-between-brain-popping-classes-is-case-western-reserve-becoming-a-basketball-school-terry-pluto.html

[deiscanton]

Breaking news--

"Mr. UAA" Dick Rasmussen-- the first and only Executive Secretary, Executive Director, and Executive Vice President of the University Athletic Association (in most leagues, the title would be that of Commissioner) announced today that after serving as the head of the University Athletic Association since its inception back in April, 1987, he will officially retire effective at the conclusion of the 2023-24 Academic Year on June 30, 2024.

The UAA has initiated plans to search for a new successor to try to fill what will be some extremely big shoes that will be left behind.

I will not be the only one who will miss Mr. Rasmussen when he leaves. 

uaasports.info/sports/general/2022-23/razretirement

[deiscanton]

So far this season, here are the players who have won at least one UAA Athlete of the Week honor in men's basketball:

1.)  Toby Harris, Brandeis-- 3 times overall, 1 time in UAA play. (Nov. 14 and Dec. 3, 2022, and January 23, 2023)
2.)  Kevin Sax, Carnegie Mellon-- November 21, 2022
3.)  Ryan Algier, Rochester-- November 21, 2022
4.)  Justin Allen, Carnegie Mellon-- November 28, 2022
5.)  Zay Freeney, NYU-- November 28, 2022
6.)  Cinque Stephens, NYU-- December 10, 2022
7.)  RJ Holmes, Carnegie Mellon-- January 3, 2023
8.)  Ethan Edwards, Brandeis-- January 10, 2023
9.)  Benjamin Pearce, Emory-- January 10, 2023
10.) Matt Wiele, Rochester-- January 17, 2023
11.) Mason Johnson, Emory-- January 30, 2023
12.) Cole Frilling, CWRU-- February 6, 2023
13.)  Mitch Prendergast, CWRU-- February 13, 2023
14.)  Spencer Freedman, NYU-- February 20, 2023

Newest addition to the list is a repeat honor--

Cole Frilling, CWRU-- second time this season and in UAA play-- February 27, 2023

This upcoming week, only 6 teams will be eligible to have players named UAA Athlete of the Week for men's basketball.

Good luck to all 5 participating teams in the NCAA DIII tournament (CWRU, Wash U, Emory, NYU, and Rochester), as well as the 1 participating team in the ECAC DIII tournament (Carnegie Mellon).

[deiscanton]

Wednesday, March 1, 2023

Special playoff edition-- Daily score prediction for ECAC DIII Men's Tournament games involving UAA teams 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!

Allegheny at Carnegie Mellon-- 7 PM Eastern.

Winner of this game will travel to Alfred, NY to play #2 seed Alfred Saxons in the ECAC semifinals on Saturday.

Alfred University will be hosting the ECAC semifinals and championship game this weekend.

Carnegie Mellon (#3 seed) 80, Allegheny (#6 seed) 74

Carnegie Mellon has a 70% chance to win this game, and is a -5.5 point home favorite.

Predicted game tempo is 75 possessions per team

O/U total is 153.5

[deiscanton]

Wednesday, March 1, 2023

Special playoff edition-- Daily score prediction for ECAC DIII Men's Tournament games involving UAA teams 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!

Allegheny at Carnegie Mellon-- 7 PM Eastern.

Winner of this game will travel to Alfred, NY to play #2 seed Alfred Saxons in the ECAC semifinals on Saturday.

Alfred University will be hosting the ECAC semifinals and championship game this weekend.

Carnegie Mellon (#3 seed) 80, Allegheny (#6 seed) 74

Carnegie Mellon has a 70% chance to win this game, and is a -5.5 point home favorite.

Predicted game tempo is 75 possessions per team

O/U total is 153.5

Reviewing the result of tonight's ECAC quarterfinal game--

Allegheny 88, Carnegie Mellon 68-- Allegheny, as road underdog, wins outright.

Carnegie Mellon ends their season at 15-11.

Nick Nakasian DNP for the Tartans this evening.

Allegheny improves to 20-9 and will travel to Alfred, NY on Saturday to play #2 seed Alfred in an ECAC semifinal.

Allegheny had approx 73 possessions in the win-- Game tempo went as predicted.

Allegheny shot 35-72 from the field, 16-32 from 3 pt land, and 2-2 from the FT line.

Game total is 156-- Over wins this one.

(Special note-- Thanks for updating me on the results from the other ECAC games tonight, but since Carnegie Mellon is not participating this weekend, I really do not have any interest to write about this year's ECAC tournament any further.)

[deiscanton]

The 2022-23 All-Association Team has been announced:

uaasports.info/sports/mbkb/2022-23/22-23_MBKB_All-Assoc.pdf

Player of the Year:  Mitch Prendergast, CWRU

Defensive Player of the Year:  Charlie Jacob, Wash U

Rookie of the Year:  Benjamin Pearce, Emory

Coaching Staff of the Year:  NYU  (Head coach Dave Klatsky, assistant coaches Chris Thompson, Maurice Kearney, and Ethan Feldman)

First team

1.)  Danny Frauenheim, CWRU
2.)  Spencer Freedman, NYU
3.)  Cole Frilling, CWRU
4.)  Ross Gang, Rochester
5.)  Toby Harris, Brandeis
6.)  Benjamin Pearce, Emory
7.)  Mitch Prendergast, CWRU

Second team

1.)  Ryan Algier, Rochester
2.)  Hayden Doyle, Wash U
3.)  R.J. Holmes, Carnegie Mellon
4.)  Bryce Hopkins, UChicago
5.)  Charile Jacob, Wash U
6.)  Mason Johnson, Emory
7.)  Drake Kindsvater, Wash U
8.)  Jack Stone, Carnegie Mellon

Honorable Mention

Nick Nakasian, Carnegie Mellon
Jair Knight, Emory
Matt Wiele, Rochester