MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Green Beer]

After a close first half, I was surprised how thoroughly IWU dismantled Elmhurst in the second stanza. Both coaches cleared the bench with 16 players for each team seeing action, including Alex Miller of the triumphant Titans who, while seeing just two minutes of garbage time, managed to earn a T.

It was funny (which is easy to say when your team is ahead), but he flubbed a stuff, hung on the rim like a monkey, and got the T. And then he got pissed off for getting the T.

[Gregory Sager]

After a close first half, I was surprised how thoroughly IWU dismantled Elmhurst in the second stanza.

I wasn't. The 'jays shot a blistering 8-13 (.615) from beyond the arc in the first half, and that's the only reason why they were still in the game at halftime. Now, even keeping in mind the fact that the 'jays are certainly one of the three best trey-shooting teams in the league, that ridiculous .615 is unsustainable over the course of 40 minutes. The 'jays were destined to dramatically fall off that mark in the second half, and when they did they lost their ability to keep up with IWU.

In other words, it wasn't so much about the Titans dismantling Elmhurst as it was about the law of averages catching up to the boys in Carolina blue -- well, that and the corollary fact that the Titans did a good job of defending Dom Trelenberg and Vinnie Adjahoungbeta inside the arc. Take those two out of the offensive equation, especially Trelenberg, and EU becomes totally dependent upon trey attempts that in this case were no longer finding the inside of the cylinder over the course of the back nine.

James Bullock Jr., who tied for scoring honors with Ethan with 22 points, is rapidly rising to an All-Conference level of play.

It's far from certain that North Central is even going to get an All-CCIW player at all, given that the Cardinals are in last place -- but a good rule of thumb is that four wins in conference typically gets you a slot on the All-CCIW team if you're bringing up the rear in the standings.

Ale Diaz has been North Central's best player over the entire run of the season, but I agree that Bullock has been the top Card in league play, and league play is what the coaches look at when they create the All-CCIW team. His numbers against CCIW opponents are very borderline for a second-teamer, but if he sustains what he did in last week's 25 and 22 scoring performances and the Cards manage to win another game I can see him sneaking onto the All-CCIW second team.