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.

[mwunder]

New Poll:   U of Chicago and Nick Roper at #1.

IWU at #16, with ORV Carthage.  (IWU beat Chicago and Nick Roper earlier at Shirk). 

Five games to go.

'70

That didn't age well.

[Gregory Sager]

New Poll:  U of Chicago and Nick Roper at #1.

IWU at #16, with ORV Carthage.  (IWU beat Chicago and Nick Roper earlier at Shirk). 

Five games to go.

'70

That didn't age well.

Poetic justice. Look, as a resident of the Windy City I like UC and I root for the Maroons as far as the UAA is concerned (same holds true for IIT, as I'll back the Scarlet Hawks within the NACC out of civic loyalty), but if someone's going to tout a UAA team on the CCIW board for the sole purpose of making his own team look good, then he deserves the jibe when that UAA team loses.

[blue_jays]

New Poll:  U of Chicago and Nick Roper at #1.

IWU at #16, with ORV Carthage.  (IWU beat Chicago and Nick Roper earlier at Shirk). 

Five games to go.

'70

That didn't age well.

Poetic justice. Look, as a resident of the Windy City I like UC and I root for the Maroons as far as the UAA is concerned (same holds true for IIT, as I'll back the Scarlet Hawks within the NACC out of civic loyalty), but if someone's going to tout a UAA team on the CCIW board for the sole purpose of making his own team look good, then he deserves the jibe when that UAA team loses.

The UAA is stacked again this year and this is new territory for the Maroons in terms of basketball visibility. Losing to the previous #1 team on the road in OT is no big deal. The UAA travel weekends are rough for the road teams so it's inevitable when teams take a few losses. Regan is a lock 1st Team All-American and one of the faves for National POY, IMO. He is the straw that stirs the drink for them.
IWU showed their quality in that win earlier in the season. Those 2 teams could well meet again in the postseason.

[lmitzel]

Updated standings look:

y-IWU	10-3
y-CAR	10-3
ELM	7-5
WHE	6-6
AUG	5-7
NPU	5-7
CRL	5-7
MIL	5-8
NCC	3-10

I had Carthage and Wesleyan win-and-in when I did this over the weekend, but the results went well enough for both that they are guaranteed to at worst host a quarterfinal game. And then NCC staved off elimination with their overtime win and is still mathematically alive for a tournament berth.

Tiebreaker wise, I have IWU back ahead of Carthage since the Titans have a sweep of Wheaton while the Firebirds still have one more with the Thunder, so this is very much temporary. But if both finish 13-3, the Titans would have the tiebreaker since they would have swept Millikin; Carthage split with the Big Blue. I was hoping the "IWU lost at NCC back in December" would play a role but I don't think it will. Alas.

My clinching scenario doc is live. Win totals are filled in, but I probably won't get to seedings until after tomorrow's games are in the books. You should be able to filter results in the top row to pick out "If these things happen, what will win totals be" if you're curious.

[Gregory Sager]

New Poll:  U of Chicago and Nick Roper at #1.

IWU at #16, with ORV Carthage.  (IWU beat Chicago and Nick Roper earlier at Shirk). 

Five games to go.

'70

That didn't age well.

Poetic justice. Look, as a resident of the Windy City I like UC and I root for the Maroons as far as the UAA is concerned (same holds true for IIT, as I'll back the Scarlet Hawks within the NACC out of civic loyalty), but if someone's going to tout a UAA team on the CCIW board for the sole purpose of making his own team look good, then he deserves the jibe when that UAA team loses.

The UAA is stacked again this year and this is new territory for the Maroons in terms of basketball visibility.

Not exactly. Some of us still remember Derek Reich and the 2000-01 Maroons team that reached #1 in the D3hoops.com poll and made it all the way to the Elite Eight. But, yeah, that was a long time ago. It even predates the Ratner Center; I watched Chicago host those sectionals in March 2001 in the ancient Crown Field House, which felt a little like watching basketball games in a medieval European cathedral.

[blue_jays]

New Poll:  U of Chicago and Nick Roper at #1.

IWU at #16, with ORV Carthage.  (IWU beat Chicago and Nick Roper earlier at Shirk). 

Five games to go.

'70

That didn't age well.

Poetic justice. Look, as a resident of the Windy City I like UC and I root for the Maroons as far as the UAA is concerned (same holds true for IIT, as I'll back the Scarlet Hawks within the NACC out of civic loyalty), but if someone's going to tout a UAA team on the CCIW board for the sole purpose of making his own team look good, then he deserves the jibe when that UAA team loses.

The UAA is stacked again this year and this is new territory for the Maroons in terms of basketball visibility.

Not exactly. Some of us still remember Derek Reich and the 2000-01 Maroons team that reached #1 in the D3hoops.com poll and made it all the way to the Elite Eight. But, yeah, that was a long time ago. It even predates the Ratner Center; I watched Chicago host those sectionals in March 2001 in the ancient Crown Field House, which felt a little like watching basketball games in a medieval European cathedral.

True, I guess I meant it more in terms of visibility to people outside the Midwest paying attention to UChicago being this good in men's basketball. Not much streaming in 2001 in D3 realm I would guess. And in terms of recent history, they had like a 17-year NCAA postseason drought, so they felt like the afterthoughts of the UAA for a long time.
Reich is still the best UChicago basketball player in school history and will likely remain in that position for decades to come.

[GusD]

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.

While it would be nice, I didn't necessarily mean this year as different aspects of James' game are still evolving along with his need to consistently produce stellar performances. And, as you indicated, NCC may not have anyone named to the all conference team this season, depending on their final victory total. However, in the future, I wouldn't be surprised to see Dro (as we call him) Diaz and James both achieve All-Conference status.