MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Greek Tragedy]

Elmhurst wins 95-85.

NPU and Wheaton in the 2nd OT. Neither team wants to win this game. TOs and missed FTs.

[GoPerry]

Wheaton 100
North Park 107 (2OT)

Congrats to the Vikings who made just enough plays down the stretch to pull out the home W.  Wheaton played hard and left it all out there.  They had their chances in regulation and the 1st OT.  But the struggling free throw shooting finally caught up to them, missing some critical ones in crunch time.  16 turnovers too. 

It was a great game to watch.  Credit to NPU for pulling it out.  Vukovich was dominant in the 2nd OT.  He knew it and made sure the ball stayed in his hands most of the time.

[Gregory Sager]

Double OT final in the crackerbox:

North Park 107
Wheaton 100

Mike Vuckovic: 26 pts, 6:1 a:to
Kolden Vanlandingham: 19 pts, 7 rebs
Lazario Cornish: 17 pts, 8 rebs
William Bates: 16 pts
Marquis Vance: 14 pts, 12 rebs

Soren Richardson: 36 pts, 8 rebs, 6:1 a:to
Devin Martin: 20 pts
Carson Grier: 19 pts, 7 rebs
Kyan VanderWoude: 16 pts, 10 rebs
Brady Wynja: 8 rebs

This was an instant classic. Greek Tragedy was clearly watching some other game, because these two teams worked themselves into a lather trying to win this one. Both sides truly left everything out on the court. There were 17 ties and 13 lead changes, and the final score represented the largest separation between the two teams in terms of points. And it was a well-played contest, too; or at least it was better-played as the game wore on.

NPU outshot Wheaton in all three phases, but that was countered by WC's absolute command of the boards, as Mike Schauer's boys set new CCIW tournament records for most overall rebounds and most offensive rebounds. What was really remarkable is that the Vikings managed to pull off the win despite losing Lazario Cornish and Kolden Vanlandingham to fouls in the first overtime and William Bates to fouls early in the second overtime. They won it mostly because Mike Vuckovic took over the game in the extra sessions, particularly the second overtime, after a quiet start in which he only had three points at the half. It seems remarkable that anybody could take over a game in which Soren Richardson kept doing Soren Richardson things for fifty minutes, but that's exactly what happened. But I'd be remiss if I didn't mention Marquis Vance's performance. He picked his fourth foul with 8:21 to go in regulation, but he finished the game still on the floor. The big thing is that he never let up defensively despite playing with four fouls for the final 14 minutes he was out there, bulldogging both out on the floor and in the paint. Vance was truly remarkable at both ends of the floor.

Perhaps the biggest difference in the game was bench points: North Park had 15, Wheaton had none. Mike Schauer kept trying to plug in new people, but none of them were really giving him anything. NPU got great contributions off of the bench from Julian Campbell and Tyvin Garrison, Jerome Smith provided valuable breathing space for Vanlandingham (although not for Vuckovic, who was on the floor for 48 minutes tonight), and even Harrison Long's cameo was effective.

Wheaton played with heart and passion. For all that Richardson did, he got some heroic contributions from his teammates. As GoPerry said, NPU just made enough plays in the second overtime to push out that very modest lead and make it stick.

I have no idea why the attendance was listed at 300. There were a lot more people than that, probably in the neighborhood of 750-800. It was the noisiest crowd that I've heard in the crackerbox in ages.

On to Bloomington.

[Gregory Sager]

After trailing most of the first half in Elmhurst, the Bluejays pulled out in front in the second stanza and made their not-very-big lead hold up in beating Carroll, 95-85, as both quarterfinals games went chalk. Aidyn Boone had a nearly immaculate shooting game for the 'jays -- 8-9 from the field, 4-4 from beyond the arc, 7-7 from the line -- en route to 27 points, while Dominic Trelenberg and Luke Smith each scored 16 and EJ Marshall pumped in 10 off of the bench. The loss spoiled a great game for Michael McNabb, who tossed in 36 points that included a 6-10 performance from downtown. Lamar Smith had 18 and 7 in his final collegiate game, and fellow senior Jacob Naber chipped in 14 and 7 as well.

So it'll be Elmhurst vs. Carthage in the early game at Shirk on Friday, with North Park squaring off against Illinois Wesleyan in the nightcap.

[GoPerry]

Perhaps the biggest difference in the game was bench points: North Park had 15, Wheaton had none. Mike Schauer kept trying to plug in new people, but none of them were really giving him anything.

This has been a concerning trend over the last 10 games or so.  More specifically, (except for Noah Hedrick who mainly spells Wynja and is not a scorer) those coming off the bench are chiefly 3 point shooters offensively.  And Wheaton's 3 point shooting was poor, a real liability, in their last 10 games.  The fact that they only took 15, well below their average # attempts, (and 2 were garbage clock running out throws) last night might have reflected that realization. 

[Gregory Sager]

Perhaps the biggest difference in the game was bench points: North Park had 15, Wheaton had none. Mike Schauer kept trying to plug in new people, but none of them were really giving him anything.

This has been a concerning trend over the last 10 games or so.  More specifically, (except for Noah Hedrick who mainly spells Wynja and is not a scorer) those coming off the bench are chiefly 3 point shooters offensively.  And Wheaton's 3 point shooting was poor, a real liability, in their last 10 games.  The fact that they only took 15, well below their average # attempts, (and 2 were garbage clock running out throws) last night might have reflected that realization.

Wheaton fans are excited about their team's potential for 2026-27, as well they should be. Any coach in D3 would love to have a returning core that consists of Soren Richardson, Carson Grier, Kyan VanderWoude, Devin Martin, and Brady Wynja. But next season's edition of Wheaton clearly isn't a finished product here at the end of this season; Mike Schauer not only needs depth, he needs functional depth. Whether it's his returning reserves maturing into useful CCIW-level players, the addition of newbies who can immediately step in and do the job at this level, or a combination of the two, he needs guys who, as you said, can do more than just shoot three-pointers at the offensive end. (And some help at the defensive end certainly wouldn't hurt, either.)

[Gregory Sager]

Carroll is another matter. Lamar Smith, Jacob Naber, and Evan Bland are big losses, especially the first two. Taylor Jannsen will have one of the league's best returning players in the dynamic Michael McNabb, as well as a burgeoning talent in Peyton McKenna (who is a good defender but needs to learn how to do more than just be a spot-up shooter offensively in order to achieve All-CCIW status somewhere down the road), a promising alternate shooter in Lucas Parker, and a solid tough-kid defensive stopper in Dennis Estepp. But, boy, pickings look lean for the Pios in terms of who is going to work in the paint in 2026-27. Smith and Naber were dependable and versatile, if not spectacular, but the depth behind them was invisible. Greg Smith got all of the bench minutes at the big-man spots, and, like most freshman bigs, he was a hacking foul waiting to happen during his brief intervals on the floor. The other two underclassman bigs, Matt Leonhard and Brendan Beaumont, combined for a grand total of five varsity minutes this season. Much more so than Mike Schauer, Jannsen really needs to up the developmental curve on guys like McKenna and Parker while at the same time finding big men who can play in this league, whether it's his young incumbents coming into their own or it's imports.

[mwunder]

Mr Sager...great job on the broadcast last night.  I watched the first half of the other quaterfinal game and switched over to your game at the half.  Super atmosphere in the gym that came across on video.  Classy move on your part to mention the Wheaton seniors after their final game.  A great D3 contest.

I, for one, have been super pleased with the CCIW network this season.  Aside from the blue tint of the Millikin half court camera, everything else has been remarkably well done.  There are so many more opportunities for students who want to go into video production or broadcasting now than back in the early 90's when I was a student.

I am curious as to what consequences two outside agitators will face after they acted like fools after the game and proceeded to whip the floor with their belts near the Wheaton bench during the handshake line.  I believe Coach Schauer was the first to confront these students and was visibly upset for a few minutes afterwards...following them out of the camera shot from the one baseline camera. It's too bad that incident put a small blemish on this instant classic of a game.

Great work Greg and team at NPU on the broadcast.

[iwu70]

I expect another hard-fought IWU-NPU game on Friday evening at Shirk.  IWU will still be without Cleveland as he continues to heal with the wrist break.  Kuehl will be starting and hopefully continuing to make contributions to scoring, rebounding and defensively.   Mason Fun has really stepped up in Cleveland's absence. 

Shirk will be jam-packed with the CCIW Indoor Track and Field meet going on there at the same time as the CCIW Basketball Tournament games, Friday and Saturday.  Parking will be at a premium. 

Elmhurst vs. Carthage in the first game, IWU hosting NPU at 7:30 p.m.

IWU'70

[Gregory Sager]

Mr Sager...great job on the broadcast last night.

Thanks! Much appreciated. It was loads of fun to call a game that exciting. Kudos to North Park women's volleyball head coach Mike Sopocy for putting on the headset and joining us on short notice with our two usual color commentators unavailable.

Super atmosphere in the gym that came across on video.

That was probably the loudest crackerbox crowd we've had since the NPU women's volleyball team won their first-ever CCIW tourney title three years ago, and definitely the loudest MBB crowd since the Henry/Robinson/Lake/Cobbs era.

I, for one, have been super pleased with the CCIW network this season.  Aside from the blue tint of the Millikin half court camera, everything else has been remarkably well done.  There are so many more opportunities for students who want to go into video production or broadcasting now than back in the early 90's when I was a student.

Agree on all counts ... including the blue-tinted Millikin halfcourt camera. I feel like I need to take a Dramamine tablet every time that I watch a game from the Griz nowadays.

I am curious as to what consequences two of the NP student body will face after they acted like fools after the game and proceeded to whip the floor with their belts near the Wheaton bench during the handshake line.  I believe Coach Schauer was the first to confront these students and was visibly upset for a few minutes afterwards...following them out of the camera shot from the one baseline camera. It's too bad that incident put a small blemish on this instant classic of a game.

Turns out that they weren't NPU students at all. They were just hanging out in the section inhabited by the Vikings football players. The AD and a couple of other members of the athletics department staff cleared them out and got everybody away from the Wheaton players very quickly.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

I went back and watched the video.  It did seem like it was just three guys WAY too close to the Wheaton bench and they moved off pretty quickly.  Schauer was pointing at one guy specifically - I wonder if something was said?  In the end, we've seen way worse.

[mwunder]

Turns out that they weren't NPU students at all. They were just hanging out in the section inhabited by the Vikings football players. The AD and a couple of other members of the athletics department staff cleared them out and got everybody away from the Wheaton players very quickly.

Thanks for clearing that up and I'm glad it turned out to be someone other than the student body.  Fixed my post above!