And the change will only be for one week and it's kind of a necessity.
The change for this week is that I won't be doing the "Games I watched" and "Games I peeked at" by conference. This makes sense because none of these teams are playing conference games and a few of them are even playing each other. So there is that.
And also I'm only going to do five this week (two "Games I watched and three "Games I peeked at"). I figured since I'm going to be covering Whitewater in the St. Norbert Tournament Championship, doing a peek at them against Northwestern seemed a little redundant.
So with that, lets get to games.
Games I Watched
Game I watched: St. Norbert 66, UW-Whitewater 55. Top scorer SNC: Brandon Gries (17). Top scorer UWW: Quardell Young (21).
The Skinny: Both teams played even the first 20 minutes of the game.
UW-Whitewater came out with a 6-0 run to start the second half before St. Norbert answered with a run of their own.
Finally, the Green Knights broke through, grabbing a lead midway through the second half, using efficient offense and heady defense that forced UW-Whitewater out of their rhythm and they couldn't recover.
Point 1: They Are Who We Thought They Were!
This is the St. Norbert team that everyone expected when they picked them first in the Midwest Conference at the beginning of the year.
They stumbled out of the gates, but have since turned it on the last four games, winning all four and executing on both ends of the floor.
On offense, they have been doing it a multitude of ways. They've been doing it inside and outside and running their motion set to perfection. They got excellent looks all night, especially in the second half against the Warhawks, who really looked to get up the line on defense. St. Norbert even used that against them, with back cut after back cut. They were a well oiled machine.
Just as impressive was the defense. They really packed it in to prevent the Warhawks' drive and dish/kick game. They made them take outside shots not off of penetration, which just weren't falling for UW-Whitewater. The drive and kick is the bread and butter of the Warhawks and St. Norbert just took it away for most of the game.
If St. Norbert continues this roll that they are on, they could be a team to be reckoned with come the end of February.
Point 2: Missing Odegaard
The Warhawks were missing sharpshooter Cody Odegaard once again and he could be out quite a long time with a broken hand, according to those on the WIAC message board on D3boards.
This is a key loss and was a key factor in Whitewater's loss on Sunday. What Odegaard gives them is one more shooter for drivers like Quardell Young and K.J. Evans to kick to. More importantly, it's one more guy that really spaces the floor with his range and gives the Warhawks those penetration lanes.
St. Norbert, without Odegaard on the floor, was really able to pack the floor on the drive and prevent a whole lot from getting to the rim or creating. And when they were able to create, it was so infrequent that the Warhawks were in no rhythm to hit those shots when they did present themselves.
The Warhawks will have to figure out this dilemma if teams continue to pack in the defense. And maybe this was just a one-game anomaly and the shots will drop (which could very well be the case), but the fact remains, if they don't get to the paint and create, a lot of offense is taken away from Whitewater, which means they need to find a way to create offense outside of that.
Which maybe means getting it inside on the block to Luke Knoble and Darnell Harris, who didn't get a whole lot of touches inside last night (Knoble only took six shots -- and only made one in the second half -- and Harris only took three inside the arc).
Point 3: Pool C You in March?
One thing this game really does for St. Norbert is boost it's Pool C bid for the NCAA tournament on the off chance they don't win their conference tournament title (which has happened before).
This is the kind of win that distinguishes your resume versus others and obviously goes towards in-region strength of schedule and win percentage.
But if they don't win that conference tourney title and they are sitting on the Pool C bubble, what may very well get them in the tournament is this victory over UW-Whitewater (even though the two teams play again later in the season. Weird, right?).
Basically, what I'm saying is that if St. Norbert stays hot and only loses like two-three times the rest of the season prior to the conference tournament and they miss out on the automatic bid, they'll have a very good shot at grabbing a Pool C bid because of this win.
UW-Whitewater came out with a 6-0 run to start the second half before St. Norbert answered with a run of their own.
Finally, the Green Knights broke through, grabbing a lead midway through the second half, using efficient offense and heady defense that forced UW-Whitewater out of their rhythm and they couldn't recover.
Point 1: They Are Who We Thought They Were!
This is the St. Norbert team that everyone expected when they picked them first in the Midwest Conference at the beginning of the year.
They stumbled out of the gates, but have since turned it on the last four games, winning all four and executing on both ends of the floor.
On offense, they have been doing it a multitude of ways. They've been doing it inside and outside and running their motion set to perfection. They got excellent looks all night, especially in the second half against the Warhawks, who really looked to get up the line on defense. St. Norbert even used that against them, with back cut after back cut. They were a well oiled machine.
Just as impressive was the defense. They really packed it in to prevent the Warhawks' drive and dish/kick game. They made them take outside shots not off of penetration, which just weren't falling for UW-Whitewater. The drive and kick is the bread and butter of the Warhawks and St. Norbert just took it away for most of the game.
If St. Norbert continues this roll that they are on, they could be a team to be reckoned with come the end of February.
Point 2: Missing Odegaard
The Warhawks were missing sharpshooter Cody Odegaard once again and he could be out quite a long time with a broken hand, according to those on the WIAC message board on D3boards.
This is a key loss and was a key factor in Whitewater's loss on Sunday. What Odegaard gives them is one more shooter for drivers like Quardell Young and K.J. Evans to kick to. More importantly, it's one more guy that really spaces the floor with his range and gives the Warhawks those penetration lanes.
St. Norbert, without Odegaard on the floor, was really able to pack the floor on the drive and prevent a whole lot from getting to the rim or creating. And when they were able to create, it was so infrequent that the Warhawks were in no rhythm to hit those shots when they did present themselves.
The Warhawks will have to figure out this dilemma if teams continue to pack in the defense. And maybe this was just a one-game anomaly and the shots will drop (which could very well be the case), but the fact remains, if they don't get to the paint and create, a lot of offense is taken away from Whitewater, which means they need to find a way to create offense outside of that.
Which maybe means getting it inside on the block to Luke Knoble and Darnell Harris, who didn't get a whole lot of touches inside last night (Knoble only took six shots -- and only made one in the second half -- and Harris only took three inside the arc).
Point 3: Pool C You in March?
One thing this game really does for St. Norbert is boost it's Pool C bid for the NCAA tournament on the off chance they don't win their conference tournament title (which has happened before).
This is the kind of win that distinguishes your resume versus others and obviously goes towards in-region strength of schedule and win percentage.
But if they don't win that conference tourney title and they are sitting on the Pool C bubble, what may very well get them in the tournament is this victory over UW-Whitewater (even though the two teams play again later in the season. Weird, right?).
Basically, what I'm saying is that if St. Norbert stays hot and only loses like two-three times the rest of the season prior to the conference tournament and they miss out on the automatic bid, they'll have a very good shot at grabbing a Pool C bid because of this win.
Game I watched: North Central (Ill.) 80, UW-La Crosse 72. Top scorer NCC: Aaron Tiknis (20). Top scorer UWL: Lucas Morrissey (20).
The Skinny: The Eagles jumped out to first half lead in a physical game, coming out scalding hot from deep and speeding up the Cardinals on the defensive end of the floor.
The second half was a different story, as North Central stormed back on the back of their big three -- Aaron Tiknis, Derek Raridon and Landon Gamble.
The Eagles didn't have enough firepower to hang with the Cardinals down the stretch, unable to pull off the upset of the No. 3 team in the nation.
Point 1: Recipe for Disaster
Two things killed the Eagles down the stretch: cold shooting and lax defense.
And once again the two go hand in hand. When the Cardinals started making their run, UW-La Crosse started taking quicker, deeper, more contested shots than they did in the first half when they worked the ball around and got better looks from deep.
This in turn led to runouts for the Cardinals, which forced the La Crosse defense out of position and unable to get consistent stops in the second half when they needed them.
The Eagles even added one more ingredient for the Cardinals win: fouls. La Crosse had three players foul out and committed 28 fouls on the day leading to 38 free throws. NCC made them pay, too, connecting on 33 of those free throw attempts.
Against quality competition like this, the Eagles have to improve their stretch play and handle runs better than they did on Saturday.
Point 2: Defensive Intensity
Another key against a team like North Central is keeping up your defensive intensity.
I know it's one thing to say that but it's another thing to do that. I mean I was a terrible defender myself and had my lapses in defensive intensity.
But to beat a top-5 team it has to be every possession on the defensive end.
The Eagles followed that formula to perfection in the first half, extending their defense out, really denying in the gaps and getting up into the guy with the ball.
This led to 10 turnovers and plenty of points off those turnovers.
In the second half, you could see it just wasn't the same for the Eagles on the defensive end though.
Instead of being there before or right on the catch on the close outs, it became an on or slightly after the catch affair. The gap pressure wasn't nearly as hard as it was in the first half.
This allowed the Cardinals to get into more of a rhythm offensively. You want proof? The Eagles held NCC to just 26 points in the first half and gave up 54 points in the second half.
The Eagles will probably take a good look at that film and realize that if they can play defense like they did in the first half for the rest of the season, they'll be a tough team to beat.
Point 3: Living and Dying by the 3
This is what the Eagles were doing on Saturday. The majority of their field goal attempts were from behind the arc (35 of 56 were from deep).
This worked out just fine in the first half, when the Eagles shot nearly 44 percent from deep.
It didn't in the second half and especially in the middle part of the half, where the Eagles went 2-of-9 in the first 15 minutes of the half. This also included five straight misses from the 13:37 mark to the 5:21 mark of the half.
When the majority of your shots are from deep like it was for the Eagles against the Cardinals, you better be hitting them better than that, especially when NCC is getting it going on the offensive end.
Overall, this game was a good learning game Eagles. They know how good they can be and they know what hurts them. It's the perfect preparation for the rest of the WIAC season.
Games I Peeked At
Game I peeked at: UW-Stout 62, Concordia-Wisconsin 42. Top scorers UWST: Aaron Jenny, Jarvis Ragland (11). Top scorer CUW: Steve Zielinski (10).
The Skinny: I wanted to watch this game, but Wisconsin Dells decided not to have a live stream of the game. That sucks.
Anyway, the Blue Devils played an excellent defensive game, holding CUW to just 24 percent from the field.
It took a little while for the offense to get rolling, which it finally did in the second half, when they shot 57 percent from the field after shooting just 32 percent in the first half.
Anyway, the Blue Devils played an excellent defensive game, holding CUW to just 24 percent from the field.
It took a little while for the offense to get rolling, which it finally did in the second half, when they shot 57 percent from the field after shooting just 32 percent in the first half.
Point 1: Shaking Off the Rust
After going three weeks or so without a game its pretty conceivable that the Blue Devils would be a little rusty coming into their two weekend games.
It showed in their first game against Loras, when they lost 74-67 and shot just 34 percent from the field, including a rough 28 percent in the second half.
They finally got their grove back int he second half of the game against the Falcons on offense. And they did it with balance. Jenny and Ragland each had 11 and Alex Oman and Josh Kosloske each had 10 for the Stout attack.
I'm sure that the Blue Devils were more than thrilled to get back out on the floor and get their legs back underneath them before they get back into conference play on Thursday. They will most certainly need it.
Game I peeked at: St. Norbert 67, Marian 47. Top scorer SNC: Austin Elliot (14). Top scorer MAR: Jake Coenen (12).
The Skinny: This one was pretty on sided all the way through as the Green Knights dominated the Sabres on both ends of the floor.
Norbert really got it done on defense, holding Marian to just 30 percent from the field on the day. The Green Knights, meanwhile, shot 46 percent from the field on the night to advance to their own tournament's championship game against UW-Whitewater.
Point 1: Going in Opposite Directions
This was a game of two teams that seem to be heading in opposite directions as far as their play.
St. Norbert seems to be really getting on a role here as of late, extending their winning streak to three games and doing so in a very convincing manner. They have been doing doing it with great offensive efficiency and a solid, sound defensive effort.
Marian on the other hand, seems to be going backward. For a team that had high hopes this season, they have been struggling heading into the second half of the season.
They have lost three of their last four games, two of which were blowouts and the one win was in double overtime. It just seems like they can't get any kind of run of confidence going.
And in a game where they could've gained some confidence by even just staying with Norbert for awhile, they found none.
Game I peeked at: Wisconsin Lutheran 78, Linfield (Ore.) 73. Top scorer WLC: Tim Demuth (22). Top scorer LIN: A. Batiuk (27).
The Skinny: The Warriors jumped out to a10-point halftime lead on Linfield.
They then held off a furious Linfield charge in the final minutes of the game to collect a win in their second game of the D3hoops.com Classic in Las Vegas.
Point 1: Can They Do It?
Wisconsin Lutheran is a wild card in the NAC South race. They are just an interesting prospect as far as what they bring to the table.
They are a very skilled guard team as shown by Demuth scoring 22 and Nate Bauer scoring 19 and if they can catch fire they are a pretty dangerous team. Especially Demuth, who is a deadly three-point shooter when he is open.
And in the wide open South outside of Aurora, they might just have enough to take home the second spot behind the Spartans if they can play like they did on Sunday.
It'll be interesting to see how it all shakes out with the Warriors and the res of the NAC South come the first part of January.
They then held off a furious Linfield charge in the final minutes of the game to collect a win in their second game of the D3hoops.com Classic in Las Vegas.
Point 1: Can They Do It?
Wisconsin Lutheran is a wild card in the NAC South race. They are just an interesting prospect as far as what they bring to the table.
They are a very skilled guard team as shown by Demuth scoring 22 and Nate Bauer scoring 19 and if they can catch fire they are a pretty dangerous team. Especially Demuth, who is a deadly three-point shooter when he is open.
And in the wide open South outside of Aurora, they might just have enough to take home the second spot behind the Spartans if they can play like they did on Sunday.
It'll be interesting to see how it all shakes out with the Warriors and the res of the NAC South come the first part of January.
That's it for my weekend blog. As always you can follow along on Twitter at @turkdigg40 and I'll be back with my midweek blog soon!
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