Midweek Blog 10: Airing of Grievances

Yes. If you must ask, I'm taking my midweek blog's idea from the "Seinfeld" holiday Festivus. I'm going to be airing two of by biggest grievances with the game of basketball in my "1 Big Thing."

But this blog won't all be negative. In fact, I will be adding a new part to my blog coming up in the "5 Worth the Price of Admission" section.

But, alas, it is time to air my grievances.

1 Big Thing

Really my grievances come down to two things that frustrate me as a former forward (I played the 4 spot in college, went inside and out) when I watch the college game. At all levels, really.

And both of these things go hand in hand with each other.

The first one is the refusal of post players to go to their off hand.

Really this seems like kind of a problem for guards as much as it is post players in today's game, which is true. There are still plenty of players that dislike going left, which astounds me.

But it seems like a big problem in the post. Most players just love going over their strong shoulder. Jump hooks or spins to their strong side where there really is no counter or even an attempt to go to their left.

But when defenders actually guard against going that way (more on that in a second) most players don't come back to their left unless it is really overplayed.

They don't feel the pressure and go away from it. Rather, most of them try to bull their way towards the right or end up taking an off-balance shot going away from the basket going to the right, when a simple turn to the left would put them in a prime position to score.

When I was in the post (probably about 30 percent of my playing time), I loved going left. No one knew that it was coming and if they got out of position and tried to get in front and guard me going right, I just spun left and got an easy one or used my up-and-under (another move that seems to be not en vogue anymore that still works. A lot).

But this brings me to my second grievance. Post defenders who refuse or don't get in position quick enough to force post players to their non-dominant hand. 

This seems to be a problem at all levels. Yes most D1 post players are able to beat you with the left on occasion, but I'd much rather them beat me going to their left then giving them their right.

DIII has the exact same problem, where it seems that players just let players beat them going to the right, instead of forcing to the left.

I tried my hardest when I defended in the post to make a person to go to their non-dominant hand (I still fell very much a victim of this, more on positioning then anything). I was successful a few times to draw charges on players who wanted to go right or just frustrate the player into take a poor shot.

Both of these things frustrate me more than anything when it comes to actual play and I see it consistently at all levels. Just thought I would air my grievances with you for awhile and I apologize to those left-handed players as I wrote this based on my right-handedness.

2 Small Things

-Will the WIAC garner three NCAA tournament teams?

This question comes down to three things, really: one, can one of three teams upset either Whitewater or Stevens Point late to make a better case for their Pool C bid, two, where the teams rank in the first regional rankings coming out soon and three, does someone besides Point or Whitewater win the conference tournament title.

The way I see it Point and Whitewater are both locks to make the tournament unless Whitewater completely falls off the edge at the end of the season. Point is a no-brainer and Whitewater did enough in the non-conference schedule to warrant a bid.

This leaves Stout as the only other team in the WIAC that I think can grab a Pool C bid. The Blue Devils have the exact same overall record as Whitewater and three of their losses have come to Whitewater twice and Stevens Point. Problem is they had a weak non-conference schedule with an ugly loss to a bad Loras team.

They have a chance here at a Pool C if they win out in the regular season, which would include a win over Stevens Point, and make the conference tournament title game. Again just my opinion on it.

Or, of course, if one of those teams not name Point or Whitewater win the conference tournament, it is my belief that the WIAC will have three teams make it. 

-Who will take the second spot in the NAC South?

The number one spot has already been spoken for in the South. It's going to be Aurora.

But quite the battle has sprung forth for the second spot in the conference and the chance to host a conference tournament game.

Dominican (7-6) leads that pack with a half game lead on Wisconsin Lutheran (6-6) and Rockford (6-6).

Dominican had been on a winning streak before losses to Edgewood and Wisconsin Lutheran, which shot their momentum for a stretch run.

Rockford has won three in a row to end a long streak of futility but are, in my opinion, far to inconsistent of a team to take the second spot.

Which leaves Wisconsin Lutheran, which has been playing the most consistently good basketball out of the three and they have a fairly favorable schedule on the way out. I think they sneak in and pick up the second spot.

3 Performances of the Week

Erik Olson, UW-Stout (against UW-Superior)

One of the leading assist men in the conference got it done scoring, pouring in 23 points for the Blue Devils. He also added eight assists and six rebounds and shot a perfect 3-of-3 from deep in the victory.

Mike DeDecker, Monmouth (against Illinois College)

DeDecker led the Fighting Scots' rout over the Blueboys by pouring in 24 points in the victory. He added five assists and shot 7-fo-13 from the field for Monmouth.

Justin Williams, Edgewood (against Dominican)

Williams came off the bench and scored 18 points in the Eagles win over the Stars. Williams also nearly missed a double-double, pulling down nine rebounds as well.

4 Power Teams in Two Words

WIAC

1. UW-Stevens Point (18-3, 11-1 WIAC) Words: Tripped up

2. UW-Whitewater (16-4, 9-3 WIAC) Words: Still good

3. UW-Stout (16-4, 8-3 WIAC) Words: Still dangerous

4. UW-Platteville (15-6, 8-4 WIAC) Words: Big win

MWC

1. St. Norbert (15-3, 12-2 MWC) Words: Continuing streak

2. Grinnell (14-4, 11-3 MWC) Words: Settling in

3. Carroll (13-5, 9-4 MWC) Words: Question mark?

4. Ripon (10-8, 8-6 MWC) Words: Taylor Koth

NAC

1. Aurora (16-5, 11-1 NAC) Words: On track

2. Concordia-Wisconsin (14-7, 9-3 NAC) Words: Looking strong

3. Lakeland (17-5, 10-3 NAC) Words: Offensive struggles

4. Marian (13-8, 8-4 NAC) Words: Staying hot

5 Worth the Price of Admission

Before we delve into the games, here is my new wrinkle in this section. Each game, I'm going to do a "Pick to Click."

For those who aren't familiar with Pick to Click, it's a psuedo-game where I will pick a player from either team who I think will have the biggest effect on the game. That could mean a huge point scoring game, a consistent all-around game or something like that.

It's been done before in a variety of sports, but I have to shout out to my former teammate Kyle Bickler and manager Marquis Rodgers for playing the game against each other on our own bench with our own players, which was extremely funny and pretty cool.

So I have decided to carry it over into this blog. So away we go.

1. Non-conference, St. Norbert at UW-Whitewater, 7 p.m. Price I would pay: $9. Pick to Click: Quardell Young, UW-Whitewater

A non-conference rematch of the St. Norbert tournament final in late December, this one is very interestingly placed into the season.

St. Norbert has continued rolling after that tournament victory and haven't lost in a month, getting strong play on both sides of the ball and keeping an exceptional balance on the offensive end.

Whitewater has been more up and down than the Green Knights thanks to some injuries and inconsistent play, but they are still a force to be reckoned with as they try and figure stuff out before postseason play.

Quardell Young might be the single biggest factor in the game. He controls the Whitewater offense and pace. If the Green Knights can contain them and his penetration like they did in the first game, they could come out with another victory over the Warhawks.

If not, the Warhawks will come out with an important victory heading into the final month of the season.

2. NAC, Aurora at Lakeland, 4:15 p.m. Price I would pay: $8. Pick to Click: Mike Bumber, Aurora

The two top teams in the NAC seem to be heading in different directions.

Aurora is still as dominant as ever in the South after a small hiccup when starter Marious Lobdell was sidelined for two games. Now that he is back, Aurora looks to be cream of the crop.

Lakeland, however, has struggled mightily the past two or three weeks, most noticeably on the offensive end, where they were once one of the most potent offensive teams around. Now, they haven't cracked 80 in quite some time, but will be riding some confidence having beat MSOE on the road.

Both teams, if at full bore, are potent offensive teams. They each have a bevy of weapons at their disposal, which is why Bumber, who can be an explosive scorer, will be important as the Spartans third or fourth scorer in this game. If Bumber can put in 15 or more, Aurora will have a great shot at winning.

It will also come down to how well Lakeland can take care of the ball, which determines how fast Aurora can get out and run in transition.

3. WIAC, UW-Stevens Point at UW-La Crosse, 3 p.m. Price I would pay: $7. Pick to Click: Joe Ritchay, UW-Stevens Point

This is a key game for La Crosse if they expect to do anything down the stretch. They have been struggling lately and are coming off a tough loss on the road to Whitewater in which they led at halftime.

They get a vulnerable Point team coming of it's first loss of the conference season to Platteville that by all accounts was the worst game the Pointers played all season.

It'll still be tough for the Eagles, but they do get Stevens Point at home coming off of a loss. Then again, this is Point coming off of their worst game of the season. They might be out for blood.

This one will probably come down to which teams' shooters are doing the most damage from the outside. I think the Pointers just have a little too much firepower in that respect.

4. WIAC, UW-Platteville at UW-Stout, 4 p.m. Price I would pay: $7. Pick to Click: Chris Hortman, UW-Stout

This is another huge game on the WIAC docket on Saturday.

Stout remains tied with Whitewater for the second spot in the conference and are desperately trying to take it from them outright so they can get a bye in the conference tournament.

Platteville is coming off of their biggest win of the season and are nipping at Whitewater and Stout's heals, just a game back in the loss column.

Stout stole one from the Pioneers earlier in the season and Platteville would like nothing more than to return the favor.

This game is very dependent on how the Blue Devils offense is going. You know that Stout can play defense, but their offense is going to have to do enough to win them this game, which means that it's going to rely a lot on what Chris Hortman does. On offense, they way he goes is the way the Blue Devils seem to go. He will be key for Stout this game.

5. MWC, Grinnell at Beloit, 3 p.m. Price I would pay: $5. Pick to Click: Steve McAfee, Beloit

This game is important in the Midwest Conference race.

Grinnell is looking to keep pace with St. Norbert with a showdown with the Green Knights looming that could determine the conference championship. The Pioneers look to be back on track after losing Jack Taylor and are settling in their new rotations.

Beloit, meanwhile, will be coming off a tough loss to Lake Forest on the road after pulling out a huge victory over Ripon last week. Ripon is breathing down the Bucs' neck and this win would be huge for them to hang on to the fourth spot in conference.

Beloit struggled in the first matchup between the two in the second half. They handled the Pioneers press solidly in the first half before the wheels came off in the second.

This game could come down to a last few shots, which is why McAfee will be important to the Buccaneers cause, as he might have to take a few jump shots for Beloit to win.

Thanks for tuning in. As always you can find my thoughts on Twitter at @turkdigg40 and we'll see you for my weekend blog coming up.

Weekend Analysis 8: Never Foul A Jump Shooter!

One of the most egregious sins in all of sports was committed a few times in the games that I was watching yesterday: never foul a jump shooter.

One of these times it actually cost the team the game, which I will get to in my blog later. But I felt that this was the best starting point that I could come up with.

I'll save you anymore pain and jump into the games.

WIAC

Game I watched: UW-Stevens Point 82, UW-Superior 55. Top scorer UWSP: Jordan Giordana (20). Top scorer UWS: Brendan Bauer (16).

The Skinny: UW-Stevens Point controlled the whole game going up 16 by halftime on the Yellowjackets. 

Superior would cut the lead to 11 early in the second half before Point responded and dominated the rest of the frame to pull out another WIAC victory and to stay undefeated in conference.

Point 1: No Hangover

This could've been the type of game that Stevens Point could've easily stepped off the gas pedal. They are three games up in conference with not much of the schedule left and just came off of sweeping Whitewater on Wednesday.

They could've come out and taken it easy and probably got beat by a decent Yellowjackets ball club.

However, they decided to come out and take it. They shot a ridiculous 56 percent from the field (31-of-55), including 52 percent from the arc, which included a 7-of-9 second half when they stretched out their lead.

They just continued to build on their consistent run of strong play, which is definitely going to be a necessity in the upcoming weeks as they take some road trips to Stout and La Crosse, two very capable teams.

I think that the Pointers see that goal of an undefeated conference season or at the very least, the ability to clinch the No. 1 spot very soon in front of them and will continue to keep the foot on the accelerator, which isn't always easy with a big lead this time of the season.

Point 2: Stick To It

For Superior, they let a golden opportunity to stay in this game slip by the wayside.

They cut the Pointers lead to 11 very early in the second half thanks to giving the ball to 7-footer Bronson Byrne on about five straight possessions.

Then they just seemingly went away from him. The guys scored eight points to begin the second half (he scored 10 on the night), and then they just turned away from him.

Granted, Point might have made a slight defensive switch to keep him from getting better looks, but at the same time, if Superior got the ball to him anyway they could, kicks galore could've happened and if any of those looks goes down, the momentum keeps building.

This switch in offensive gameplan floored not only me, but the radio announcers at the Point game. For as well as it worked to begin the second half, it was definitely surprising that he didn't get a least a few more touches.

Point 3: Just Keep...Keep Truckin'

I went to my old friend Frank "The Tank" Ricard for quote that perfectly describes what Point is doing right now. And if you don't get the quote or the person for the quote, I suggest you go back and watch "Old School."

Point has been as steady as she comes for quite some time now when it could've have easily went the other way for a team like this.

Their preseason All-American still hasn't seen the floor in about a month, there is that. 

They added a new, transfer point guard at semester (DeVon Jackson, and he has been like a godsend for the Pointers off the bench. Played brilliantly last night.) that could've easily changed the chemistry of the team.

But all of this adversity hasn't affected the Pointers one bit. They've seamlessly added Jackson to the rotation and have been doing just fine without Tyler Tillema to this point. And with his status still uncertain to all but probably a handful of people, who knows how long they'll be without him.

That's what makes this team all the more dangerous. They are just solid as a rock and with multiple options that can just tear you apart.

They just keep truckin' along.

Box Score

Game I peeked at: UW-Whitewater 72, UW-Eau Claire 63. Top scorer UWW: K.J. Evans (17). Top scorer UWEC: Jordan Petersen (18).

The Skinny: This was a dogfight in the first half with Eau Claire taking a slim 26-25 lead to the break.

The Blugolds would hold that margin until the 12-minute mark of the second half, when Whitewater broke out in the form of a 12-0 run to grab a 47-38 lead with nine minutes left.

That lead would extend out to as much as 15 in the next nine minutes as the Blugolds never really challenge the Warhawks the rest of the way.

Point 1: Surviving

A loss for the Warhawks would've have been a devastating one. And for a 28 minutes of game play, it looked as though they were heading that way once again, which would've been two in a row.

But as good teams do, they find a way to claw out the victory on the road.

The 12-0 run to grab them the lead was led by Evans and Darnell Harris, who seems to be back in his offensive groove (a must for Whitewater going forward), who really took over the game.

After falling to Point in the middle of the week, it was very necessary for the Warhawks to come out and grab a win. It may have not been pretty, but at this point in the season, they don't all have to be pretty.

I'm sure the Warhawks are looking at it the same way.

Box Score

MWC

Game I watched: Ripon 75, Cornell 69. Top scorer RIP: Taylor Koth (20). Top scorer COR: Joey Guth (17).

The Skinny: This was a back and forth matchup between two teams tied for fifth in the conference.

But Cornell looked to be heading to a victory, as they were up eight with 7:50 remaining in the second half. 

Ripon, however, stormed back, grabbing the lead for good at the 1:40 mark to pick up a key conference victory.

Point 1: Are We In The Right Zone?

The Redhawks played a bunch of 2-3 zone against the Rams on Saturday that really had an even affect throughout.

Sometimes it was an active zone. Hands were active and rotations were active and it caused the Rams some problems turnover-wise.

But other times, really about 65 percent of the time, the Rams were able to beat it, thanks to the zone being relatively passive as far as rotations were concerned.

This was especially true in the second half, when Cornell opened up their eight point lead by getting pretty much any look that they wanted against the Redhawk zone.

But in the end, the zone probably ended up being a wash to a certain extent, thanks to the key turnovers by Cornell down the stretch.

I didn't agree with the decision by Ripon, but it worked out in the end.

Point 2: DON'T FOUL THE JUMP SHOOTER!!!!

To go back to my previous point that started this blog. Don't ever, ever, EVER, foul a jump shooter. And here is the perfect example why.

With Cornell holding a very slim two-point advantage late in the game and Ripon having the ball, the Rams' Tabari Carter committed the most egregious of sins by fouling Alex Erdmann beyond the three-point line.

Erdmann would make all three and instead of Cornell probably having the ball up by two, they now found themselves down one.

They panicked and committed two turnovers on their next two possessions. It seemed like the play just made them lose all confidence.

And with how well Cornell played in this game, all it took was one play to change it all up.

Point 3: Escape from Mt. Vernon

For Ripon, this game could've been a disaster.

Having had a difficult loss to Beloit during the week, compounding it with another loss to Cornell, a team that they should beat, would've been killer for the Redhawks chances at a conference tournament bid.

But instead of mailing it in down eight in the second half, Ripon showed me some resolve by coming all the way back on the road.

Coming back from that kind of deficit is tough at home, but on the road it is even tougher. So for Ripon, who needed a win, this was a big thing for them to do.

They just got it done when they needed to.

Box Score

Game I peeked at: Carroll 72, Illinois College 52. Top scorer CAR: Kevin Hurd (23). Top scorer IC: Nathan Kohler (16).

The Skinny: This one wasn't much of a contest, as Carroll got out to a big lead in the first half and never let up, dominating the Blueboys.

Carroll played an excellent defensive game, holding Illinois College to just 28 percent from the field, including just 16 percent from the three-point line.

Point 1: Road Trippin'

I don't envy teams that have to travel to Illinois College. Even when I was at BenU and played in their Bill Merris Tournament, it wasn't a particularly fun bus ride, and it was only around 2 hours for us. It still seemed really long.

So for Carroll to make that long road trip and come out with not only a victory, but a resounding victory was very big for the Pioneers.

They did it by playing a fantastic defensive game as I pointed out before. For a team that I have seen give up some big games and not play the greatest defense at times, this was a big step for Carroll.

They also got big offensive games from Kevin Hurd and Alex Molter as well.

It's this kind of win that sends a message and could put Carroll on their way heading into a big couple of weeks that could propel them to the top of the conference.

Box score

NAC

Game I watched: Aurora 85, MSOE 60. Top scorer AUR: Kalmon Stokes (20). Top scorer MSOE: Austin Stueck (16).

The Skinny: The Spartans jumped on the Raiders in the final five minutes of the first half to take a double digit lead into halftime.

Aurora would continue to put the hammer down in the second half, extending their lead and picking up a dominating win over the Raiders.

Point 1: The Marious (Lobdell) Effect

Marious Lobdell made his return to Aurora lineup after not playing for the past two games for the Spartans.

My, what a difference that made for Aurora, who had struggled without him in the lineup.

Lobdell poured in 17 points in his return and Aurora just ripped to shreds a very good MSOE team in the process.

Even with the boatload of scorers that Aurora has, they were still missing his very consistent offensive game.

It's very clear that Aurora is a completely different team with him on the floor. For whatever reason he missed those last two game (I'm guessing injury) Aurora is definitely hoping that it doesn't happen again.

Point 2: Controlling The Pace

What this game was all about was controlling the pace of play. MSOE likes it slow and methodical. Aurora likes to get out and get running.

It's very obvious that Aurora's more athletic style of play won out over MSOE's ground and pound style. The Spartans caused more turnovers, got more points off of turnovers, got more second chance points and got a lot more points in the paint.

The most telling number is that points in the paint statistic. Aurora won that battle by a 24-12 margin. The kicker is that MSOE has a bunch of big dudes they like to get the ball to in the paint.

But that didn't happen too often as the Spartans were able to break down the Raiders guards and get to the paint, while Aurora's quickness allowed them to control the middle of the floor and force MSOE to shoot more outside shots, which spelled the Raiders' doom.

Point 3: Back to Earth

MSOE had been riding high here just a week ago, having a win over Lakeland under their belt and a domination of BenU at home.

Since then they have lost twice, to Marian, a key in-division rival, and Aurora. And both games were blowouts.

They scored only 47 against the Sabres in that loss and only scored 60 in their up-tempo game against Aurora. Which means that they are again struggling from an offensive standpoint.

To prove my point, MSOE shot just 33 percent against Marian, including a dismal 14 percent (2-of-14) from the 3-point line.

Against Aurora? Just 30 percent from the field and 16 percent (3-of-18) from the arc. Those are compared to the much higher percentages in their two contest before that.

MSOE needs to find a way to put the ball in the hole against better teams (they did this against Lakeland) in order to beat those top teams. Defense only gets you so far sometimes.

Box Score

Game I peeked at: Wisconsin Lutheran 68, Lakeland 64. Top scorer WLC: Tim Demuth (13). Top scorer LAKE: Jake Schwartz (21).

The Skinny: Lakeland led after a back and forth first 20 minutes, going on a 6-0 run to end it and take a 40-35 lead.

They would up that lead to as much as nine in the second half before the Warriors started chipping away midway through the stanza in the form of a 10-0 run to take the lead back.

The game would go back and forth before a made jumpshot by Nate Bauer gave the Warriors a three-point cushion with 1:07 left to go.

The Warriors would then play solid defense down the stretch to collect the win.

Point 1: The Mighty Have Fallen

After looking like the favorite for much of the season, the Lakeland Muskies have looked anything but the past two weeks.

This loss makes it 3 of their last 4 games and they now have fallen into a virtual tie with Concordia-Wisconsin for first place (Lakeland is 9-3 and CUW is 8-3).

Most notably, it's their offense that has been letting them down. For a team that topped 80 in nine of their first 12 contests, they have failed to break that mark in their last six games. In fact, they've only topped 75 once in those six contests, and in their three losses, they've failed to top 70.

Now maybe it's just a midseason lull and they are figuring things out. But this is not a good time to be hitting that lull.

It's also scary that Lakeland doesn't get much, if anything, from their bench. They just aren't a supremely deep team like say Aurora or even CUW is to a certain extent. They have their top five and very little coming from the 6 through 8 guys. So if those 1 through 5 guys aren't getting it done, they can't really count on their bench to get the job done, which sometimes you need.

I just don't know what to think, especially with the Muskies heading in to play MSOE and Aurora this week. They need to show me, and more importantly, the conference something.

Box Score

Thanks for tuning in once again. As always you can follow my thoughts on Twitter at @turkdigg40 and stay tuned for my midweek blog coming up.

And remember. Don't foul the jump shooter.

Midweek Blog 9: The Tough Loss

Sometimes in the game of basketball, you just get that bad break that leads to your loss. Maybe it's a questionable call. Maybe it's a bad bounce. Maybe it's not having the possession arrow point your way.

The Tough Loss though it one of the toughest things that a team has to go through during the season. It's often how you come out of those losses that defines how the rest of your season is going to go.

1 Big Thing

Let's just say I'm glad that I turned on Beloit-Ripon on Wednesday night for some midweek viewing pleasure. I was struggling with what to write about for this midweek blog until I got the perfect inspiration.

The game in question was a big one. Beloit came in holding a one game lead on the ever-important fourth slot in the Midwest Conferences standings. Fourth means your in the conference tournament. Fifth means you are out. Ripon came into the game fifth. So that's how big this game was.

And it played out much like that, as the two teams traded blows back and forth down the stretch. One big blow was when Ahmad Shamsid-Deen of Beloit hit a pull-up jumper to give the Bucs a 62-61 lead with 5.8 seconds left.

The biggest blow came just seconds later. No, it wasn't from Ripon. It wasn't from Beloit, either. It was from the team in the stripes.

Ripon inbounded the ball to star Taylor Koth who went up the floor. Redhawks forward Brad Brooks came up to set one of those blind-sided screens you see so much in the backcourt.

Koth came off of it and took a jump shot and made it. But a whistle was blown. The officials called Brooks for an illegal screen and probably two seconds later called a technical foul on Ripon head coach Ryan Kane.

Now I haven't looked at the tape and I'm going on what I saw off of in memory. The screen looked legal, but because the Beloit player went crashing in, it was a hard screen. Secondly, the whistle seemed to come in late. Like three or four dribbles too late.

Note: Upon review, my inclinations upon first viewing seem correct, outside of the ref indicating a foul with his arm up but no whistle. (If you want, here is a link to Beloit's stream, go to on demand, click on the Ripon game and fast forward to the 2:05:00 mark and see for yourself)

Two things came to my brain when I saw this. One, that old two-pronged discussion when it comes to officiating in the final minutes. Do you let them play or if it's a foul it's a foul?

My thought has always been a foul is a foul. I've seen too many game decided where there wasn't a foul called that should've been because the refs swallowed the whistle.

But on a play like this that was away from the play and really didn't have an effect on the overall play and there really wasn't an advantage gained by anyone on the play (you could've even argued calling the Beloit player for pushing) why call it?

It's a tough call to make in a normal, non-end-of-game-situation, let alone a game-deciding situation. And if it wasn't on the ball and it wasn't blatantly obvious. (This one certainly wasn't and I thought for sure it was going to be a no call because it looked, if anything like, Brooks had position) why make it?

The second is on officiating in general. Many people think that officiating has taken a down turn in recent years and that officials are deciding too many games with poor, out of position calls.

I think that that is a little bit overstated and generally I think most refs are consistent in calls, whether it be letting it stay physical or calling it tight. And I don't think that officials decide as many games as people think.

However, I do think it is becoming more and more prevalent in inconsistently-called games, which I do have a problem with. Of course, officials are going to make a wrong call here or there, but the games that get out of control on the ones that are called so terribly inconsistent it gets maddening as a fan to watch the game.

As we all know, you can't blame the officials, as much as we all would like to, for a loss like Ripon's but with a little clean up in mechanics and consistency by officials, situations like this one would be far less likely to happen down the road.

2 Small Things

-Who will pull out the suddenly-tight NAC North?

The grouping of four teams at the top of the North division has gotten very tight over the past week.

Lakeland still leads with a 9-2 record, followed by Concordia-Wisconsin at 8-3, MSOE at 7-3 and Marian at 7-3.

What's even more crazy is what these teams have been doing to get to those records. Concordia beat Lakeland this Wednesday but lost to an okay Dominican team on Saturday. Lakeland also lost to MSOE last week. Meanwhile Marian has consecutive win against Aurora and MSOE.

So in other words, it's a jumbled mess right now in the North. So two question arise from it. Who is the hottest and who pulls it out?

The who's hottest is easy. That would be Marian, who has won 7 of their last eight games and two big ones over Aurora and MSOE (both at home, however).

Who will pull it out? I still think Lakeland, even with their recent struggles. They just have a supreme advantage on the offensive end that I don't think the other do and that will be enough to take the top spot in the North.

-Is Grinnell still a threat without Jack Taylor?

Grinnell remains in second place in the Midwest Conference with a 9-3 record. However, their last few wins came without leading scorer Jack Taylor on the court.

And it seems to me that the Pioneers have been missing his scoring a little bit. Their overall team scoring seems to be down from when they had them and they just haven't seemed quite like they were when he was on the court.

Arguably with Taylor on the floor you could've argued that Grinnell was the best team in the conference. Without him though, I don't think you can make the same argument. Losing your leading scorer is tough and even in The System it seems like it might be insurmountable.

I'm not saying that Grinnell is going to completely fall out of the Midwest standings. They'll still be a conference tournament team. But without him their chances of winning a conference title, the conference tournament or getting a NCAA bid are seriously diminished.

3 Performances of the Week

Chas Cross, UW-Platteville (against UW-Superior

The Pioneer big man collected a double-double by scoring 22 points and grabbing 12 boards in a win.  Cross was 8-of-12 from the field including a 3-pointer and also had five steals against the Yellowjackets.

Brandon Gries, St. Norbert (against Cornell)

Gries dropped in 22 points for the Green Knights, who exacted a little revenge on the Rams. Gries went 7-of-12 from the field and knocked in two three pointers in the victory.

David Dixon, Rockford (against Wisconsin Lutheran)

Dixon had a stellar game for the Regents, dropping in 30 points and grabbing 15 boards in the overtime victory. Dixon went 12-of-16 from the field and 6-of-7 from the free throw line on the night.

4 Power Teams in Two Words

WIAC

1. UW-Stevens Point (17-2, 10-0 WIAC) Words: Running away

2. UW-Whitewater (14-4, 7-3 WIAC) Words: Second best?

3. UW-Stout (14-4, 7-3 WIAC) Words: Hanging around

4. UW-Platteville (13-6, 6-4 WIAC) Words: Heating up?

MWC

1. St. Norbert (13-3, 10-2 MWC) Words: Getting tough

2. Carroll (12-4, 8-3 MWC) Words: Still surviving

3. Grinnell (12-4, 9-3 MWC) Words: Scoring down

4. Beloit (10-7, 8-4 MWC) Words: Securing four

NAC

1. Aurora (14-5, 9-1 NAC) Words: Faltering slightly

2. Concordia-Wisconsin (11-7, 8-3 NAC) Words: Beat Lakeland

3. Lakeland (16-4, 9-2 NAC) Words: Struggling lately

4. Marian (11-8, 7-4 NAC) Words: Win streak

5 Worth the Price of Admission

1. NAC, MSOE at Aurora, 4:15 p.m. Price I would pay: $7

This will be a very interesting game for two reason.

One, and the most obvious one is the very contrasting styles of both teams. MSOE likes to slow it down and grind. Aurora likes to get out and run. Meaning that whoever can impose their style on the game will have a serious leg up when it comes to winning this game.

Another reason is that both teams aren't playing their best ball lately. Aurora lost to Marian over the weekend and then had to scrape by a struggling Concordia-Chicago team on Wednesday.

MSOE meanwhile scored under 50 points in their loss to Marian on Wednesday.

Both teams are still very serious contenders in the NAC and, especially for MSOE, a win would keep them in line for division titles.

2. WIAC, UW-Superior at UW-Stevens Point, 3 p.m. Price I would pay: $5

The Pointer train minus Tyler Tillema continues rolling after they beat UW-Whitewater on Wednesday to sweep the season series against the Warhawks and take a three-game lead in the conference race.

Meanwhile, Superior is still fighting for that sixth spot to get into the conference tournament, meaning that they are desperate for wins. And what bigger one would the want that finally taking down the Pointers.

My mind is wondering if the Pointers might take the foot off the throttle a little bit with this big lead in conference and after a big emotional win over Whitewater on Wednesday, this would be the perfect game for the Yellowjackets to come in and steal one.

I think this game is going to be closer than people think, coming down to the final few moments. Execution will be at a premium.

3. MWC, Ripon at Cornell, 3 p.m. Price I would pay: $3

Both of these teams come into the contest tied for fifth place in the conference race, in which they are two games behind Beloit for the all-important fourth spot.

Ripon is coming off that loss to Beloit on Wednesday after being one of the hotter teams in the MWC. Cornell meanwhile has struggled with the top of the conference but continues to beat those at the bottom to stay right in the middle.

This game is all about positioning. Both teams want this game to keep pace and possibly give Beloit a run for their money for that final conference tournament spot.

It's going to come down to who is hungrier for that spot.

4. WIAC, UW-Whitewater at UW-Eau Claire, 3 p.m. Price I would pay: $3

This is an interesting matchup between two teams who are looking for wins.

Whitewater is looking for a win and they really need one as they are neck and neck with Stout for the second seed in the conference tournament. And with the season tiebreaker, all they need to do is tie the Blue Devils to get it.

Eau Claire, meanwhile, is still close enough to smell a conference tournament bid. There would be no better way to do that than to pick up an unexpected win over Whitewater.

This game should come down to who is hotter from the 3-point line. Both teams have players that like to jack it up.

It will also come down to how well Eau Claire can shut down the driving lanes against the Warhawks' Quardell Young.

5. NAC, Lakeland at Wisconsin Lutheran, 4:15 p.m. Price I would pay: $3

The prohibitive NAC favorites have looked shaky as of late, losing two of their last three games and haven't been as sharp on the offensive end as they were earlier in the season.

Meanwhile, Wisconsin Lutheran is desperate for a win after losing their last three games, two of which came in overtime.

Lakeland needs to get this win to stay on top in the North, while the Warriors need it to keep pace for the third spot in the South.

It's going to come down to Wisconsin Lutheran's defense. If they can slow Lakeland like other teams have as of late, they will have a shot in this one.

Thanks for tuning in to my midweek blog. As always you can follow my thoughts on Twitter at @turkdigg40 and stay tuned for my weekend blog coming up.

Weekend Analysis 7: Creating Separation

Finally. As we get to the end of January there is finally some separation between the top and bottom of the conference races.

These weekend games that I'm about to analyze had a lot to do with that, so let's take a look.

WIAC

Game I watched: UW-Whitewater 58, UW-Stout 55, Top scorer UWW: Darnell Harris (16). Top scorers UWST: Alex Oman, Chris Hortman (13). 

The Skinny: The first half was all Blue Devils as they jumped out to a 26-17 lead at halftime on the Warhawks.

But UW-Whitewater wasn't done as they went on a monster second half run thanks in large part to Darnell Harris' five 3-pointers to finally take a lead. 

It went back and forth down the stretch and thanks to missed free throws, Stout had a chance to tie the game, but Chris Hortman's 3-point attempt at the buzzer was no good and the Warhawks hung on to the victory.

Point 1: It's Gotta Be The Harris!

Whitewater forward Darnell Harris has had an up and down season to this point for the Warhawks. That started with a monster effort in the early season, when he put up over 30 points against Illinois Wesleyan.

He then hit a lull where he wasn't scoring and people questioned how good the freshman was.

Saturday, he reminded everyone just how dangerous he can be. He dropped in five 3-pointers for the Warhawks, all of which came in the second half.

Although he didn't score on the inside (he did grab nine rebounds to lead the Warhawks), he proved just how versatile he is and how much he can stretch the floor for Whitewater at the four spot.

If he can stay hot, Whitewater will be a very tough team to beat coming down the stretch.

Point 2: Defense, Create My Offense

Stout is the best defensive team in the WIAC and is one of the best in the country.

That is how they win games. They lock you down on the defensive end. But their defense is so much more than just shutting teams down. It's also their catalyst on offense as well.

Just take a look at the two half at Whitewater. In the first half, when their defense was working, their offense was a little better. They didn't turn it over as much and got better looks and in turn took a pretty substantial lead to halftime.

The second half was a different story as the Warhawks found a way to beat the Blue Devils defense to the tune of 41 second half points. 

This created a problem as the Stout offense couldn't get out and run a little bit to get better looks in the half court. They struggled and they only scored 29 points in the second half thanks to shooting 12-of-19 from the foul line in the second half. Meaning they really only scored 17 points.

That is how you have to beat Stout. You have to be able to score against their defense, which in turn forces them to play against a set defense on the other end and they aren't great when that happens.

Point 3: Thanks For Saving My Spot

The win moved the Warhawks into sole possession of second place in the WIAC standings, a game ahead of the Blue Devils who are alone in third.

More importantly, that win creates a sweep against Stout, which means that Whitewater really has a two game lead on the second spot. And with Point seemingly running away with the conference No. 1 spot, this virtual two game lead is huge on getting a bye in the conference tournament.

It's also a big victory for Whitewater, who had been struggling as of late. That second half against Stout is really how the Warhawks expected to play all season.

If they can get back to playing that kind of basketball the rest of the way, they will be a dangerous team come the end of February heading into March.

Box Score

Game I peeked at: UW-Platteville 76, UW-Superior 67. Top scorer UWP: Chas Cross (22). Top scorer UWS: Jarrod Peterson (15).

The Skinny: The Yellowjackets jumped out to a nine-point lead at halftime on the Pioneers and looked to be on their way to victory.

But the Pioneers had other things in mind, outscoring Superior 47-29 in the second half and grabbing a big victory on the road.

Point 1: Don't Cross His Path

Platteville big man Chas Cross has been the penultimate big man int he WIAC all season.

He proved it again against UW-Superior, scoring 22 points and pulling down 12 rebounds in the victory.

What makes him so special is what he can do on the offensive end. He can post you up and bull his way to the rim. He can post you up and beat you with a finesse move. He can even step out and knock down the 15-footer or even the occasional 3-pointer if need be.

He did all of those against Superior, especially in the second half when he scored 16 of his 22 points.

This is a big win for Platteville as it keeps them close to the fourth spot in the standings and a chance to host a conference tournament game.

If they want to keep winning, they should definitely keep looking to feed it to Cross.

Box Score

MWC

Game I watched: St. Norbert 80, Cornell 63. Top scorer SNC: Brandon Gries (22). Top scorer COR: Reggie Greenwood (19).

The Skinny: It was a close game at halftime with the Green Knights holding a six-point lead thanks to both teams 50 percent from the field.

But St. Norbert was able to shut down the Rams in the second half, outscoring them 45-34 and holding them to just 35 percent shooting in the second half and including a 2-of-12 performance from deep to grab the victory.

Point 1: Anyway You Want It, That's The Way We'll Beat You

The Green Knights have the unique ability of being able to play a lot of different ways and beat you a lot of different ways.

Of course, just like any team, they want to be able to play their game, their pace, which usually means feeding it inside and playing a slower type of game. 

But they can also really grind you out if you try and do that and they have the ability to play a little up-tempo guard game as well.

They played that guard game that Cornell likes to play and beat them at it. They shot 7-of-15 from deep, compared to just 7-of-20 for the Rams and they had 21 assists, despite 17 turnovers.

But it's not like they completely forgot the inside game either and did do a good job of getting it into the post and paint when they needed to.

The ability to play a lot of different styles is a great thing to have in your arsenal.

Point 2: Hitting a Brick Wall

The past two MWC contests for the Rams have been against teams that dominated their relatively small lineup. 

Beloit had it and beat them by double digits. St. Norbert had it and beat them by double digits.

When they are overmatched in the post like they have been in the past two games, they just can't seem to keep up. Their guards can keep up, like Reggie Greenwood. But their posts just can't get the job done inside.

This will continue to be a problem all season for the Rams unless they can really turn up the tempo and force more turnovers and get teams away from their inside games.

Point 3: Alone At the Top

It wasn't a great start for the Green Knights at the beginning of the conference season.

But now, midway through, they are at the spot that they thought they'd be at in the beginning: the top.

St. Norbert sits alone in first place in the MWC at 9-2 in conference and are on a nine-game win streak since their lost to Grinnell in December.

They have been doing it by great team play, great balance on the offensive end and a stifling defense on the other end.

If they continue to play with confidence like they have been, I don't see them giving up the top spot the rest of the season.

Box Score

Game I peeked at: Ripon 103, Grinnell 93. Top scorer RIP: Taylor Koth (25). Top scorer GRIN: Griffin Lentsch (17).

The Skinny: The Redhawks were able to comeback after being down 15 points at one point in the first half to come back and beat the Pioneers.

A big reason why was that they outrebounded Grinnell 66-37 in the contest and had three players with over double digit rebounds.

Point 1: Don't Turn It Over

The biggest key against the Pioneers System is don't turn the ball over on against their trapping defense.

And that's exactly what the Redhawks did, or at least kept to the very minimum against Grinnell. They only turned the ball over 21 times in the win, which is a fairly low number when you're playing against Grinnell.

This was especially true in the second half, as Ripon only turned the ball over eight times in the second stanza to take the lead and eventually the victory.

This allowed the Redhawks to really exploit the Grinnell trap and get some easy baskets in the process.

This a big win for Ripon as they are just one game out of the final tournament spot right now and if they can take any momentum out of this win, they can make things interesting down the stretch.

Box Score

NAC

Game I watched: Marian 76, Aurora 70. Top scorer MAR: Sam Koslowski (19). Top scorer AUR: Esteban Vega (17).

The Skinny: This game was a back and forth contest with no team taking more than a seven-point lead the whole game.

The killer was when the Sabres would go on a short 7-0 run late in the second half to take a 69-64 lead on the Spartans and Aurora couldn't recover as Marian hit their free throws down the stretch to grab a victory.

Point 1: The Perfect Mixture

The Sabres laid out a solid blueprint on how to beat the Spartans.

First, winning the rebounding battle. Marian outrebounded Aurora 41-32 overall and 11-7 on offensive boards in the win. This led to 11-6 advantage in second-chance points.

Secondly, guard the 3-point line. Aurora has a few shooters who like to bomb it. If you can get a hand up and really hold their 3-point percentage to a minimum that's good. That is exactly what the Sabres did, holding Aurora to just 3-of-18 from the arc (17 percent) during the game.

Thirdly, out shoot them from the free throw line. Marian went 17-of-26 from the foul line while Aurora only shot 9-of-14. A plus-eight margin at the foul line is huge.

Although Aurora was still able to get out into their normal tempo on misses and turnovers, the Sabres were able to neutralize them by slowing the pace just a bit on their offensive end and using these three points to make up for their deficiencies. 

If you realize and admit that Aurora going to get theirs in transition, you better be doing these things to pick up a victory.

Point 2: Slight Hiccup

If you are the Spartans you shouldn't get too down about this loss. 

They played their worst conference game all season and arguably their worst overall game this season, which is bound to happen at some point.

They were just coming off an emotional rivalry contest with Benedictine and also had a nice long road trip up to Fond du Lac, there is that.

They were also playing without leading scorer Marious Lobdell as well.

And yet they were in it at the end and if a couple of shots fall or balls bounce their way, they might have pulled off the victory.

Teams are bound to lose games and it was just the perfect time to take them down. I don't think this affect Aurora at all. They are too good to let one loss, especially one like this to ruin what could be a special season.

Point 3: Bigger Things?

For Marian, this win huge on a number of fronts.

One, it puts them two and a half games up on Edgewood for the fourth spot in the North.

Two, it puts them only a game out of third place in the North behind Concordia Wisconsin.

Third, it is a signature win that at team like the Sabres is looking for to hang their hat on and give them some confidence moving forward.

And with the season coming down the stretch, it's a kind of victory that can make a team believe and go on a big run to finish out the regular season.

I'm sure that's what Marian is hoping for.

Box Score

Game I peeked at: MSOE 67, Benedictine 52. Top scorer MSOE: Victor Bande (21). Top scorer BEN: Michael Woolf (13).

The Skinny: The Raiders jumped out quickly in this one, building a 34-19 lead by halftime.

The Eagles would come back slightly in the second half, cutting it to seven a couple of times before MSOE would pull away towards the end.

Point 1: Confidence Is A Wonderful Thing

Give any team the right amount of confidence and belief that they can win, and it's a great thing.

For the MSOE Raiders, that's exactly what they've got going for them now.

They are playing with a confidence and emotion that they can beat anybody on any given night and they proved that this past week by beating Lakeland and dominating BenU in what could've been a hangover-type game.

They just keep doing it with a great defensive effort, a spurty offense and just all around high energy-type of play that is tough for any team to match.

And right now, they find themselves alone in the second spot in conference, a game-and-a-half back of Lakeland, who they have the tiebreaker with right now.

If they keep that confidence rolling, they will continue to be dangerous.

Box Score

Thanks for tuning in again. As always, you can follow my thoughts on Twitter at @turkdigg40 and look out for my midweek blog coming up here soon.

Midweek Blog 8: It's Wild, It's Wacky, It's Basketball

Some conference upsets are starting to happen in our three blog conferences.

Last weekend, it was Superior knocking off Whitewater. Last night, it was Lake Forest trouncing Carroll. And there is bound to be more coming in the coming weeks.

1 Big Thing

Now many people might be wondering why this is happening. Why are teams that are on paper better losing to those on paper inferior teams?

Now there is any variety of answers.

First, is it conference parity? Are the teams really not that far apart in talent as it seems? Possibly.

Everyone talks about DI college basketball parity. Although there isn't as much of it at DIII level in, my opinion, on a year-to-year basis, that can definitely be true.

Even great programs have to stumble sometimes after they lose a talented class, while other teams may have a majority of upperclassmen, creating that year-to-year parity. So that is definitely a possibility.

Second, are the better teams maybe suffering from the grind? Are they hurting physically from injuries and bumps and bruises that's causing them to play not at 100 percent? Probably.

Every team has to go through stretches like that. Whitewater is playing without Cody Odegaard, one of their top shooters, for example. I'm sure that their are other injuries that are keeping guys out or causing them to play at less than 100 percent.

This in turn makes the team play at less than100 percent. And if you are playing at less than 100 percent and the other team is, it just makes you that much more likely to be beaten.

This happens to every team during this time of the year, when your body starts to deteriorate from entering the fourth month of play.

Third, aren't losses like those bound to happen anyway? Especially in conference play? Absolutely.

That's the beauty of conference play. You see these guys twice a year (mostly). You know the tendencies of the players. You know the style that they are going to be playing. You have generally two days to prepare. You are ready.

This leads to better gameplans, allowing teams to take away the others strengths, changing up personnel to get the matchups right on defense and offense.

And if your gameplan is working correctly, you can easily take down a top team on a good night.

Fourth, and foremost, aren't upsets the name of the game? Isn't that basketball? This is the gospel truth.

It's this fact that really made me fall in love with this beautiful game. It's a fact, more than any other sport (in my opinion), that any given night, any team can beat any other team.

You could take the best DI team and put them up against someone in DIII and if those DI guys are shooting terrible and the other team is shooting hot, it can happen. I don't think you can say that for any other sport other than baseball.

And all it takes is any one of those things mentioned above, whether it be an injury, supreme game plan, parity or simply just a cold/hot shooting night.

It's the nature and beauty of the beast called basketball. It's why I love it and it's why we all love this great game.

2 Small Things

-Who is the second-best team in the WIAC?

The No. 1 team has been clear cut for awhile now and that's UW-Stevens Point.

Going into Wednesday's games there was three teams tied at 5-2 for second place in the conference -- Stout, Whitewater and La Crosse.

On Wednesday, Stout took down La Crosse and Whitewater beat Oshkosh.

But those three teams have been near the top of the conference all season. So which one of those teams is the second best to Stevens Point?

For me, I have to go with La Crosse. I think that they have played the most consistent out of the bunch. They played Point very close on the road and even with the loss to Stout, they have the ability to outscore you or outdefend you to win games.

Whitewater has been struggling getting a consistent offensive rhythm going and Stout is good defensively but can struggle at times scoring, even though they didn't against La Crosse.

If I'm picking one of those three to make a run, it's the Eagles.

-What's going on with Carroll?

The Pioneers are still 7-3 in the Midwest Conference. But there is still a little room for concern as they have been wildly inconsistent since the later part of December, when they dropped two conference contests at home to Ripon and St. Norbert.

They then came back and destroyed Cornell, looked dominant again like the did in the first part of the season against Grinnell, then followed that up by squeaking by a surprising, yet, in my opinion, inferior team in Beloit at home (talent-wise I feel that Carroll should have won by at least 10, but that is just me).

The last two games have been a microcosm of this roller coaster for the Pioneers. They destroyed Knox on the road over the weekend 91-51.

They then turned around on Tuesday and lost to a 3-7 Lake Forest team. Actually, lost is an understatement. They laid an absolute stinker AT HOME to the Foresters, falling 73-54.

This concerns me in the fact that they are probably the most talented team in conference from top to bottom. They have good players and good depth at every position. But the inconsistent play has to stop if they want to stay near the top and pull out another NCAA bid like last year.

3 Performances of the Week

Chris Hortman, UW-Stout (against UW-La Crosse)

The senior guard was on fire for the Blue Devils, knocking in 5-of-8 from deep and scoring 21 points in the big win. Hortman also pulled down 13 rebounds in the game for Stout.

Jeff Beck, Lake Forest (against Carroll)

The Foresters senior went crazy against the Pioneers, racking up 34 points as Lake Forest dominated Carroll in Waukesha. Beck went perfect from behind the arc (4-of-4) and the free throw line (6-of-6) in his big game.

Anthony Keener, Dominican (against Rockford)

The Stars guard recorded a double-double against the Regents, scoring 25 points and grabbing 12 boards. His 25 points included a 5-of-6 night from deep in the victory.

4 Power Teams in Two Words

WIAC

1. UW-Stevens Point (15-2, 8-0) Words: Still victorious

2. UW-Whitewater (13-3, 6-2) Words: Shaky winning

3. UW-Stout (13-3, 6-2) Words: Surprise, surprise

4. UW-La Crosse (12-5, 5-3) Words: Two losses

MWC

1. St. Norbert (11-3, 8-2 MWC) Words: They're streaking!

2. Grinnell (11-3, 8-2 MWC) Words: No Taylor

3. Carroll (11-4, 7-3 MWC) Words: Shaky, shaky

4. Beloit (8-7, 6-4 MWC) Words: Staying surprising

NAC

1. Aurora (12-4, 7-0 NAC) Words: Very impressive

2. Lakeland (15-2, 8-0 NAC) Words: Coasting through

3. Concordia-Wisconsin (9-6, 6-2 NAC) Words: Small hiccup

4. MSOE (11-5, 5-2 NAC) Words: Grinding away

5 Worth the Price of Admission

1. WIAC, UW-Stout at UW-Whitewater, 4 p.m. Price I would pay: $8

This game just became increasingly bigger, as these two teams are tied at 6-2 after Wednesday's games.

One of Stout's two conference losses this season was to Whitewater at the beginning of conference season, so this game starts the second half of conference play.

But Stout looked impressive against UW-La Crosse and got a big night from guard Chris Hortman, who has the ability to go off on a given night or run his team into the ground with how much he shoots. The Blue Devils are also solid on the defensive end and are one of the tops in the nation in those categories.

Whitewater got a victory over Oshkosh on Wednesday and nothing really jumped out about the Warhawks lately, following a tough loss up in Superior.

The keys for this game: one, how will Hortman play against the Warhawks and two, how will Stout  contain the lightning-quick Quardell Young. Those guys are the two keys to both teams and will very much impact who comes out victorious.

2. NAC, Aurora at Marian, 4:15 p.m. Price I would pay: $5

The NAC South leaders have been playing very impressive basketball of late, playing their up-tempo game to out-athletic teams and will be coming off of wins of Concordia-Wisconsin, Wisconsin Lutheran and, probably, Benedictine (I'm trying to give my Eagles some ammo here for their rivalry game).

Marian, meanwhile, has been playing better, beating Edgewood and Wisconsin Lutheran, then just missing out on coming back against CUW. They will becoming off of a likely win over Maranatha.

For Aurora, this is probably the toughest game that they will have before their matchup in two weeks against Lakeland. It's a similar roadtrip and a chance to get that kind of experience playing on the road in a North gym.

Marian hopes that this can be signature win on a resume that lacks a big one. And with Aurora coming off a rivalry game and having the 3-to-3-and-a-half hour roadtrip, they could very easily pull it off.

3. MWC, Cornell at St. Norbert, 5 p.m. Price I would pay: $3

The Green Knights will be looking for payback against the Rams, who beat them earlier in the season in Iowa.

But St. Norbert is a different team now, as they have rattled off eight straight wins -- 6 in conference -- heading into this matchup and have been looking every bit the conference favorite, getting consistent offensive and defensive efforts every night.

But Cornell had the blueprint to beat them the last time and the Rams have proven that they are no slouches in conference, taking a 4-5 record into the game.

I'm looking for Norbert to really dominate this game in Green Bay. But if the Rams can hang around, they have the offensive weapons to pull it off again.

4. WIAC, UW-Platteville at UW-Superior, 1 p.m. Price I would pay: $3

This is a pretty big game as far as seeding goes for the WIAC tournament.

Both teams are locked into a spot right now. Platteville is a game ahead in the standings at 4-4, while Superior is 3-5.

Platteville has lost it's last two games, and who wouldn't, to Whitewater and Stevens Point, while Superior beat Whitewater over the weekend, but lost to River Falls on Wednesday, who hadn't won a conference game.

Both teams feature big men in Platteville's Chas Cross and the Yellowjackets Bronson Byrne. I think this one comes down to which big man has the better all-around day for his team. As in, who helps his team the most rebounding, passing and scoring, will be the team that comes out on top.

5. NAC, Benedictine at MSOE, 4:15 p.m. Price I would pay: $2

I'm putting this game on here because I'm actually going to go to this game (we'll actually see what I pay on Saturday).

MSOE has been staying right around the top of the North division, still grinding away games with a Bo Ryan-type defensive efforts night in and night out.

For Benedictine, they are just looking for a little momentum. They finally picked up their second conference win in a blowout Tuesday over Concordia-Chicago and they will be coming off a game against Aurora. They have a bunch of new players in the rotation so it will be interesting to see how that goes for the Eagles.

MSOE has had difficulty with teams that are taller in the middle (i.e. Concordia-Wisconsin) and Benedictine will boast two big posts in Tim McGinty and transfer Luke Johnson.

But we as Eagles have never played good at Kern. MSOE just has our number there and again this game will come down to pace, which I think MSOE controls.

But I'm hoping for something different!

Thanks for tuning in again. As always you can follow my basketball thoughts on Twitter at @turkdigg40 and stay tuned for my weekend analysis blog coming on Sunday.