No, I'm not talking about the bar and grill next to the Kohl Center in Madison. (Although if you haven't checked it out, you probably should)
I'm talking about how we are getting down to the nitty gritty. It's the last week of games coming up before the conference tournament starts and most every game has some kind of implications as far as the conference tournaments go.
Some games from last weekend were already important to that discussion. So lets take a look at them.
WIAC
Game I watched: UW-Platteville 77, UW-La Crosse 70. Top scorer UWP: Jake Manning (21). Top Scorer UWL: Lucas Morrissey (23).
The Skinny: UW-Platteville controlled the whole game, thanks to building an 11-point lead by halftime thanks to some solid inside and outside play offensively.
UW-La Crosse tried to fight back in the second stanza, twice cutting the lead to five. But they would get no closer as the Pioneers always seemed to have the right answer at the right time in the win.
Point 1: Inside-Out
Platteville is pretty notorious for being a pound it inside team. With behemoths in Chas Cross and Jake Manning and a man-child in Rob Stallion, what else are you going to do?
But the Pioneers become extremely dangerous when that inside game can feed enough to their outside game. They aren't overly skilled on the outside but they have capable guys when they get the right looks.
Against La Crosse, this is what happened. The inside guys got theirs. Manning was 7-of-10 from the field with only one attempt from outside. Stallion went 5-of-9 with two 3-point attempts and Cross had a rough game, shooting 3-of-8, with three attempts from deep, but still got enough touches inside.
These guys were able to open up the outside enough for others, and often times each other, to do enough damage from the 3-point line. The Pioneers were 50 percent (6-of-12) from there in the game. That tacked on to an impressive 22-of-40 from the field and also going 27-of-36 from the line, show how well that attack was working.
When they have both sides of their attack clicking, Platteville can beat anyone.
Point 2: Stop Them!
When trying to come back, the key really isn't scoring the basketball. It's getting consistent stops on the defensive end so that you limit the other team.
La Crosse did enough offensively to get back in the game on Saturday. But the problem, which has been a bit of a problem against better teams for the Eagles, was getting those stops on the defense consistently.
A review of the box score shows that La Crosse had no more than three straight stops in the second half, and that only happened once.
A review of the film shows how fairly easily Platteville was able to score those baskets, most of which were at the rim. Platteville wasn't much better in the second half in the defensive end, arguably worse. But they were able to do that because they were able to just trade baskets with the Eagles.
If La Crosse wants to upset and win the conference title, which they are capable of doing, they have to consistently get stops when they are down.
Point 3: Mind if I Take This Spot?
The win by Platteville moved the Pioneers a half game ahead of the Eagles for the time being for the fourth spot in conference, which means a home game in the conference tourney if the standings stay the way they are.
Both teams have winnable games down the stretch, so it is likely that the two will tie for the spot, in which case the tiebreakers go into effect. I don't know exactly what those are, but those will be discussed in a blog later this week.
But it was a big game in that respect. Platteville gave themselves a shot at that spot that they wouldn't have if they didn't win. Now the pressure is on La Crosse to win two games (Platteville only has one) to tie them for that spot and let the tiebreakers decide.
Maybe even bigger for the Pioneers is that they have the confidence that they can beat the Eagles again in the conference tournament no matter where it's played because the two are going to face off against each other in the tourney.
Pick to Click grade: B+. Player picked: Lucas Morrissey, UW-La Crosse. Pick to Click winner: Jake Manning, UW-Platteville.
Would've been an A+ had the Eagles claimed victory. Morrissey was easily the best player on the floor for La Crosse, as he scored 23 points on 9-of-15 shooting and 3-of-6 from behind the arc. Also had five rebounds and was one of only two Eagles in double figures.
Manning won his by scoring a team high 21 points and grabbing eight boards in the victory.
Game I peeked at: UW-Stout 70, UW-Eau Claire 54. Top scorer UWST: Chris Hortman (21). Top scorer UWEC: Nick Craggs (16).
The Skinny: This one was all Stout as the Blugolds never led in the game thanks to a solid offensive and defensive effort from the Blue Devils.
Stout limited Eau Claire to just 32 percent shooting on the game, while they shot nearly 50 percent from the field on their end to pick up the victory.
Point 1: Holding Serve
This game was a must have for a couple of reasons for the Blue Devils. One, they needed it for their Pool C resume. Or should I say if they would've lost this one you might have kissed their Pool C hopes goodbye.
But it also helped them stay a game behind the Warhawks for second place in the conference.
Now I know that the Warhawks swept Stout in their season series but if something crazy should happen and Whitewater loses the last two games or loses one and Point loses two games and all three tie, they could get a bye.
However unlikely, there is still that possibility. But it was also just a win to keep their momentum going forward into their contest with Point on Wednesday and hopefully into a strong conference tourney run to get them into the NCAA tournament.
MWC
Game I watched: Grinnell 104, St. Norbert 99 (OT). Top scorer GRIN: Luke Yeager (31). Top scorer SNC: Andrew Schwoerer (26).
The Skinny: This was a tight game all around between the two top Midwest Conference teams as the largest lead was only eight points, and that was only once and no team held higher than a six-point lead in the second half.
St. Norbert held one of those six-point leads with 5:54 left to go but Grinnell was able to chip back into it and take a lead going to the final seconds before a layup from Jack Whalen tied the game up and sent it to overtime.
Grinnell took control in overtime with two big three-pointers from Luke Yeager as St. Norbert never led in the extra five minutes.
Point 1: A Lesson in Defense
Grinnell has never been one to enjoy playing defense outside of a few traps in the backcourt trying to get steals. The System just isn't designed for that.
But as the Grinnell broadcasters pointed out and what I have noticed about the Pioneers, at least for this season is that their defense seems to be better, in the full court and especially in the half court, as compared to other seasons.
This is especially true since leading scorer Jack Taylor went down and are getting a much more balanced attack on the offensive end.
Taylor was injured in January and since that time their points per game is down to 103 as compared to 122.2 with Taylor.
But the defense has also improved going from 103.9 ppg to 83.75 ppg in that same time frame.
To further prove my point, the score after regulation was 84-84, which is relatively low for Grinnell.
But I'd argue that it's not necessarily a bad thing. Their traps are harder on both sides of mid court and they are forcing other teams to move the ball around more to get the good look instead of giving it up easily.
We all know that Grinnell is going to be able to score. But if their defense continues to be this marginally good as it has been as of late, it could mean a trip to the NCAA tournament.
Point 2: Oh, Put It Away!
That's something the Green Knights couldn't do. They couldn't put the game away.
They had a very good chance to do that in the second half when they took their biggest lead of the game at six with 5:54 left to go in the game, a margin your should be able to hang on to.
But it just didn't happen. Griffin Lentsch nailed a 3-pointer the next possession and then St. Norbert missed two good looks in their next two possessions, including a layup, to answer.
Grinnell was able to pull closer a couple of possessions later, and the game went back and forth at that point.
I'm sure that Green Knights talked about those stretch of possessions after the fact. But great teams, and especially great teams looking to make the tournament, have to get that done on the road.
St. Norbert just couldn't do that.
Point 3: Please Come Again
This game just shifted the whole landscape of the Midwest Conference.
Grinnell and Norbert are now tied atop the standings. But here is the kicker, Grinnell holds the tiebreaker by sweeping St. Norbert in the season series. So if it where to stay like that, Grinnell would get to host the conference tournament.
Now this is not only bad for the Green Knights, who were probably expecting to host. But this is also a problem for the other two likely teams in the tournament in Ripon and Carroll.
That trip to Green Bay is a very easy one for both those teams. Neither trip is over two hours, which would have given all three teams a nice advantage over Grinnell if the games were played at St. Norbert.
But now, in all likelihood, the games will be played in Grinnell, Iowa, a lengthy trip for all teams involved, which give Grinnell an advantage over all of them.
It was a huge win in more than one way for the Pioneers.
Pick to Click grade: B+. Player picked: Andrew Schwoerer, St. Norbert. Pick to Click winner: Luke Yeager, Grinnell.
Another case of where victory determined how the grade went. Schwoerer scored 26 points and pulled down eight boards while shooting 11-of-21 from the field in the loss.
Yeager won his by drilling two 3-pointers in overtime and also scoring a game-high 31 points in a huge game for the Pioneers.
Game I peeked at: Lawrence 97, Cornell 90. Top scorer LAW: Tyler Mazur (30). Top scorer COR: Joey Guth (22).
The Skinny: The game was definitely an offensive game throughout as both teams went up and down the court and seemingly scoring at will.
However, it was the Vikings who had a little more ammo down the stretch, taking the lead for good with about 11 minutes left to go and holding the Rams at bay.
Lawrence shot over 50 percent from the field and just about 45 percent from the 3-point line in the victory.
Point 1: Keeping Close
It was a big win for Lawrence as they continue to try and chase down Ripon for that final spot in the tournament. They sit just a game back of the Redhawks for that spot and if they would've lost, it would've been impossible for them to get it.
Lawrence has been playing very strong as of late, especially on the offensive end, getting some very balanced scoring up and down their lineup.
It's a team that nobody wants to face coming down the stretch and if they made the tournament, they could be one of those surprise teams that pop up and steal a conference tournament away because of how hot they are.
I'm sure those other teams are hoping that that doesn't happen and Ripon, the team expected to have that spot, gets it.
Pick to Click grade: C-. Player picked: Conor Klusendorf, Lawrence. Pick to Click winner: Tyler Mazur, Lawrence.
My first real hiccup in the Pick to Click side of things. Klusendorf only scored nine for the Vikings in the win and he also fouled out.
Meanwhile, Mazur just went off and shot 8-of-11 from behind the arc to lead Lawrence to victory
NAC
Game I watched: Benedictine 65, Marian 62. Top scorer BEN: Mike Woolf 18. Top scorer MAR: Brad Koth (14).
The Skinny: With me in attendance (probably the reason they won), Benedictine controlled the game for the most part, racing out to a 23-7 lead early and hanging on to it the rest of the game.
But that wasn't without Marian breathing down their necks, thanks to Koth's sharpshooting, which brought the Sabres to within 1.
But the Eagles hit their free throws down the stretch and two last-second Marian attempts to tie fell short.
Point 1: Showing Flashes
It's been a frustrating season for my Alma Mater. The reason it is so frustrating because of the talent that they have up and down their lineup, although it being kind of young.
They have two 6-8 kids who with a little work could be one of the best tandems in the Midwest region and possibly the country. They have a sharpshooter in Woolf who is one of the better shooters around. They have defensive stoppers and other scorers around them and with only three real weaknesses I see as far as talent (lack of true bench scorer, lack of a point guard who can really get into the lane by himself and create for others, lack of a big man who just likes to get out and run the floor, all of which are negligible by other things), they should have been better than what their record indicates.
The most frustrating part, and I can speak for Coach Bunks and the rest of the coaching staff is it only shows up in spurts.
In what was their most complete game of the season, the spurts were a lot less. But their still were big holes that if Marian was just a little bit more on, they could've exploited.
And it's on both ends. Defensively, they are good for a few possessions and then get lost on a few possessions. On offense, they look like they are moving the ball around and getting good motion on one possession and in others it's a struggle to get the ball to the other side of the floor.
But those flashes were more prevalent. Johnson and McGinty looked good playing off of one another. Woolf Nasty has started to let it fly more. The bench provided some much needed offensive spark.
The most important part is that they are only losing two seniors next season. Bunks knows how good this team can be next year and the end of the season is a big step for them.
Point 2: Bench Mob
Speaking of bench play, I have to argue that Marian has one of the most complete benches in the NAC, with secondary scorers at each position.
In fact, their bench outscored their starters 34-28 in the loss and were instrumental in the comeback in the second half.
The bench consists of Mike Keller, Jake Coenen, Alex Gomex and Brad Koth. Keller is a strong inside player while the other three are guards who can come off the bench and score in different ways.
Either way, they are tough match ups and provide opposing teams no room to let up. Sometimes as a team you can catch a break with a bench that may just be in for quick spells or defensive attributes. Not with Marian. You think that, which kind of happened with Benedictine, they will hurt you.
It's a wonderful asset to have, and with Marian, whose hopes are high at spoiling Aurora and Lakeland's plans at a March postseason, getting consistent scoring from the bench game in and game out will be key.
Point 3: Barely Breathing
I would've never thunk it about two weeks ago, but somehow Benedictine is in the running for the last playoff spot in the NAC tournament.
They are a game behind both Rockford and Wisconsin Lutheran for the third and fourth playoff spots. They need a three way tie but they get Rockford at home to control their own fate that way and then Lutheran has a trip to Concordia-Chicago in which the Cougars will definitely want to play spoiler on senior night.
So there is a decent chance at getting there. I know the Eagles would like nothing more than to get into the tournament and see what happens.
Even if they don't, I think that they can look at what they did the end of the season and say if they can play like that all year they will definitely be one of the better teams in the conference.
Pick to Click grade: B+. Player picked: Brad Koth, Marian. Pick to Click winner: Mike Woolf, Benedicitne.
Make it 3-for-3 as far as picking guys who had great games in losing efforts. Koth, who I covered last year in high school, showed off his skills as a shooter, going 4-of-7 from deep in the loss but almost single-handedly kept the Sabres in the game.
Woolf gets the win mostly because he took my advice, he let if fly from deep. He went 3-of-5 (I would argue he should've shot a few more times, but I'll take what I can get) and was the driving force behind the win for BenU.
Game I peeked at: Concordia-Wisconsin 61, Wisconsin Lutheran 55. Top scorer CUW: Brian Jackson (17). Top scorer WLC: Tim Demuth (20).
The Skinny: The Falcons survived a rough night from behind the arc, thanks to some solid defense and big second half to propel them to victory over the Warriors.
The second half run was all started by a 7-0 run to begin the frame and gave Concordia a lead that they wouldn't give up the rest of the way.
Point 1: Securing a Spot
This is what Concordia basically did on Saturday with their win. The hold the second spot in North division and have their final game against Maranatha, which should be a victory and meaning that they will secure a home game for the conference tournament.
Those home games are always important to get in the conference tournament as most of the time they will force a South division team to make the long trip up to your place, which is always nice.
I'm sure that's what Concordia is most happy about and also collecting a hard-fought win for momentum as well heading into that conference tournament.
The Falcons do have the team that could do it if they get put in the right situation and the win on Saturday definitely did just that.
Pick to Click grade: D. Player picked: Malcolm Bowers, Concordia-Wisconsin. Pick to Click winner: Brian Jackson, Concordia-Wisconsin.
My pick to click didn't do so hot in this game. Bowers scored only three points for the Falcons in the win.
Jackson had a monster game to win the pick to click, scoring 17 and grabbing 11 rebounds to record a double-double.
Thanks for tuning in. Be sure to stay tuned in all week as I will have about four more blogs discussing tiebreaker scenarios for each of the conference, an extensive look at Pool C stuff from around the nation after the second regional rankings come out and the midweek and weekend blogs.
As always you can follow my thoughts on Twitter at @turkdigg40.
Marian beat MSOE both times.
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