Game Notes: Wheaton College @ North Central College (1/5/13)

Final Score
Wheaton 106, NCC 67

Game Summary
In a total reversal from the last couple home games, the Cardinals (7-6, 0-2) gave up a 4 point play in the opening 30 seconds and were never able to really answer. The Cardinals were able to keep it mostly within single digits of the Thunder (11-1, 2-0) for a good chunk of the first half before they really took over, leading by 26 at the break. Wheaton led by as much as 50 late before garbage time.

Key Stats

• Wheaton: 54-83 FG (54.3%). It was just that kind of night for Wheaton. They shot 5-13 from 3 (not bad) but most of their damage came down low. The Thunder managed 28 points off the fast break tonight against the Cardinal trap. Wheaton had 5 different players in double-figures, with senior Brooke Olsen leading the way with 26.
• North Central: 18-92 FG (19.5%). I challenge you to find a game where any team shoots this poorly and goes on to win. The deep ball info is below, but given this disparity in shooting percentage, as hard as the Cardinals played tonight, Wheaton clearly deserved to win.
• Sophie Newson (NCC): 5-11 FG (4-8 3pt), 2-2 FT, 16 pts, 9 reb (4 ofr), 4 stl. While Sophie didn't lead the team in scoring (Larynn Shumaker had 18), Sophie played her heart out tonight to fight for loose balls every chance she got. Unfortunately she also lost her head briefly in picking up a dumb flagrant-1 for shoving a Wheaton player down on a fast break. It was a deserved flagrant, but she kept her cool other than that. One thing you can always count on from her is toughness, energy, and really caring about the game, traits I absolutely admire.

North Central System Watch

• Line Changes: About 40. I didn't get the exact total. This was one of those nights where I wanted to get out as soon as I could. Rough night.
• NCC 3pt: 9-53 (17%). Coming into this season, I figured the Cardinals had the personnel to hit these threes... but so far this year they aren't falling, and they definitely weren't falling tonight. This included some good looks, so it's not like they're firing up contested three's for the heck of it. I do think shot selection can improve, even in a system of "45 threes a game".
• Wheaton Turnovers: 28. This is actually a higher number than I expected, with the Cardinals logging 15 of those on steals. They're good at that, while NCC turned it over 24 times themselves. If nothing else, the Cardinals force more turnovers than they have, which is a big improvement over last year's squad.

Final Thoughts
This was a game that really marked the disparity in talent between these two teams. This isn't to say that the Cardinals are bad, just that Wheaton is that good (11-1 should speak for itself). The things that really concern me are the low shooting percentages and the lack of adjustments on defense. Wheaton killed the Cardinals on the press break tonight, getting a ton of easy layups. The good teams know how to take advantage of the Cardinals playing up and forcing a trap as opposed to leaving someone back at all times to defend the home run. I think a diamond press would suit this team better in that it would make sure someone is all the way back always to help prevent as many easy buckets.

That paragraph is a long way of saying, "Wheaton is clearly better at this stage." We hit some shots, maybe it's not so one-sided, I don't know. Wheaton deserved to win tonight. But this game was also tarnished by terrible officiating. Largely, the crew let a lot of things go (not a bad thing in and of itself), and I'm sure calls were missed both ways, but Wheaton was getting away with murder during a couple stretches. Since I'm at the table, I need to try to stay out of this sort of thing, but the officiating was awful tonight. As is the case, 99.99 percent of the time though, it didn't impact the game (obviously, given the final). But when the officials are missing blatant fouls on your team, it's frustrating to see.

Hopefully Wednesday night's home date with Carthage goes a little bit better. Non-conference play saw the Cardinals match last year's win total, and I'm sure there are more to come. You hope this team can learn from tonight and come out better. The night ended on a good note though, as the #1 ranked men's team beat Wheaton and restored order to the universe.