Game Notes: Millikin University @ North Central College (2/6/14)

Final Score
Millikin 101, NCC 82

Game Summary
After a day's delay due to Millikin University closing on Wednesday, we saw the Cardinals (10-11, 3-7) take the lead on the opening possession, but couldn't press the advantage. Despite sloppy play by both teams, the Big Blue (9-11, 3-6) took an 8-7 lead with 16:40 to go, and, other than a tie at 26-all, never trailed again. They led by as many as 10 points late in the first half, but the Cardinals fought back to within as few as two points before going into the break trailing 47-43. They came out flat in the second half though, needing over three minutes to get on the board as Millikin rebuilt its lead. North Central again closed the gap, this time as close as 70-67 with about 10 minutes to go. The Big Blue woke up and went on another massive run from there though and put the game away within a few minutes, and got over the century mark as time expired.

Key Stats

• MIL: Outrebounded NCC 59-31 (28-8 in the first half). Look, North Central's system means that a lot of shots get put up. On the season, the Cardinals have been outrebounded on average by about 10 boards a game. But to get destroyed this badly on the boards is an alarming stat. While second chance points were even at 11 apiece, the Big Blue outscored North Central in the paint 80-24. Taking that kind of control down low will kill any team. And it kept the Cardinals from running down the other way for chances to work back into the game. After the game, Coach Roof brought up this as one of the big things she was very upset about regarding this game.
• NCC: 12-43 FG (4-22 3PT) in the 2nd half (27.9%). You're going to have bad games from time to time. I get it. But this was abysmal. A lot of these shots were open looks from deep, but there were an alarming number of missed layups as well. You have to take advantage of those. Considering these numbers, the Cardinals didn't deserve to win this game.
• Brittany Czaplicki (MIL): 11-15 FG, 3-7 FT; 25 pts, 8 reb (1 ofr), 5 ast, 3 blk, 2 stl. This is a great floor game. Heck, a great game period. 19 of her points came after halftime as she took over the game, though all five of her assists came in the first. She also hit the bucket at the buzzer that put Millikin over 100 points. The game was out of reach, and the shot clock was off, but she felt it appropriate to score one last time. I get the allure of wanting to score 100 points, but I felt that that last shot was in poor taste, and I definitely didn't appreciate the Big Blue swarming her and celebrating how they did at the end of the game. Maybe it was the frustration from a poorly played game by the Cardinals, but I found it bordering on classless.

North Central System Watch

• NCC 3PT: 11-38 (28.9%). This is definitely dragged down by the poor second half, but the Cardinals shot pretty well before the intermission (7-16). They went cold late; simple as that. Marion Boeck was the best from deep, going 3-5.
• MIL Turnovers: 38. This was a really, really ugly game, especially when you add North Central's 30 turnovers to the mix. The Cardinals did draw a handful of charges early, which helped these numbers, but a majority came off steals (23 in total). Lauren Hernandez and Maryssa Cladis each had four thefts to lead the way, while Bobbi Johns and Marion Boeck each had three. As a team, this Cardinals team is already the second-most prolific at stealing the ball in program history (last year's team has the program record with 442 steals; this year's team now has 358). Individually, Johns now needs just three steals to tie Carol Judkins for tenth-most in a single season in Cardinal history. Kim Wallner's record of 86 in a season is probably safe, at least for now. Her career record of 289 is probably also safe.

CCIW Watch
all games played on Wednesday

• @ Carthage (18-2, 9-0) 64, Wheaton (15-5, 6-4) 45
• Elmhurst (12-8, 4-5) 68, @ North Park (10-9, 3-5) 57
• Illinois Wesleyan (14-6, 8-1) 85, @ Augustana (5-16, 1-9) 71

Final Thoughts
I have a lot tonight. First and foremost though, my thoughts and prayers go out to Lauren Hernandez. Towards the end of the game, she fell and hurt her knee and had to leave the game. She couldn't put any weight on it, and left Merner tonight on crutches. I wished her well on my way out tonight, but I wouldn't be surprised if she's done for the rest of the season. This poses a problem for the Cardinals, as they're down to just two point guards now if that's the case. Hopefully she'll make a full recovery in due time, and be a key part of next year's team if nothing else.

On a lighter note, this was still an interesting game to announce, if for no other reason than the names on Millikin's roster are amazing. NCTV's Justin Zipser, an old friend from my North Central and WONC days, tweeted out a picture of Millikin's roster, complete with a much-needed pronunciation guide (pictured to the right). I don't have a full team of them, but Millikin's Yip Ypya is a unanimous selection to the All-Awesome Name To Announce All Stars. I even told Justin so during halftime.

As for the game itself... this was one the Cardinals needed to have, but the way they played, didn't deserve it. When the team came back onto the floor for second half warmups, Coach Roof was doing her best Manning Face impersonation. Talking to her after the game, all I'll say is that she was definitely pissed about how this one went down. This is a team North Central should have beaten, but played way too poor a game to have done so.

Unfortunately, this is it for me for the 2013-14 campaign. Three of North Central's final four games are on the road, and I have another commitment on Senior Night on the 15th. I felt bad telling Coach Roof I couldn't make it, but I'm planning on stopping by to see this team one last time before the season ends. Even with the underachievement this year and the fact that the Cardinals are all but eliminated from CCIW Tournament contention, this team is a lot of fun to announce for, and I'm going to miss this squad. I'll do a postseason wrap up once everything is in the books, which will be another couple weeks. Hopefully this team can end the year on something of a high note.