2015 North Central College Tip Off Tournament Preview

We have an unusual situation this year. Normally, the weekend before Thanksgiving officially kicks off the Division III basketball season, at least for North Central. The women, however, got an early start in their game against Calvin last Friday. The men's season officially begins today.

I've already previewed the upcoming year for both the men and the women, but I'm doing what I did last year and giving the Tip Off Tournament its own preview. Given the format changes again this year, I think it's needed.

Photo from NCC Athletics Department

The women's tournament is returning to its format from prior years, with North Central playing the 5:00 game on Friday, the Friday losers playing at noon on Saturday while the Friday winners play at 5:00. Last year, NCC played both 5:00 games in an effort to deliver a "championship" game, and it succeeded with a double overtime thriller that saw a couple school records fall. Meanwhile, the men's tournament is changing formats again, but out of necessity this time. The school was unable to secure a fourth team to the tournament, so they and their two guest teams will play a round robin with one game apiece on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Obviously, this could complicate the championship, but last year saw a split championship between North Central and Wisconsin-Whitewater after both teams went 2-0 over the weekend.

The tournament's first day will proceed almost like normal, just with no noon games; the women play back to back this afternoon. There will be a neutral men's game on Saturday in between the two women's games, and the North Central men will play their second game on Sunday to spread things out. Here's a look at the five teams coming to Naperville this weekend.

Women's Tournament

Principia College Panthers (Elsah, IL)
2014-15: 11-12 (6-11 SLIAC); Missed SLIAC Tournament
0-0 all time vs NCC

I don't want to pile onto this program, because they're not a terrible team even though they're picked to finish towards the bottom of the SLIAC. I have to be honest though: this is going to be a rough weekend for them... not College of Faith rough (because that's a unique experience that will never happen again), but not easy, given the competition they're facing. The Panthers' roster has a lot of youth, with only one senior and two juniors, and then three sophomores. They have a couple freshmen as well, but that's eight players... against System basketball that involves a lot of up and down. Fortunately for Principia, they have many of their key pieces from last year still around. Their big threat this weekend will be senior forward Kara Johnson (15.8 points, 9.6 rebounds per game) and junior guard Rachel Perea (13 points, 7.8 rebounds, over five assists per game). This team struggled to shoot last year, hitting just 37.5 percent of their field goals and only 25.8 percent from beyond the arc. Johnson is going to have to step up if the Panthers want a chance to compete this weekend.

Maryville College Scots (Maryville, TN)
2014-15: 26-4 (15-1 USA South); Lost in NCAA Division III Second Round
0-0 all time vs NCC

The Scots had one of their best seasons in program history in 2014-15, finishing first in their division but losing the USA South title game to Greensboro. Even so, their high regional ranking earned them an at large bid to the Dance, and they knocked off John Carroll before losing to host DePauw in the second game. They return a large chunk of last year's team to this year's 13th-ranked squad, including their best player in Mackenzie Puckett, who averaged 13.8 points, 4.7 rebounds, 1.6 steals and 1.5 blocks per game last season. This team was also a brilliant shooting team, finishing the year with a 36.5 percent clip from beyond the arc. They return a good amount of secondary scoring in forward Mindy Brackins (8.6 points per game with 42/38/77 shooting splits) and guard Lauren Trent (8.1 points per game, including a 41 percent mark from beyond the arc), though I'm curious to see if the outside shots aren't falling how they plan to score inside. They need improvement from sophomore center Rachel Hawn (5.3 PPG last year) and some contributions from backup senior Linley Dunn (3.1 PPG), especially considering their first opponent on Friday.

Bethel University Royals (Arden Hills, MN)
2014-15: 21-7 (14-4 MIAC); Lost in NCAA Division III First Round
0-0 all time vs NCC

The Royals return basically everyone from a team that finished second in the MIAC last year behind St. Thomas, who went to the Final Four, and saw their season end in Wheaton at the hands of Hope. It's no surprise, then, that Bethel enters the season ranked 22nd in the nation. The main threat comes inside in the form of 6'2" center Rachel Parupsky, who averaged 15.1 points per game on 51.6 percent shooting last year along with 8.4 rebounds per game, and they have a good secondary piece in forward Kalli Zimmermann, who averaged 14.1 on 49 percent shooting last year to go with seven rebounds a game. Controlling the paint is the top priority against this team, though they have some solid guard play. Sydney Schultz is the designated sniper (8.9 points per game on 33.8 percent shooting, including 32.4 percent from deep) and they have a solid point guard in senior Hannah Niewald (8.9 points, 4.6 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game). The Royals are a very good defensive team too, allowing just 57.6 points per game last year on 34.1 percent shooting (including a 27.9 percent clip from beyond the arc).

Men's Tournament

University of Mount Union Purple Raiders (Alliance, OH)
2014-15: 24-7 (15-3 OAC); Lost in NCAA Division III Sectional Semifinals
1-0 all time vs NCC; 1-0 all time vs Chicago, last in 1994

NCC can't avoid the seventh-ranked Raiders like they avoided Whitewater in the tournament last year. The Raiders are a very senior-heavy team this year and only lost a couple players to graduation. The biggest threat is junior guard DeAllen Jackson who averaged 13.7 points a game last year but had a lethal 54/48/78 shooting split and added 4.5 rebounds a contest. They have some good inside presence as well in the form of Jarrett Ruffin (13.1 PPG on 58 percent shooting, 5.4 RPG). The big key to stopping this team though is containing the perimeter. Mount Union shot a ridiculous 41.9 percent as a team from beyond the arc last year, led by Jackson and even Ruffin (41 percent), but of their five returning regulars who averaged at least one attempt from deep per game, the worst mark is Cody Dillon's 37 percent. This is an offensive power house that averaged 85 points per game last year, but they will have a tough test this weekend.

University of Chicago Maroons (Chicago, IL)
2014-15: 16-9 (8-6 UAA); Missed NCAA Tournament (UAA has no conference tournament)
11-11 (11-6?) all time vs NCC, last in 1997; 0-1 all time vs Mount Union, last in 1994

After finishing unranked last year, the Maroons enter the 2015-16 season ranked 17th in the country set for their first matchup with North Central in a long time (though the number of games is disputed between NCC's and Chicago's record books). They were a fairly young team last year, and return all of their main contributors for the 2015-16 campaign. Jordan Smith led the team with 15.1 points per game last year, but was not efficient in doing so (37.8 percent shooting, including a 31.4 percent clip from beyond the arc). They have a pair of strong inside threats in Waller Perez (10 points per game on 50.9 percent shooting) and Nate Brooks (8.3 points per game on 57.4 percent shooting). The guy to watch out for though is Alex Voss, who was second on the team last year with 11 points per game and very good shooting splits (46 percent from the field, including 42.3 percent from deep). They were a decent defensive team last year, giving up 66.8 points per game on 42.3 percent shooting (including an impressive 31.3 percent on three pointers). Their Achilles heel is free throw shooting: the Maroons shot 59.3 percent at the line last year, with two starters hitting less than 50 percent of their freebies. They must improve that if they want to have success this year.

Photo from the NCC Office of Residence Life

So the schedule of games is as follows:

1. Friday, November 20, 2:30pm: Bethel vs Maryville
2. Friday, November 20, 5pm: Principia vs NCC (W)
3. Friday, November 20, 7:30pm: Mount Union vs NCC (M)
4. Saturday, November 21, 12pm: Loser, Game 1 vs Loser, Game 2
5. Saturday, November 21, 2:30pm: Chicago vs Mount Union
6. Saturday, November 21, 5pm: Winner, Game 1 vs Winner, Game 2
7. Sunday, November 22, 2pm: Chicago vs NCC (M)

I will be at Merner Fieldhouse for all seven games and will have writeups for all four North Central games once they go final. Once each tournament is concluded, I will also go through the All Tournament Teams and Tournament MVPs. Good luck to NCC's guests making the trip to Naperville this weekend!