2017 NCC Men's Basketball Recap

I spent a decent chunk of my Saturday playing the What If game. I knew it was a very long shot, but there was a possibility that I would end up back at the microphone in Gregory Arena this coming weekend. Unfortunately, Hanover College had other plans.

The host Panthers knocked off North Central 64-63 last night in the second round of the NCAA Tournament to advance to the Sweet 16. The Cardinals shot just 38 percent from the floor and surrendered a 15-4 run late in the second half that give Hanover control, though the Cardinals were in it until the very end. But Erwin Henry missed a baseline jumper in the closing seconds that would have tied the game, and North Central comes home having advanced a round farther than they did last year, but still not as far as they would have liked to advance.

It closes out North Central's season with an 18-11 record, which is a lot of losses for an NCAA Tournament team. But the Cardinals overcame a shaky stretch early in the season and made a ton of noise in late January and February, and this team has nothing to hang its head about at the end of the day.


 It was a year of high expectations, and the Cardinals certainly started well enough, going to Benedictine and avenging last year's loss in the opener. The Cardinals then handled an Alma team that lost a lot from last year in the home opener, and then beat Aurora on Black Friday to jump out to a 3-0 start. But the following week the wheels fell off and the Cardinals inexplicably lost to a not-very-good Platteville team, though in fairness, their 2-3 zone gave the Cardinals fits all night.

We got an early start to CCIW play this season, and the Cardinals bounced back nicely with an excellent win over Illinois Wesleyan, but they stumbled again the following Wednesday with a home loss to Carthage that I was unable to make. North Central righted the ship and beat Millikin down in Decatur to improve to 2-1 and be right in the thick of the CCIW race with a month of non conference games to go.

Disaster struck after that, as sophomore Connor Raridon broke his hand, and would go on to miss the rest of the season. It didn't bother the Cardinals a ton in December, as they beat Albion in Michigan the following week, then came home for a non-NCAA game against Robert Morris, which they lost. But the team made a ton of noise down in Florida, including a double overtime thriller over Wartburg that involved a pair of buzzer beating threes to force both extra sessions. It got North Central back into CCIW play with some momentum and hopes of taking advantage of the high expectations.

Unfortunately, the team struggled mightily in early January. Augustana came into Gregory Arena and once again the Vikings knocked off North Central. They followed that up with a narrow loss to a good North Park squad and a loss up at CCIW returner Carroll. North Central found itself at 2-4 in the CCIW, losers of four straight including a non conference tilt up at UW-Stevens Point, and well out of the CCIW Tournament picture. The Cardinals responded with a classic double overtime win at Wheaton, then inexcusably lost to a bad Elmhurst team to fall to 3-5 at the halfway mark of CCIW play.

I said North Central needed to, at a minimum, go 6-2 in the second half, and they did just that, though not necessarily in the way I would have liked. North Central got off to a good enough start by annihilating Millikin, then kept the incomparable Aston Francis in check to earn the sweep of Wheaton. The Cardinals then survived Carroll's long range onslaught to earn their third straight win, all at home. In a huge game on the north side of Chicago, the Cardinals avenged an earlier loss and beat North Park to make it four straight and a 7-5 mark in conference. Then the wheels fell off again and North Central blew a winnable game at Augustana, going on to lose in overtime. The Cardinals bounced back with a win on Senior Night over Elmhurst, but the choking continued as the Cardinals blew another winnable game at Carthage, again losing in overtime. North Central finished out its regular season with a win at Illinois Wesleyan, but needed help on the final day of the regular season to make the CCIW Tournament.

They got that help, then went on an improbable CCIW Tournament run. Aiden Chang played the hero at the buzzer in the semis to knock off host Carthage, and Chang provided the dagger in the closing seconds against Augustana to give North Central the tournament title and the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. It was a tough draw, but the Cardinals shot well to knock off Wooster before succumbing last night to the host Panthers.

Given how poorly the Cardinals were playing in January, I am thrilled with the late run the Cardinals made. They reached the annual goal of making the CCIW Tournament, then turned the final two weeks into the theme of "They shouldn't have let us in." The Cardinals were a nightmare draw for anyone who played them, as evidenced by the close final score (which is closer than it was; Chang hit a three at the buzzer) despite the team not shooting its best.

Most of this group stays intact going into next year, with the only senior being point guard Jagger Anderson. It's going to be hard to replace his 11.4 points per game and 97 assists next year, but more importantly they lose his game-changing speed and ability to hit circus layups. There's no true point guard in house right now, though Chang played the point a little bit this season, and Connor Raridon probably could as well, but to play either of them there takes them away from their true strengths, and I'm sure a point guard is at the top of coach Todd Raridon's shopping list this offseason. It's strange to say this, but Kristen will also miss Jagger, as he became her favorite player on the team this season, really enjoying his ability to convert impossible layups. For a non-sports fan to really enjoy watching him play is a testament to his abilities (and something I enjoyed seeing and teasing her about, all in good fun).

There's no reason to think the Cardinals will have any real drop off next year, point guard worries aside. Alex Sorenson had to deal with constant double teams all season, but still put up 17.8 points per game on 48/33/66 shooting splits (and the free throw improvement is a good sign; hopefully it continues) while also averaging 9.2 rebounds per game. Erwin Henry emerged as the #2 scoring threat this season with 13.2 points per game on 46/41/74 splits plus six rebounds a game. Aiden Chang stepped into the starter's role nicely with 10.3 points per game on 40/36/86 splits, and showed a clutch gene late in the season.

The huge surprise and blessing was the emergence of freshman Matt Cappelletti. He was an end of the bench guy at the start of the year, seeing only garbage time minutes, but with Raridon out he had to step into a starting role, and he delivered. He finished the season with an admirable 8 points and 5.8 rebounds per game with respectable 44/34/81 splits. He will likely inherit the Kevin Honn supersub role next season, conceivably spelling Erwin, Connor, and even Alex to some degree next year, and if Alex is in foul trouble and has to sit, this is going to be a great smallball lineup.

This is going to be exciting part for next year: Connor Raridon will be available and healthy for the season opener. He was off to a great start this year, averaging 17.7 points and seven rebounds a game with 52/42/73 splits before going down, and there's no reason to believe he can't replicate that again next year. He also played few enough games that I wouldn't be surprised if he was medically redshirted this season, which gives him an extra year of eligibility. But that's down the line.

All in all, with the success of that starting five, and hopeful continued progression of guys like Jack Bronec (0.9 points, 1.7 rebounds per game), Jaquan Phipps (1.7 points, 1.1 rebounds per game, lockdown defense), and Tommy Koth (3.0 points, 1.6 rebounds per game), this team will be at or near the top of the CCIW once again.

You add in the fact that this team was all but written off in mid to late January, went on a run, and made the NCAA Tournament, becoming the first #4 seed in the history of the CCIW Tournament to win the title, and this team has a sky high confidence that is going to be tough to overcome next year. There's no reason to think they can't pick up right where they left off in November and become the team to beat.