Game Notes (WBK): Augustana College @ North Central College (1/30/21)

Final Score
Augustana 57, NCC 51

Game Summary
Things started well enough in this one, as the Cardinals (0-4) scored on the game's opening possession and seemed like they weren't looking back, leading by as many as seven before the Vikings (2-1) fought back to keep it close, trailing by just four after one quarter. The Vikings cut it to one a couple times, but couldn't quite get over the hump as for the second time in six days, the Cardinals took a two point lead into the locker room. And in the third, it seemed like everything was fine as the Cardinal defense clamped down and held the Vikings off the board for seven and a half minutes, and North Central took the biggest lead of the game at a dozen with about three and a half minutes to go in the quarter. But Augie fought back again, cutting it to a seven point game by the end of the frame. Then in the fourth, it all went to hell as the Vikings scored the first ten points of the frame to take a three point lead, and after a pair of Cardinal free throws cut it to one, Augie scored nine straight to put the contest out of reach.

Key Players

• Lauren Hall (AUG): 4-9 FG (2-6 3PT); 10 pts, 16 reb (4 off), 1 ast, 3 stl. Hall did almost all of her damage in the first half, ending the opening 20 minutes with a double-double, but was then held off the scoresheet for the entire second half. Ultimately it didn't matter, as she pulled down six rebounds and notched two of her steals in the second half while the rest of the Viking offense did its thing.
• Kylie Jozwik (AUG): 3-3 FG (2-2 3PT), 1-2 FT; 9 pts, 3 reb (1 off), 1 stl. Normally I wouldn't be listing a player on here who played all of seven minutes- all of it coming in the second half, mind you- but Jozwik made the most of her time, hitting a big three right at the end of the third quarter to cut the Cardinal lead to seven, then hit another in the opening seconds of the fourth quarter, plus a layup and free throw earlier in the comeback effort.
• Jessica Kowalczyk (NCC): 3-8 FG (2-5 3PT), 2-4 FT; 10 pts, 1 reb (off), 1 ast, 2 stl. Pickings were slim, looking at NCC's box score, so we'll go with the lone Cardinal to reach double figures. Between her and her twin sister Stephanie, the Kowalczyk's had a good game on the whole (16 points), but 14 of those came in the first half.

Key Stats

• NCC: 2-20 FG in 4th quarter (10.0%). The team came out of the gate red hot and was 7-14 from deep at the break. Even in the third quarter, while they couldn't pull definitively away with a lockdown defensive performance, they still built a fairly sizable lead, and then the fourth quarter started and once again the shooting went ice cold. The Cardinals missed their first 18 shots of the quarter, including all 12 from beyond the arc, and only managed a couple free throws for points before hitting a pair of meaningless layups in the closing seconds. I have no explanation for it, other than three point shooting is voodoo.
• AUG: 17-24 FT (70.8%). Granted, a bunch of this came late with NCC intentionally fouling, but even then there were a ton of split trips to the line. One of the big reasons Augie stayed in the game was an 11-14 performance going into the final quarter. The Cardinals, for their part, shot 11-23 from the stripe for the game. You do the math.cc

CCIW Scoreboard Watch

• @ ELM 65 (1-1), CRL 64 (1-1)
• @ MIL 85 (2-1), WHE 60 (2-1)
• NPU 47 (3-0), @ CAR 40 (0-2)
• BYE: IWU (0-0)
• MBK: @ AUG 80 (1-2), NCC 76 (3-1)

Final Thoughts

Photo by Steve Woltmann

Pain.

This is the third straight game the Cardinals have led going into the fourth quarter, and they've lost all three. Even on Thursday out in Rock Island, the Cardinals led by double digits and seemed in control for most of the game before going cold in the fourth. The same story played out here today. Augie played good defense, yes, but the Cardinals also had good looks and they just wouldn't fall in the final ten minutes. This Cardinal team is better than their 0-4 record. They should have at least one win, and it could be argued that they should be 3-1 and right in the thick of the CCIW title hunt. But alas, this isn't the case.

Fun side note to bring up, is that I found a new meme involving an Augustana coach. Mark Beinborn drew a technical foul in the third quarter when he ran all the way out onto the court trying to call a timeout in a loose ball situation (it was called a jump ball, with possession favoring the Cardinals at the time), and when the timeout wasn't granted, he threw his dry erase marker in frustration. Thus was born the all new "Mark Beinborn Marker Watch," which just doesn't have the same feel as the legendary Grey Giovanine Jacket Watch. Anyway, I don't know if it was that that earned the T, or the fact that he was all the way to the paint, but it gave the Cardinals a free trip to the line (Allison Pearson split the free throws). It also arguably makes up for a timeout granted to the Vikings when they didn't have possession in the contest at Merner between these two four years ago, leading to the lone Augie bucket during a 19-2 Cardinal run that damn near killed me. Sorry, I'm still a little bitter and also have fond memories of that stretch that saw me go from exasperation to matter of factness to pushing myself to my utmost limits as a PA announcer.

Ultimately, I still think this Cardinal team can win a few games. They're pretty talented, if somewhat raw still, have a lot of heart, and can play really good defense. The late cold spells have been a huge problem. The fact that they're hitting their shots earlier in games leads me to believe that it's a weird, small sample size thing and it will get better. At least, I hope that's the case. Things don't get easier for this group though as they prepare for a home-and-home with Illinois Wesleyan. The Titans have yet to play a game this season, and we'll see if that results in any rust for the team in green either down at the Shirk on Thursday or a week from today when these two teams are slated to meet in Naperville.

Game Notes (MBK): Augustana College @ North Central College (1/28/21)

Final Score

NCC 71, Augustana 62

Game Summary

This one had the hallmark of a classic NCC-Augie matchup as defenses ruled the opening minutes. The Cardinals (3-0) didn't even record their first field goal until six minutes in, though trips to the line helped account for scoring to keep this a tight game. Back to back threes midway through the half gave the Cardinals a 14-10 lead, but after a Viking (0-2) timeout to stop the bleeding, they hit three straight from beyond the arc and forced the Cardinals to return the favor with a stoppage. The Cardinals kept it close, cutting the deficit to one before going into the break down four thanks to a late layup. Playing the entire second half without Blaise Meredith, the Cardinals opened it with a 9-2 run to retake the lead, but the Vikings fought back and took a six point lead again with about eight minutes to go. After a Cardinal timeout came the decisive run: the Cardinals scored 13 straight over the next four minutes to take control, pushed the lead to double digits with about a minute to go, and hit free throws late to seal the deal and remain unbeaten.

Key Players

• Matt Helwig (NCC): 5-9 FG (0-3 3PT), 10-10 FT; 20 pts, 11 reb, 4 ast, 1 blk, 1 stl. On a night where Blaise sat the entire second half, the Cardinals needed someone else to step up, and Helwig did, leading all scoring and tying for the game high in rebounds, which as a 6'2" guy is pretty impressive. 14 of Matt's 20 points came in the second half, including all ten of his free throws.
• Shea Cupples (NCC): 2-7 FG (1-4 3PT), 4-4 FT; 9 pts, 5 reb (1 off), 5 ast, 1 stl. I could have gone with Matt Smietanski (15 pts, 7 reb) or maybe Mike Pollack (13 and 5), but I wanted to highlight the sophomore whose shots weren't really falling (though he hit a big three in the second half when Augie was going on its run to take that six point lead with about eight minutes to go, keeping the game still in reach). On a night where he wasn't shooting great, he still got his teammates involved with a game high in assists and pulled down a good number of rebounds amongst the trees. Shea didn't get a lot of run last year, but he's become a key rotation piece this year, and so far he's risen to the challenge.
• Daniel Carr (AUG): 6-15 FG (2-6 3PT), 2-3 FT; 16 pts, 11 reb (1 off), 1 ast, 2 blk. Carr is going to follow in the footsteps of a line of successful Augie big men, though he also brings a nice inside-outside game somewhat reminiscent of former NCC standout Alex Sorenson (though per IWU guy Bob Quillman, he's better facing the hoop than Alex, but not as good with his back to the bucket.) Carr showed off his skillset last night, especially in the first half with 14 points and 7 rebounds before the Cardinals were able to contain him to 1-6 shooting in the second half. Carr is only a sophomore though, so he's only going to get better.

Key Stats

• NCC: 22-28 FT (78.6%). The score may not necessarily have suggested it, but based on shooting percentages, this was your typical NCC-Augie defensive struggle, which meant free throws would make the difference, and the Cardinals made more from their trips than Augie attempted (bearing in mind Augie fouled a ton in the final minutes, giving the Cardinals multiple trips to the line). That led to a 16-20 performance in the second half for NCC, more than enough to ice away the game.
• AUG: Outscored 11-0 off turnovers. I preached defense, but both teams took care of the ball last night (a combined 19 turnovers). But off NCC's nine giveaways, the Vikings could not capitalize, while the Cardinals turned ten Viking turnovers into 11 points. You do the math.

CCIW Scoreboard Watch

• WHE 82 (2-0), @ MIL 61 (0-2)
• @ CAR 69 (2-0), NPU 55 (0-3)
• IWU (1-0) @ ELM (0-0)- PPD
• BYE: CRL (0-1)
• WBK: @ AUG 69 (1-1), NCC 63 (0-3)

Final Thoughts

Photo by Steve Woltmann

I touched on it a couple times, but I feel like I do need to clarify a bit about the fact that Blaise Meredith sat the entire second half. He was heated coming off the floor at the first half buzzer, and I'm guessing took it too far, because he spent the entire second half sitting at the front spot on the bench, towel over his head. He's a guy that plays with a lot of fire and emotion, which is good, but can backfire if he's having an off night (which he was, at least offensively). Ultimately, his teammates picked him up with that key four minute stretch late and his presence wasn't necessary for a good win against a not-quite-what-they-used-to-be, but still dangerous Augustana team.

The Cardinals will return the home-and-home on Saturday afternoon with a trip to the Carver Center, while the women will try to bounce back from another heartbreaker in that very building last night by facing that same Augustana team in Merner on Saturday.

Game Notes (WBK): North Park University @ North Central College (1/25/21)

Final Score

NPU 55, NCC 53 (OT)

Game Summary

It sure seemed like we were in for a very long night as the Vikings (2-0) opened the game on a 14-0 run as the Cardinals (0-2) missed a bunch of early looks and had trouble taking care of the ball. But the Vikings eventually went cold, managing just three free throws the rest of the opening quarter and leading 17-6 after the first ten minutes. Then the wheels fell off, the Cardinals started to hit shots, and we seemed poised to go into the break tied at 24, but an off balance Haydn Braun layup gave the Cardinals a two point edge at the buzzer. The Cardinals kept that momentum up into the third quarter, building a nine point lead and holding off Viking rallies to going into the final ten minutes of regulation up 42-37. The Cardinals scored the first four of the quarter to push their lead back to nine, but were held off the board for eight minutes as the Vikings slowly fought back, taking a one point lead with a minute and a half to go. The Cardinals tied it on a free throw with under a minute to play. North Park came up empty on two chances, but Page Desenberg's three to win was blocked, forcing overtime. The Cardinals took a pair of two point leads in the extra session, but North Park was able to answer both, then take their own lead with under a minute to play. The Cardinals answered on a nice play, but left 28 seconds on the clock for the Vikings. After getting across the time line and calling timeout, they drew up a play for Jayla Johnson, who drove left, and hit a fallaway jumper from about ten feet with 2.8 seconds left to give the Vikings their final lead. The Cardinals tried to find Megan McClure for a game-tying layup, but it fell short, and the Vikings stormed the court, completing the sweep and avenging the end to their season a year ago.

Key Players

• Jayla Johnson (NPU): 10-18 FG (1-2 3PT), 0-2 FT; 21 pts, 11 reb (3 off), 1 ast, 5 stl. North Park's best player played the role last night. She was pretty dominant in the first half, notching 11 points and seven rebounds, despite coughing the ball up four times. She cleaned the turnover game up a bit after halftime, but was held to 4-9 shooting there, and didn't get a look until her game winner with 2.8 ticks left. A comment made by North Park play by play man Greg Sager is that the Vikings are going to need someone else to step up and be a second scorer, but for now having Johnson as your best player is pretty good.
• Esther Miller (NPU): 1-5 FG (0-2 3PT), 7-9 FT; 9 pts, 12 reb (5 off), 1 ast, 4 stl. There were a few directions I could have gone for North Park's second person, and to me it was the 5'9" Miller leading all rebounders (and offensive rebounders). While those five offensive boards only resulted in four points (all Miller free throws), she was a big reason why the Vikings were able to survive their second quarter rough patch.
• Bekah Foley (NCC): 0-6 FG (0-2 3PT); 0 pts, 6 reb (4 off), 2 stl, 4 blk. So why am I going with a player who didn't score last night as opposed to a Haydn Braun, who led the team with 12 points, or a Page Desenberg/Allison Pearson who scored in double figures as well? Foley was a key piece in helping the Cardinals try to hold onto their lead late in regulation. Her four blocks were a career high, and she did a great job containing Jayla Johnson, denying multiple entry passes to her, and despite Foley only recording two steals, she probably forced a handful more with those denials. You need those nitty gritty plays that don't show up in the box score, and Bekah provided those last night.

Key Stats

• NCC: 22 points off 26 NPU turnovers. In a game that seemed like it was over only six minutes in, it was the Cardinal defense that rose to the occasion to help make this an overtime game. Of these 26 turnovers, 14 came off Cardinal steals, and North Central probably drew half a dozen offensive fouls over the course of the game. I lost count of the exact number, but it was a lot. North Park, for their part, had 15 points off turnovers.
• NPU: 15 second chance points. North Park for the game outrebounded the Cardinals, but not by a lot (48-44). However, their edge came on the offensive glass with 17 offensive rebounds (though the Cardinals logged 16 as a team). All of those points, however, came in the first three quarters.

CCIW Scoreboard Watch

• AUG (0-1) @ ELM (1-0)- PPD
• MIL (1-0) @ CAR (0-1)- PPD
• IWU (0-0) @ CRL (0-0)- PPD
• BYE: ELM (0-0)
• MBK: NCC 83 (2-0), @ NPU 60 (0-2)

Final Thoughts

Photo by Mark Black

This was a tough one. I was convinced we were in for a long night in the first few minutes as North Park built that commanding two touchdown lead. But the Cardinals did a great job refusing to give up, starting hounding the Vikings on the defensive end, took advantage of the numerous offensive fouls, and really turned this into a game. It goes down as another classic in a pretty good recent history of games between these two teams at Merner. It's just unfortunate that North Park had the look for the last shot and made it, but it was a great play by Jayla Johnson.

It's an 0-2 start, but an improvement over the opener when the Vikings won by 12 in Chicago. The Cardinals will go right back to on Thursday night, when they travel to Rock Island to take on Augustana.

Game Notes (MBK): North Park University @ North Central College (1/23/21)

Final Score

NCC 69, NPU 49

Game Summary

Playing for the first time in almost a full calendar year, the Cardinals (1-0) got off to a slow start, falling behind 7-2 early as they struggled to shoot. But then the Vikings (0-1) went cold as well, going nearly eight minutes without a basket as the Cardinals used a 10-0 run to take the lead. North Park hung around though as the Cardinals got a little sloppy with the ball and the game turned into a back and forth affair. The Vikings hit a shot on the last possession of the half, tying the game at 27 going into the locker room. But the master of halftime, Todd Raridon, worked his magic again, as the Cardinals opened the second half on a 17-3 run to take dominant control of the game, and the Vikings would not threaten the rest of the way.

Key Players

• Blaise Meredith (NCC): 9-17 FG (6-12 3PT), 1-3 FT; 25 pts, 7 reb, 6 ast, 1 blk, 1 stl. With the departure of Connor Raridon and Matt Cappelletti this offseason, this has become Blaise Meredith's team, and he put the team on his back today. Most of his damage came from behind the arc, an area of his game he's really improved on over the last couple of years, and he remained a force on the defensive end as well as on the glass. He fought through some physical defense today and wanted more calls than he got, and that's really my only gripe is making sure his head stays in the game, but for the most part he was, and it showed today.
• Brian Johnson (NCC): 5-10 FG (1-3 3PT), 0-2 FT; 11 pts, 9 reb (5 off), 3 ast, 1 stl. The aforementioned departures also leave a gap in the forward position that needed to be filled today, especially with Will Clausel out due to injury, and the sophomore stepped up big time in this one. He opened the season's scoring for the Cardinals with a putback layup early, showed some range from deep, but also did a great job moving without the ball for some layups while also playing strong on the boards. If he can continue to put these numbers up as the season goes on, look out.
• Adam Sundh (NPU): 6-8 FG (0-2 3PT); 12 pts, 4 reb (1 off), 1 ast, 3 stl. In my prep for this game, I reached out to the play by play guy for North Park athletics, Greg Sager. In addition to coaching me on the nuance of Swedish surname pronunciation, he mentioned that he figured Sundh would get some run in this game, and not only did he, but he was probably the Vikings' best guy on the floor. He scored eight straight North Park points in the first half to keep the game competitive, and did it largely by wreaking havoc on the defensive end and cashing those points in on the other end. Tom Slyder has a good one here.

Key Stats

• NCC: 17 second chance points. There are some aspects of this game, looking at the box score, where things were even or even favoring the Vikings, but this number jumped out at me. The Cardinals had 14 offensive rebounds in this game to lead to those 17 points, while the Vikings managed just eight on second opportunities. On a night where both teams had a little rust, taking advantage of these chances was key, and the Cardinals capitalized.
• NPU: 3-19 3PT (15.8%). On the whole this number looks bad, but let's break it down by halves. The Vikings hit their first three attempt of the game to open the scoring, then went cold, but hit a couple threes later in the half, finishing 3-9 in the first 20 minutes. That of course means an 0-10 stretch in the second half. As a point of reference, the Vikings shot about 33 percent from deep last season, and much of last year's roster is back, so between first game jitters and regression to the mean, I don't think we can read too much into this, especially since North Central is a good defensive team.

CCIW Scoreboard Watch

• IWU 74 (1-0), @ CRL 59 (0-1)
• @ WHE 88 (1-0), AUG 67 (0-1)
• @ CAR 83 (1-0), MIL 57 (0-1)
• BYE: ELM (0-0)
• WBK: @ NPU 59 (1-0), NCC 47 (0-1)

Final Thoughts

Photo by Mark Black

Today was a long time coming. It was the first contest for the Cardinals since the legendary Oshkosh game, and a contest that I think a lot of us weren't sure was going to happen. I'm grateful to the NCAA, the CCIW, and North Central for taking steps to make sure that this contest could be put on safely. And on top of that, I'm glad that the North Central athletic department, even with no fans, still wanted the gameday atmosphere to be as close to normal as possible, and thus invited me back for my tenth year behind the microphone, even though this season is nowhere near what I pictured it looking like.

As for this game, it wasn't pretty at times. There was a lot of rust, which was something to be expected. Fortunately that rust extended both ways, and while the Vikings made a game of it in the first half, good job by the Cardinals to take care of business in the second half and come away with the victory.

With the shortened schedule this season, the Cardinals will go forward by finishing the home and home with North Park by paying a visit to the north side of Chicago on Monday night, while the women's team, who played in the crackerbox this afternoon, will host North Park Monday night, and I'll be back at it for them as well. For the men, it's a good start and a good sign that this team is still pretty good. Hopefully they'll take care of business on the road, but the rest of the schedule is no cakewalk. With luck, today was a good building block for the rest of the campaign.

2020 COAS Pigskin Pick 'Em: Epilogue

And so with the 2020 NFL regular season in the books, so too is the 2020 COAS Pigskin Pick 'Em contest.

We mentioned it on the podcast episode for Week 17, but Adam needed a sweep to overtake me for the column title. Unfortunately for him, the Steelers' back door cover in Cleveland during the early slate guaranteed that the best he could do was tie. And with Green Bay forcing the Bears to back into the playoffs while simultaneously locking up the #1 seed in the NFC, I continued the run of even year magic and clinched the column title, rendering his Chargers and Rams picks moot.

That said, congratulations to Geoffrey Clark for finishing as the 2020 group champion with a .500 record. A full breakdown of how we picked each of the 256 games this year in relation to each other can be found here.

Adam and I may return with playoff picks over the next couple of weeks, though I don't count those nearly as much as I do the regular season games. But either way, I look forward to the return of this feature for 2021!

Records This Season
Lucas: 126-130 (7-9 this week)
Adam: 124-132 (7-9 this week)
Joe: 123-133 (9-7 this week)
Geoffrey: 128-128 (6-10 this week)
Jim: 120-136 (4-12 this week)