Game Notes (MBK): Millikin University @ North Central College (2/11/21)

Final Score
NCC 62, Millikin 58

Game Summary
The Big Blue (0-6) got off to a pretty good start in this one, scoring the game's first five points, before the Cardinals (4-2) woke up with a 10-0 run to take the lead. Millikin managed to keep it close for much of the half, and even took a three point lead with about eight and a half to play, but after a North Central timeout to stop the bleeding, the Cardinals scored 13 unanswered to take command, and a late three gave the Cardinals a nine point halftime advantage. The Cardinals took a game-high 11 point lead less than a minute into the second half, but again the Big Blue fought back with a 7-0 run to keep it close, pulling within three once before another Cardinal surge got the lead back to double digits with seven and a half to play. Still Millikin refused to give in, as they fought back to keep it close, but would get no closer than three with just four seconds remaining, and a split of a pair of free throws in the final seconds sealed the deal for the Cardinals.

Key Players

• Blaise Meredith (NCC): 7-14 FG (2-8 3PT), 2-3 FT; 18 pts, 4 reb, 3 ast. Blaise has bounced back nicely from his second half sitdown a couple weeks ago, and while his night from deep wasn't great, he hit a couple big threes in the first half, and did make the most of his drives to the hoop, with the Big Blue having a tough time defending him. He could have easily had more had he not settled for some stepback threes early in the shot clock. Alas.
• Will Clausel (NCC): 4-7 FG (2-4 3PT); 10 pts, 5 reb (2 off), 1 ast, 1 blk, 1 stl. Will got his first start of the season in this one after missing the first couple of games. He did his usual good defense against some pretty talented interior guys for Millikin, but he saved his scoring chops for the end of the game. All ten of his points came after halftime, and he more or less capped the night off with back to back drives for layups that each time pushed the Cardinal lead back to seven points and all but sealed the deal.
• Andy McLaughlin (NCC): 2-5 FG, 3-4 FT; 7 pts, 4 reb. There were a couple Millikin guys who scored in double figures, but I wanted to touch on NCC's newest toy. After spending basically the past season and a half more or less playing small ball (and being able to get away with it because Connor Raridon is his own type of once-in-a-generation player) the Cardinals finally trotted out some size in the form of the 6'7" transfer from Augustana. McLaughlin made his Cardinal debut in this one, and played pretty well in 15 minutes of action to the delight of the entire Cardinal bench. He used his size well down low, hit a couple layups, played some solid defense, and ultimately gave the Cardinals a dimension that will help them going forward.

Key Stats

• NCC: Outscored MIL 10-7 in second chance points. I could have gone a number of different ways here. The Cardinals won the battle in the paint 26-20, 9-7 off turnovers, and 16-13 off the bench. But I highlight second chance points because the Cardinals made the most of their chances. They had five offensive rebounds leading to ten points. The Big Blue had ten offensive rebounds, and had fewer points off those rebounds. In a tight game like these, these types of points matter, and the Cardinals won every category.
• MIL: 7-25 3PT (28.0%). Millikin didn't shoot great as a whole (36.2% from the field), and free throws were about even (low 60's for both teams), but this to me seems like the major difference. Calvin Fisher went 2-9 from deep for the Big Blue, and he's probably their best guy, and while he still led the way with 16 points, an off night from deep meant his team couldn't get over the hump.

CCIW Scoreboard/The Belt^TM Watch

• CRL 72 (2-2), @ ELM 70 (0-1)
• Carroll takes possession of The Belt^TM
• @ WHE 69 (6-0), NPU 59 (1-6)
• IWU (2-0) @ AUG (3-2)- PPD
• BYE: CAR (3-2)
• WBK: @ MIL 74 (5-2), NCC 62 (0-6)

Final Thoughts

Photo by Mark Black

First of all, it's great to have The Belt^TM back in action, even though it was in another game being played a few miles away. For the first time in 349 days, It^TM changes hands, too. Carroll gains possession for the first time in the Modern Era. For full history of The Belt^TM, you'll have to check out D3Boards (or something of a Cliffnotes version I wrote a year ago).

As for this game, I'm a little torn. The Cardinals had control for most of it, but didn't really dominate in the sense that you'd think of, especially against a team they've now beaten 11 times in a row. But the Cardinals made enough plays down the stretch, including a decent performance at the line, to hang on and stay unbeaten at home.

Credit this Big Blue team, though: they're way better than their 0-6 record indicates, and I think they'll be up for the rematch on Saturday down in Decatur. And when fans are allowed again, I need to make a road trip to the Griswold Center; their new floor is awesome.