If you go back to December, with the Cardinals losing both Aiden Chang and Jack Bronec for the season, you would be forgiven to have doubts about the Cardinals' postseason hopes, even with an enlarged CCIW Tournament field. But the Cardinals clearly didn't romping through much of CCIW play, including a big win over Augustana at home. But after a couple tough home losses the week after that big win, the Cardinals were suddenly proclaimed "bubble-out" by some of the experts, something backed up by the numbers.
But then something amazing happened. Illinois Wesleyan entered the regional rankings to give North Central a couple more regionally ranked opponent results, and they took care of business on the road to lock up the #2 seed in the CCIW Tournament, earn a bye, and jump a spot in the Central Region. Even then, North Central was still on the bubble and was projected to need to make the conference title game. They knocked off Wheaton in the semis, forcing a rubber game with Augie. And to quote a wise man, "We're in, so we might as well win the whole thing."
Saturday was North Central's fifth CCIW Tournament championship, putting them just one behind Augustana for the all time lead. In the 14 years the tournament has been held, the host team has won it nine times. Of the remaining five tournaments won by someone other than the top seed, North Central has won four of them, including Saturday in Rock Island. This gives the Cardinals their fourth consecutive NCAA Tournament berth, sixth in eight years, and eleventh in program history.
It was nice to not have drama like in past years where I'm anxiously awaiting with bated breath to see if North Central received an at large bid. That drama also wasn't reserved for Augustana, who was probably the first team taken in Pool C as they earn yet another NCAA Tournament berth and try to make it five straight years in the Elite Eight and keep up their odd year dominance of making the title game. Wheaton, however, had plenty of it as they were towards the end of the bubble and needed some mercy from the entire committee except for the Central Region rep... as that was Thunder coach Mike Schauer and he had to recuse himself for that part of the conversation. Augie getting in made it 12 years in a row that the CCIW has gotten a team in via Pool C, and with Wheaton getting the nod, it's the seventh time in eight years the conference has gotten three teams into the Tournament.
I'd be lying, though, if I said there wasn't drama on this Selection Monday for me. And I get rewarded with an item from my bucket list.
Game Summary
In Todd Raridon's first crack at 500 career wins, it was the Britons (1-7) who came out of the gate strong, scoring on five of their first six possessions and building an early 9-2 advantage. But the Cardinals (6-4) wouldn't go quietly into the night, fighting back and staying in the contest. Albion led 17-9 at one point, but the Cardinals scored seven straight to pull back within one, and had an answer when the Britons pushed the lead back to six. The Cardinals fought back, grabbing their first lead of the game at 25-24 with 6:51 left in the first half, and from there the game turned into somewhat of a back and forth, with each team grabbing small leads before going into the locker room knotted up at 40. Whatever Todd Raridon said in the locker room worked; the Cardinals grabbed the lead nine seconds into the second half on an old fashioned three point play and never looked back. Six minutes later the lead was ten, and a three on the Cardinals next possession signified that the game was all but in hand. North Central would lead by as many as 23, and with 2:21 to play Raridon called off the dogs, with the end of Albion's bench making the final margin closer than the second half of this game made it seem, and at double-zeros he became the 13th active coach in Division III to reach 500 wins.
Key Stats
NCC: 19-28 FG in 2nd half (73.1%). For reference, it's not like the Cardinals had a bad shooting night in the first half (10-21). They were just absolutely locked in in the second half, and it's not like this was a complete dominance in the post (32 points in the paint), though the Cardinals did dominate the paint. They were hitting jumpers left and right as well, finishing 6-13 from three for the night, including 3-6 in that second half.
Connor Raridon (NCC): 12-15 FG (0-1 3PT), 12-13 FT; 36 pts, 4 reb (2 off), 8 ast, 2 stl. On a night where the officials were calling everything, Connor adjusted and made the Britons pay at the free throw line, but he was hitting literally everything. Despite missing his one three attempt, he also took a number of midrange jumpers, and they pretty much all fell. By my count in the official play by play, he went 6-7 on jumpers not counting that three, and factoring in that a pair of those were in the paint. His 36 points are a career high, and with his eight assists he moves into North Central's top ten all time in assists with 205, and he's 68 away from Adam Teising's all time mark. That record could fall by season's end.
Alex Sorenson (NCC): 9-15 FG (1-3 3PT), 5-9 FT; 24 pts, 7 reb, 3 ast, 1 stl. Even though this was Connor's (and his dad's) night, Sorenson helped make sure the Cardinals weren't going to squander this one. He was nigh unguardable; Albion's Ryan Lowe started the game on him defensively, and he's a big dude (listed as 6'11", but he's more like 6'9" and stocky), but Sorenson loves eating those guys up. He used his speed and low post skills to dominate him and other defenders who had to challenge him due to the sheer number of fouls being called. His seven boards were also a game high.
Final Thoughts
The one major downfall to last night's game came in the first half: Blaise Meredith was fouled with just under seven minutes to play in the first half, and hurt his knee on the play. He stayed in long enough to nail a pair of free throws and was immediately lifted for Raridon. He looked to be in serious pain after the fact and did not return to the game. He's played fairly well through the first ten games of the season, but I don't know the exact nature of his injury and whether or not this is something that will keep him out for an extended period of time. We'll have to see.
I touched on it a little bit above, but this was a foul-happy game. It was physical, to be sure, but no more so than any usual game you'd see; the officials just kept whistling contact. There were a combined 48 fouls and 63 free throws, which slowed the game down a ton, yet amazingly we only had one player foul out, though both teams had to go pretty deep in their rotations in the first half due to the sheer number of players picking up a pair of fouls. I'm not a huge fan of games like that, and I'm sure if you talked to both coaches, they would have said the same.
With the Cardinals' win tonight, North Central head men's basketball coach Todd Raridon becomes one of 13 active @NCAADIII coaches with at least 500 career victories! #WeAreNC#d3hpic.twitter.com/15gctbOVzE
But this was a night about Todd Raridon and his reaching the 500 win plateau, even if he may downplay the significance of the achievement. He was already on his way off the floor as I was making the announcement about him winning number 500, but he got an ovation anyway. I congratulated him after the game, and his response was that he was disappointed so few people were in attendance (180 was the official total), though given that it's the week before Christmas and North Central's campus is pretty much deserted, it makes sense. Either way, it was a nice win for this program that got off to a slow start this season, but seems to be making some strides as we near the end of December.
The Cardinals have a nice long week and a half break to enjoy the holidays and spend time with family, returning to action on Saturday, December 30th when we welcome Robert Morris- Chicago back to Gregory Arena for the second straight year. While this game will have basically no impact on North Central's postseason outlook, it's still going to be a tough game and an important tuneup before CCIW play resumes two weeks from tonight.
Game Summary
It was a very quick first half that started even, but the Cardinals (3-3) started strong down low to jump to an early lead. The Britons (4-3) had some trouble early, falling behind by double figures just six minutes into the game. They started to hit shots though and worked their way back into the game, using a 7-0 run to turn a 10 point game into a one possession deficit. The Cardinals scored the final five points of the half, however, and took a 37-29 lead into the break. Albion came out strong in the second half but the Cardinals made baskets to answer every attempted run. They then stood strong on defense to shut down the Britons and got to the basket to finish it off.
Key Stats
Alex Sorenson (NCC): 10-15 FG (2-3 3PT); 22 pts, 7 reb (1 off), 2 ast, 1 stl, 3 blk. I said to the official scorer right before tip off that we had an edge in size, and Sorenson proceeded to score 11 of the Cardinals' first 13 points, dominating in the post. Foul trouble and adjustments slowed him down, and due to that foul trouble he only played 21 minutes. That's terrifying to consider what he could have done without the foul trouble.
Jagger Anderson (NCC): 9-12 FG (1-2 3PT), 2-2 FT; 21 pts, 5 reb, 2 ast. With Sorenson in foul trouble, Anderson helped take over the game with a sublime offensive performance. He hit a number of circus shots, including a pair of and-ones to help put the game away.
Connor Raridon (NCC): 5-7 FG, 6-9 FT; 16 pts, 5 reb (2 off), 3 ast. Other than missing all three freebie attempts after getting fouled on a corner three, the freshman had a fantastic second half. He only had four points at the intermission, but got more confident as the game went along, including a nice post up basket that I'm pretty sure head coach Todd Raridon had a little "proud dad" look in his eyes.
Final Thoughts
This was a tough one for Albion before the game even started; they came into Tuesday night on the back end of a back-to-back after losing at North Park on Monday. It may have contributed to the slow start.
I was talking after the game with former Cardinal Derek Raridon and freelance Tribune writer and NCC alum Paul Johnson about this team, and we are amazed at the sheer depth; this squad goes eight or nine deep with legitimate players. It has us excited for conference play; I touched on it a bit in my season preview, but the CCIW is going to be a bloodbath this year. I can't wait.
The Cardinals are escaping Illinois just in time to avoid the cold, as they play in a tournament in Miami this weekend, but return home on Tuesday to face seventh-ranked Benedictine. The Battle of Chicago Avenue is always tough, and the Eagles are off to their best start in recent memory. It's easily their best season since 2010-11.
I have one more game this week in the meantime, as the Benedictine women come to face The System Thursday night for my final dose of yelling "THREEEEEEEEE!" a ton for 2015. If you're in the Naperville area and want something to do, come on out and support this Cardinal team.
