First and second rounds, Friday and Saturday, March 7-8, UW-Whitewater, Whitewater, Wisconsin
Directions to UW-Whitewater
Schedule
Friday's first-round games
Lawrence University (22-2) vs. Wheaton (Ill.) College, 6:00 p.m.
UW-Whitewater (24-4) vs. Loras College (21-6), 8:00 p.m.
Saturday's second-round game
Lawrence/Wheaton winner vs. Whitewater/Loras winner, 7:00 p.m.
Webcast
The Lawrence/Wheaton game will be webcast by WETN-FM.
The Whitewater/Loras game will be webcast by WKCH-FM.
Live Stats
http://www.uwwsports.com/Sports/mbball/2007/livestats/xlive.htm
The Coaches
Joel DePagter (Lawrence 1998) is in his first season at Lawrence and has a record of 22-2. Bill Harris (Gordon 1970) is in his 17th season at Wheaton and has a record of 291-143 (23rd season overall, 418-204). Pat Miller (UW-Whitewater) is in his seventh season at UW-Whitewater and has a record of 146-48. Greg Gorton (St. Thomas 1991) is in his first season at Loras and has a record of 21-6.
The Series
Lawrence holds a 1-0 edge in the series with Wheaton. The teams haven't met since a 24-11 Lawrence victory in 1925.
Lawrence has a 2-0 edge in the series with UW-Whitewater, which was called Whitewater Normal School when the teams played twice in 1915. Lawrence won the two games 38-8 and 51-1.
Loras holds a 2-1 edge in the series with Lawrence. The teams met for the first time in 1940 and played twice in 1944, splitting those games.
Last Game
Lawrence punched its ticket for the NCAA Division III Tournament with a 98-95 overtime victory over Carroll on Saturday in the Midwest Conference Tournament Championship Game. The MWC Tournament winner receives an automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament.
Ryan Kroeger poured in 27 points to pace Lawrence and was one of five Vikings in double figures. Doug Kadison added 15 points, all in the second half, and Jayce Apelgren had 12. Dylan Fogel and Andy Hurley had 11 points apiece for Lawrence. Wes Ladwig paced Carroll with 30 points, and Ryan Mueller added 27 points and 12 rebounds.
Lawrence trailed by 13 points at the half and were down by as many as 17 points in the second half. The Vikings got back into the game early in the second half with a 12-0 run to cut the lead from 55-38 to 55-50 with 14:52 left. Kroeger and Apelgren scored four points apiece in that stretch.
The Vikings took their first lead since 2-0 when John Dekker hit a 3-pointer to put Lawrence up 60-59 with 11:09 left. The game see-sawed from that point, with nine lead changes in the final 11:09.
Lawrence went up 83-81 on Kadison's 3-pointer with 37 seconds left. Ladwig tied the game on a layup with 16 seconds remaining to force the overtime. Carroll had a chance to win it in regulation but Ladwig's jumper with two seconds left was off the mark.
The game was tied for the 11th and final time on a pair of Mueller free throws with 2:18 left in the overtime. Lawrence took the lead for good on a Hurley free throw with 1:55 left, and Carroll then turned the ball over on its next two possessions. The Vikings converted three free throws during that short stretch to lead 93-89 with 35 seconds left.
After a missed 3-pointer by Nate Zimmerman, Tommy Schmidt grabbed the rebound and was fouled. He knocked down both free throws to put Lawrence up 95-89. After Mueller banked in a 3-pointer, Kadison was fouled and converted 1 of 2 from the foul line to give Lawrence a 96-92 lead with eight seconds left.
Ladwig then drained a long 3-pointer with four seconds left, and Kroeger was fouled on the inbounds. He made both free throws with 1.2 seconds left to seal the victory.
Lawrence's Probable Starters
Ryan Kroeger, Jr., G, 6-2
Ben Rosenblatt, Sr., G, 6-0
Doug Kadison, Jr., G, 6-2
Andy Hurley, Sr., F, 6-7
Chris Page, Jr., F, 6-6
Wheaton's Probable Starters
Kent Raymond, Jr., G, 6-3
Andrew Jahns, Fr., G, 6-2
Ben Panner, So., F, 6-3
Jacob Carwell, So., F, 6-7
Andy Wiele, Jr., C, 6-8
UW-Whitewater's Probable Starters
Matt Goodwin, Jr., G, 6-1
Myles McKay, Jr., G, 6-3
Kevin Koski, So., G, 6-0
Kori Vernon, Jr., F, 6-6
Billy Kolinske, Jr., F, 6-6
Loras' Probable Starters
Jake Oeth, Jr., G, 6-4
Brian Centella, Jr., G, 6-2
Kyle White, Sr., F, 6-5
Ricky Kolze, Jr., F, 6-3
Luke Slater, Sr., F, 6-5
Lawrence Update
Lawrence earned its spot in the NCAA Tournament by winnings its fourth MWC Tournament title in the last five seasons and fifth overall. This is the fifth time Lawrence has played in the NCAA Tournament (1997, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008).
From a percentage standpoint, Lawrence is the best team in the NCAA Tournament in Midwest Conference history. Lawrence has a 5-4 record for a .556 winning percentage. Lawrence has a quarter of the conference's 20 NCAA Tournament victories. Ripon also has five NCAA Tournament wins, but the Red Hawks have a 5-14 overall mark in NCAA Tournament play. Midwest Conference teams are 0-8 against the NCAA Tournament field this season. Lawrence's only meeting against a tourney team was a 75-56 loss at UW-Stevens Point on Dec. 8
Lawrence moved up one spot in this week's D3hoops.com Top 25 and is now ranked 15th.
Junior guard Ryan Kroeger and senior forward Andy Hurley were both honored by the Midwest Conference this week. Kroeger and Hurley were both first-team all-conference selections, and Kroeger was named Player of the Year. Kroeger becomes the fifth Player of the Year selection for Lawrence. Kroeger joins current Lawrence head coach Joel DePagter (1997), Adam LaVoy (2000), and Chris Braier (2004 and 2006) as Player of the Year winners. Kroeger becomes the first underclassman to be named Player of the Year since Braier did it as a sophomore in 2004.
Kroeger leads the team and finished sixth in the league in scoring at 17.3 points per game. He was fourth in field goal percentage (55.4 percent), third in 3-point field goal percentage (46.6 percent), and second in free throw percentage (86.3 percent). Kroeger, who was a second-team selection last season, also averaged 2.5 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game. Kroeger currently ranks 14th in career scoring at Lawrence with 1,061 points. He just passed Jason Holinbeck (1,051) and is only eight points behind Tom Steinmetz (1,073). Hurley was a first-team all-conference selection for the first time after earning honorable mention a season ago. Hurley finished 15th in the league in scoring at 12.4 points per game and led the league at 9.7 rebounds per contest. Hurley, who shot 51.9 percent from the floor, finished fourth in the league at 1.12 blocks per game and averaged 1.9 assists per contest.
The Vikings have a combined 16 games of NCAA Tournament experience on the roster. Both Andy Hurley and Ben Rosenblatt have played in four games apiece in the tournament. Ryan Kroeger, Doug Kadison, Chris Page, and Ryan Wendel have played in two games apiece.
Lawrence's bench continues to produce when called upon. With starting guard Ben Rosenblatt out with an injury for the MWC Tournament Championship Game, reserve guard Jayce Apelgren started in his place and scored 12 points in 27 minutes. Senior guard Dylan Fogel also saw a bigger role in that game due to Rosenblatt's injury and scored a career-high 11 points in 14 minutes.
Wheaton Update
Wheaton is the lone team in this four-team regional that didn't receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Wheaton got an at-large bid after losing 81-78 to Illinois Wesleyan in the semifinals of the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin Tournament. This is Wheaton's first appearance in the NCAA Tournament since the Thunder lost 75-74 to Calvin in the first round in 2005.
Wheaton is led by preseason All-America selection Kent Raymond. The junior guard averages 23.5 points per game and also has hands out 3.9 assists per contest. Raymond scored a season-high 37 points on Feb. 23 vs. Elmhurst and has scored more than 30 points six times this season.
Junior center Andy Wiele averages a double-double with 15 points and 10.2 rebounds per game. Sophomore forward Ben Panner also is in double figures at 13.2 points per game.
UW-Whitewater Update
Whitewater earned its spot in the NCAA Tournament by winning the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament. The Warhawks beat UW-Stout 78-67 in the quarterfinals, downed UW-Superior 77-73 in overtime in the semifinals, and then took out UW-Stevens Point 75-71 in the title game. Whitewater is playing in the NCAA Tournament for the second time in three seasons. The Warhawks made it to the second round in 2006 before losing 85-71 to Illinois Wesleyan.
Whitewater is ranked second in the latest D3hoops.com Top 25.
The Warhawks do not have a senior among their starting five. The top scorer is junior guard Matt Goodwin, who averages 17.6 points per game. Junior guard Myles McKay is at 14.0 points per game, and junior forward Kori Vernon averages 11.6 points and a team-high 5.4 rebounds per contest.
The attack runs through sophomore guard Kevin Koski, who averages 4.2 assists per contest.
Loras Update
Loras earned its spot in the NCAA Tournament by winning the Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament championship. The Duhawks beat Lawrence graduate and Coe head coach Pat Juckem in the semifinals with an 82-64 victory. Loras then posted a 77-69 victory at Buena Vista in the championship game, avenging a one-point loss to the Beavers a week earlier. Loras, which has won 11 of its last 12, is in the NCAA Tournament for the second consecutive season. The Duhawks lost 85-82 at St. John's (Minn.) in the first round last season.
The Duhawks are like Lawrence in that they reached the NCAA Tournament with a first-year head coach. Greg Gorton, also like Lawrence head coach Joel DePagter, was an assistant coach for the previous four seasons before taking over the reins in 2007.
Loras gets virtually all of its points out of its starting five. The five Loras starters account for 62.4 points per game, or 85.9 percent of its scoring output.
Senior guard Kyle White leads the team in scoring (16.6 ppg) and rebounding (7.7 rpg). Loras' other senior starter, forward Luke Slater, averages 11.9 points and 5.2 rebounds per game. Junior forward Ricky Kolze is at 13.4 points per game, and junior guard Brian Centalla is at 12.0 points per contest.
Links
Midwest Conference Standings
Lawrence Statistics
D3hoops.com
D3hoops.com Top 25
NCAA Statistics
2007-08 Lawrence University Schedule/Results
DATE OPPONENT TIME/RESULT Nov. 5 at UW-Green Bay (exhibition) L, 87-62 Nov. 16 at Dominican (Ill.) W, 87-72 Nov. 17 at Concordia (Ill.) W, 72-68 Nov. 30 at Lake Forest W, 77-49 Dec. 1 at Monmouth W, 90-75 Dec. 8 at UW-Stevens Point L, 75-56 Dec. 17 at Nova Southeastern W, 73-60 Dec. 18 at Johnson and Wales W, 69-57 Jan. 12 Ripon W, 80-64 Jan. 15 at Beloit W, 85-64 Jan. 18 Grinnell W, 79-55 Jan. 19 Knox W, 90-54 Jan. 22 UW-Oshkosh W, 81-78 Jan. 25 at Illinois College W, 84-77 Jan. 26 at Grinnell W, 109-106 Jan. 30 at St. Norbert W, 65-56 Feb. 2 Carroll L, 115-113 (2OT) Feb. 8 Monmouth W, 105-68 Feb. 9 Lake Forest W, 84-69 Feb. 13 at Ripon W, 87-83 Feb. 16 Beloit W, 72-48 Feb. 20 St. Norbert W, 69-61 Feb. 23 at Carroll W, 92-80 Feb. 29 MWC Tournament Semifinal Feb. 29 St. Norbert W, 59-58 March 1 MWC Tournament Championship Game March 1 Carroll W, 98-95 (OT) March 7 NCAA Division III Tournament First Round March 7 Wheaton (Ill.) at UW-Whitewater 6:00 p.m.