IWU 68 North Central 59

A nice start to the conference season for the Titans. This was a team win and a game where several players played a key role in the victory.

Looking back at the keys to the game I outlined on Wednesday...

1) Perimeter defense - can't allow the open looks that most non-conference opponents enjoyed.

2) Guard play - the Titans need good, solid games from freshmen Travis Rosenkranz and Sean Johnson in their first CCIW contest. Both need to be aggressive and look to score...and both need to minimize turnovers.

3) Feed the post - Darius Gant, Brett Chamernik, and Doug Sexauer should have plenty of opportunities to score vs an undersized NCC team. The offense needs to go through the big guys first.

4) 40 minutes of intensity - no lulls...time to get after it from opening tip to final buzzer.


1) The Titans played, by far, their best perimeter defense of the season. North Central came in a 42% 3-point shooting team, which is outstanding. IWU held them to 4-21 (19%) from beyond the arc. I thought Travis Rosenkranz, Sean Johnson, and Sean Dwyer all played good defense, but the guy who stood out to me was Jordan Morris. J Mo really got after on the defensive end last night.

2) IWU's starting guard duo scored 19 points, pulled down 8 rebounds, and most importantly dished out 13 assists to just 4 turnovers. Sean Johnson didn't have a great shooting night (1-5 from 3), but I will take my chances on those looks he was getting any game. And I would take this combined line from Travis and Sean every time out.

3) Gant, Chamernik, and Sexauer were a combined 11-20 from the field. The perimeter players took 32 shots. Ideally, it'd be best to have more of the FGA coming from the big guys, but you have to take what the defense is giving you. NCC packed in a zone for a majority of the 2nd half and gave the Titans wide open 3-point looks. Again, I can live with good shooters taking open jump shots every night out. Still, it is important for this team to play inside-out, as opposed to the opposite.

4) The Titans had a stretch in the 2nd half where they weren't knocking down shots, but I never questioned their intensity level at all Wednesday night. I thought the crowd helped provide some great energy, and the guys fed off of that. The Titans played very hard in that win.


Now, North Central looks like a shaky team to me. Let's not make too much of that one. Saturday in Kenosha will be a much tougher ballgame.

Let's steal one on the road.