NAPERVILLE – The College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) men’s basketball race is starting to take shape with one more round of league contests slated for Saturday before the holiday break.

Complete CCIW Statistic Report Through Dec. 7, 2023 (PDF)
 
Upcoming Schedule (subject to change)
Saturday, Dec. 9
Wheaton at #2 Calvin, 11 a.m. CT
Millikin at Carroll, 4:15 p.m.
#22 Carthage at #21 Elmhurst, 4:15 p.m.
North Park at Augustana, 7:15 p.m.
Illinois Wesleyan at North Central, 7:15 p.m.
 
Wednesday, Dec. 13
Wisconsin-Platteville at North Central, 7 p.m.
 
Friday, Dec. 15
Illinois Tech at #21 Carthage, 6 p.m.
 
Saturday, Dec. 16
Wheaton at Chicago, 1 p.m.
 
Sunday, Dec. 17
Northland at Carroll, 1 p.m.
Lake Forest at Augustana, 4 p.m.
Lawrence at #21 Elmhurst, 6 p.m.
 
Carthage, Elmhurst Meet in Nationally Ranked Bout: The final two unbeatens in the early-season CCIW standings, Elmhurst and Carthage are scheduled to meet Saturday afternoon at R.A. Faganel Hall in Elmhurst. Tip-off is set for 4:15 p.m.
 
The Bluejays are ranked 21st in the most recent D3hoops.com national poll released on Monday. EU remains the only unbeaten squad in the CCIW with a perfect 7-0 mark, including CCIW wins over Illinois Wesleyan and North Park to be 2-0 in the league. 
 
Elmhurst, one of 19 undefeated teams left in Division III, is the CCIW leader in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.42), field-goal percentage (.500), rebounding margin (+9.1), scoring margin (+14.7), 3-point field-goal percentage (.383) and 3-pointers per game (8.4). Senior guard John Ittounas, who poured in 21 points in the Bluejays’ CCIW-opening win at North Park, is the league’s leading scorer at 17.7 points per game. Tagen Pearson, who was selected CCIW Student-Athlete of the Week on Monday, ranks second in the league with 3.14 3-pointers made per game.
 
Carthage appeared at #22 in Monday’s poll and joins Elmhurst in first place of the league standings at 2-0 and is 7-1 overall. The Firebirds have won five in a row and are one of 42 squads nationwide to have at least an active five-game win streak. Included in that stretch is a 77-73 win over then-#1 Wisconsin-Whitewater on Nov. 28 and back-to-back conference triumphs over Augustana and North Central. Saturday’s game at Elmhurst is CC’s first on the road since Nov. 18.
 
Four different Firebirds own or share the CCIW lead in a statistical category. Antuan Nesbitt averages a league-best 5.4 assists per game, Fillip Bulatovic leads the conference with a .649 field-goal percentage and 9.0 rebounds per game, Julian Campbell has scored 140 total points and AJ Johnson has knocked down 47 free throws. 
 
Additionally, Nesbitt’s 36.7 minutes played per game is seventh-most nationally.  
 
Carthage, which earned its largest margin of victory (20) in a CCIW contest on Wednesday since Jan. 7 of last season, has won at least five in a row for the first time since a 10-game win streak from Nov. 16, 2022 through Dec. 31, 2022 of last season.
 
Two League Wins For Illinois Wesleyan: Following a loss to begin the league schedule at Elmhurst, Illinois Wesleyan has recovered to win back-to-back CCIW contests in Bloomington, beating Carroll 79-69 last Saturday and toppling preseason league favorite North Park on Wednesday, 70-56. The Titans are 6-3 overall.
 
The Titans slipped out of the national rankings after their setback at Elmhurst, but received 19 points in the poll released by D3hoops.com on Monday. Only six unranked teams earned more points than IWU in the poll.
 
IWU continues to deploy the league’s top defense, limiting opponents to just 65.1 points and a .381 field-goal percentage, both marks lowest among CCIW teams. The Titans also distribute the ball well, averaging 15.8 assists per contest to share the top spot in the CCIW with Carthage. Hakim Williams ranks second in the conference with a 2.14 assist-to-turnover ratio, one of only 118 players in Division III with a mark above 2.0.
 
North Central Shares Third Place: Thanks to wins over Augustana and Wheaton, North Central has raced to a 2-1 CCIW start to share third place in the league standings with Illinois Wesleyan. That tie will be broken Saturday night when NCC hosts the Titans at Gregory Arena at 7:15 p.m.
 
The Cardinals, 4-5 overall, have received a team-best 13.8 points per game from senior guard Ethan Helwig. The Aurora, Ill. native also paces the Cardinals with defensive 5.5 rebounds per game, third-most among CCIW players.
 
Additionally, NCC has protected the ball well through its first nine outings, averaging a league-low 10.8 turnovers per game. The Cardinals have committed fewer than 10 turnovers in three contests this season, including a season-low seven in their 64-54 win at rival Wheaton on Dec. 2.
 
Wheaton, Augustana Collect First Conference Wins: Two teams to enter the win column during the conference schedule were Wheaton and Augustana, who both won league contests Wednesday night.
 
Wheaton picked up a 69-62 road win at Carroll thanks to 23 points on 8-for-14 shooting from Connor Braun. The Thunder outrebounded the Pioneers, 41-36. The game featured seven ties and eight lead changes, all in the first half. WC took the lead for good on Braun’s layup with 2:34 remaining before halftime. 
 
The Thunder will break from league action Saturday when they travel to Grand Rapids, Mich. for an 11 a.m. CT tip-off against #2 Calvin. Wheaton has won three in a row in one of Division III’s premier non-conference rivalries, including a 74-73 win in King Arena last season.
 
Augustana was a winner Wednesday night in Decatur, defeating Millikin 74-59. The result marked Augie’s largest margin of victory in a CCIW road game since Feb. 12, 2021. Four Vikings reached double figures in the win, including a game-high 19 points from Tyler Knuth. 
 
Augie will return home Saturday night at 7:15 p.m. against North Park, its first of seven consecutive home games at the Carver Center. The Vikings are not scheduled to take another road trip until Wednesday, Jan. 17 at Elmhurst.
 
Other CCIW News and Notes: Caroll remains the CCIW leader in both scoring offense (83.4) and rebounding (40.4). The Pios won their league opener at North Park on Nov. 29, but will carry a 1-2 CCIW record into Saturday’s game with Millikin.
 
North Park’s 5.4 blocked shots per contest lead the CCIW and rank 23rd nationally. Phil Holmes (1.5) and Trevon Roots (1.2) combine for 2.7 blocks per game, the most by any pair of teammates in the CCIW.
 
Elmhurst shot 65.4 percent from the floor in its 88-65 win over Marian on Wednesday, the highest mark by a CCIW team this season … North Central hit 13 of 24 attempts from 3-point range in its loss at Carthage on Wednesday. The percentage of 54.2 was highest in the league this season … Carroll was 9-for-9 at the foul line last Saturday at Illinois Wesleyan, the first CCIW team to be perfect in a game this season.