NAPERVILLE – The field is set for the 18th annual College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) Men’s Basketball Tournament. The top six teams in the final league standings will participate in the event that will begin Tuesday night with a pair of quarterfinal matchups. The semifinals and final are scheduled for Friday and Saturday at King Arena on the campus of Wheaton College.
Quarterfinals (Tuesday)
#5 North Central at #4 Elmhurst, 7 p.m.
#6 Illinois Wesleyan at #3 Carthage, 7 p.m.
Semifinals (Friday, Wheaton, Ill.)
#2 North Park vs. highest remaining seed, 5 p.m.
Lowest remaining seed at #1 Wheaton, 7:15 p.m.
Championship (Saturday, Wheaton, Ill.)
Friday’s semifinal winners
#1 Wheaton Thunder (22-3, 14-2 CCIW)
14th CCIW Tournament Appearance
All-Time CCIW Tournament Record: 8-11
CCIW Tournament Championships: Two (2009, 2014)
Wheaton is riding the wave of its first CCIW regular-season title since 2009 and will host the CCIW Tournament semifinals and championship for the second time in the last three seasons. The Thunder, 22-3 overall and 14-2 in the CCIW, were ranked #6 in Monday’s D3hoops.com national poll.
Three WC players earned All-CCIW honors on Monday and 14th-head coach Mike Schauer was named CCIW Coach of the Year for the first time. Tyson Cruickshank was voted CCIW Fred Young Most Outstanding Student-Athlete after leading the league in scoring during the 16-game league schedule at 19.9 points per game. TJ Askew also landed on the First Team and Nick Schiavello was a Second-Team honoree.
Thunder will enter the event having won six consecutive contests since Jan. 28 and six consecutive games at King Arena since Jan. 4. WC boasts the CCIW’s top scoring defense at 64.5 points per game also leads the conference in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.39), scoring margin (+9.9), 3-pointers per game (8.8), 3-point field-goal percentage defense (.303) and turnovers per game (11.0).
Wheaton is a combined 8-2 against the other five teams in the field, only suffering losses to North Park and Elmhurst.
#2 North Park Vikings (20-5, 13-3 CCIW)
3rd CCIW Tournament Appearance
All-Time CCIW Tournament Record: 0-2
CCIW Tournament Championships: None
For the first time in the CCIW Tournament’s 18-year history, North Park will be in the semifinal round after a 20-win campaign for new head coach Sean Smith. NPU won at Augustana last Saturday to secure its first 20-win season since the 1986-87 squad won 28 games on its way to the NCAA Division III national title. North Park’s 8-win increase – five to 13 – marks its largest year-to-year improvement in conference play since the 1971-72 season.
The Vikings’ pressure defense has been the driver of much of their success in 2022-23. NPU averages 13.3 steals per game, fifth-most in Division III. The top three individual steal totals are Vikings as well – Marquise Jackson (68), Shamar Pumphrey (63) and Jordan Boyd (42).
Pumphrey joined teammate Kolden Vanlandingham on the All-CCIW First Team released Monday. Jackson was a Second-Team honoree. Pumphrey ended the regular season as the league leader in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.58) and Vanlandingham got the free-throw line more than anyone in the league with 150 attempts and 110 makes.
The Vikings season series sweeps over two of their three potential opponents for Friday – Elmhurst and North Central.
#3 Carthage Firebirds (17-8, 9-7 CCIW)
6th CCIW Tournament Appearance
All-Time CCIW Tournament Record: 2-4
CCIW Tournament Championships: One (2010)
Carthage won on the road on Saturday to sew up the tournament’s third seed with a 17-8 overall record and a 9-7 mark against league rivals. The Firebirds started the league schedule with three consecutive wins prior to the holiday break and closed the campaign with five wins over their last eight outings since Jan. 25.
Senior Fillip Bulatovic was voted to the All-CCIW First Team Monday, his second First-Team choice and his third All-CCIW nod overall. AJ Johnson and Antuan Nesbitt were honored on the Second Team.
The Firebirds rank fourth nationally with a team field-goal percentage of 49.7. Nesbitt, Bulatovic and CCIW First-Year Student-Athlete of the Year Julian Campbell are the three most accurate shooters in the CCIW this winter, all making their shots at a 51 percent clip or better. Carthage also scores a league-best 81.5 points per game.
Carthage will host Illinois Wesleyan in the quarterfinal Thursday night at Tarble Arena at 7 p.m.. The Firebirds swept the season series from the Titans – their first sweep of IWU since 2009-10 – including a 69-48 win in Kenosha on Jan. 7. A win on Thursday would give CC three consecutive wins over IWU for the first time since getting four in a row from January 1978 through March 1979.
#4 Elmhurst Bluejays (16-9, 8-8 CCIW)
11th CCIW Tournament Appearance
All-Time CCIW Tournament Record: 10-8
CCIW Tournament Championships: Two (2020, 2022)
Last season’s CCIW Tournament champion and national runner up, Elmhurst is the fourth seed in the CCIW Tournament and will try to win the event for the third time in the last four years. EU has won seven of its last eight CCIW Tournament games.
This season, the Bluejays finished their regular-season schedule 16-9 overall and 8-8 in the CCIW. EU opened the campaign with five consecutive wins.
Elmhurst has produced a strong interior game, leading the CCIW in both blocked shots per game (4.4) and rebounds per game (42.1) and rebounding margin (+7.5). Jonathan Zapinksi, an All-CCIW First Team player, ranks fourth nationally with 77 blocked shots this season. Junior guard John Ittounas earned All-CCIW Second-Team honors on Monday as well.
The Bluejays tip off the tournament in Tuesday’s quarterfinal round against North Central at R.A. Faganel Hall. Elmhurst and NCC are the only two teams in the six-team field to have an all-time winning record in the CCIW Tournament. The Cardinals and Bluejays split the season series with the road team winning each game.
#5 North Central Cardinals (14-11, 8-5 CCIW)
14th CCIW Tournament Appearance
All-Time CCIW Tournament Record: 13-8
CCIW Tournament Championships: Five (2006, 2012, 2013, 2017, 2019)
First-year head coach Anthony Figueroa will take North Central’s show on the road Tuesday night when the fifth-seeded Cardinals visit Elmhurst for a 7 p.m. quarterfinal. NCC will look for a repeat result of a 78-71 win at Elmhurst on Dec. 17. It’s also a repeat of last season’s CCIW Tournament championship game – won on a neutral floor by Elmhurst, 82-65.
The Cardinals are 14-11 overall and 8-5 in the CCIW. The Cardinals won three in a row and four of their last six in the month of February to secure their berth to the tournament.
Preseason All-American Matt Helwig was a unanimous choice for the All-CCIW First Team on Monday. He led the league in scoring during the full 25-game schedule at 21.3 points per game and also proved to be the league’s most accurate free-throw shooter at 89.2 percent. Mitch Lewis gave NCC two players on the All-CCIW squad with a Second-Team selection.
NCC is looking to replicate the success it found during a run of three consecutive trips to the CCIW Tournament championship game from 2017 through 2019.
#6 Illinois Wesleyan Titans (12-13, 7-9 CCIW)
15th CCIW Tournament Appearance
All-Time CCIW Tournament Record: 12-13
CCIW Tournament Championships: One (2021)
Illinois Wesleyan is in the CCIW Tournament for the 15th time and is just 24 months removed from its only tourney crown in 2021. This season, the Titans are 12-13 in the regular season and 7-9 against CCIW opponents. IWU travels to Carthage Tuesday night at 7 p.m. in the quarterfinals, hoping to beat the Firebirds for the first time in three tries in 2022-23.
The Titans make it difficult for their opponents to put the ball in the hoop – opponents shoot just 40.6 percent against IWU, the lowest mark in the CCIW. Illinois Wesleyan also ranks second in the league rebounds per game (39.8), rebounding margin (+7.4) and scoring defense (68.4).
Cody Mitchell leads the Titans into the tournament after securing a unanimous selection to the All-CCIW First Team earlier this week. The senior from St. Charles, Ill. has 10 double-doubles this season and ranks third in the league with 9.7 rebounds per game.
Lucas Heflen, also from St. Charles, Ill., was picked for the All-CCIW Second Team. An outside threat with 60 3-point makes this season, Heflen is one of only three players in the league this season to log at least 35.0 minutes per contest.