McLean County Times

Rematch Awaits Men's Hoops at Carthage

 Just three days after facing off in the final game of the regular season, Illinois Wesleyan University's men's basketball team and Carthage College will meet again, this time in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin Tournament. The sixth-seeded Titans and third-seeded Firebirds will battle in the quarterfinals Tuesday night, Feb. 21, at 7 p.m. inside Tarble Arena.
    Illinois Wesleyan hits the postseason with a 12-13 overall record, including a 7-9 finish in league play. The Green and White lost its final three games of the regular season, including a 69-67 setback at the hands of Carthage, Feb. 18. Meanwhile, Carthage won the No. 3 seed via tiebreaker after finishing 9-7 in the CCIW. The Firebirds are 17-8 on the year and have won four of their past six games.
    Fans can tune into the game via live stats, live stream, or radio broadcast. Links on how to follow along can be found on the men's basketball schedule page of IWUsports.com.

SENIORS SECURE LEAGUE HONORS: Seniors Cody Mitchell and Lucas Heflen were voted to the All-CCIW teams released Monday, Feb. 20, earning all-conference honors for the first time in their careers. Mitchell was a unanimous First Team All-CCIW pick, while Heflen landed Second Team All-CCIW recognition.

CODY CLEANS UP: For the first time since the 2007-08 season, a Titan will finish at the CCIW's rebounding leader by way of senior Cody Mitchell. The first to accomplish the feat since Darius Gant in 2008, Mitchell hauled in 163 boards over the 16-game slate, good for an average of 10.2 rebounds per contest. The St. Charles, Ill. native is the only player to pull in a double-digit rebounding average this season. In all, Mitchell joins Gant, Zach Freeman (2006-07), Keith Leuchtefeld (1985-86), Doug Thomas (1983-84), Jack Sikma (1976-77 & 1974-75) as Titans who have topped the conference's rebounding chart in a season.
    Nationally, Mitchell is 41st in total rebounds, 50th in rebounds per game, and 51st in offensive rebounds per game.

IWU, CARTHAGE, & THE CCIW TOURNAMENT: Illinois Wesleyan and Carthage are no stranger to meeting in the conference tournament. In fact, the two have squared three times in the league postseason play.  The Firebirds snagged a win in the initial meeting, downing the Titans in the 2010 CCIW Tournament title game. Since then, IWU knocked off Carthage in the 2014 semifinal and the 2020 quarterfinals.

IWU IN THE CCIW TOURNAMENT: Illinois Wesleyan has made 14 CCIW Tournament appearances since the league began holding a tournament in 2006. Over that time, the Titans have gone 11-13 in CCIW Tournament games.
Not included in those totals is the 2020-21 season's league tournament, which featured all nine teams due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. IWU went 3-0 in the 2021 tournament, defeating North Park (75-55), Elmhurst (75-65), and Wheaton (71-58) en route to the CCIW Championship.

THE SIX SEED IN THE TOURNAMENT: Since the CCIW expanded the tournament field to six teams in 2019, the bottom two seeds in the tournament are 0-8. IWU will look to be the first sixth-seeded squad to win a tournament game as the No. 6 slotted teams have gone 0-4 all-time.

CLASHES WITH CARTHAGE: Illinois Wesleyan and Carthage share a rivalry that dates back to the 1946-47 season. IWU owns a 107-29 lead in the 136-game history between the two conference foes, and has won eight of the past 10 meetings.
    Carthage claimed both regular season meetings this year, securing just its third sweep of the Titans all-time. The Firebirds won two meetings in 2001-02 season, by scores of 72-49 and 76-56. The only other time Carthage swept the regular season series was back in 1978-79, when the Firebirds edged the Titans 83-77 and 63-56. Additionally, Carthage notched multiple wins over the Titans in 2009-10, but one came in the CCIW Tournament and the other came in the NCAA Tournament.

NO NEED FOR WINDEX: Illinois Wesleyan has been dominant on the glass this season, out-rebounding its opponents 995 to 809. The strong effort on the glass has IWU holding a +7.4 rebounding margin on the season, the 29th-best in all of Division III. Senior Cody Mitchell leads the Green and White with 9.7 boards per contest. Ryan Sroka is second on the team with 5.6 rebounds per game.

MAKING THEM WORK: Illinois Wesleyan has one of the top-ranked defenses in the CCIW this season. In fact, IWU is holding opponents to a 40.6 field goal percentage, which is not only first in the conference, but is also 58th nationally. Furthermore, the Titans are giving up just 68.4 points per game, the second-best scoring defense in the conference (89th nationally).

BALANCED BOX SCORE: Illinois Wesleyan has been at its best when the scoring has been balanced this season. In fact, IWU is 11-8 when three-or-more players score 10+ points, while the Titans are 1-5 when fewer than three players hit double figures.

#23 IN 2023: Illinois Wesleyan has seen senior Cody Mitchell heat up inside the arc since the calendar turned to 2023. In fact, Mitchell is 66-for-122 inside the arc since Jan. 3, good for a two-point field goal percentage of 54.1 percent. The senior co-captain is averaging 14.1 points and 10.3 rebounds per contest over the 15-game span. He is second on the team in scoring over that run, while he tops the team's rebounding efforts.
Furthermore, Mitchell is shooting 56.6 percent (81-of-143) from two-point range in conference play compared to 26-for-58 (44.8 percent) in non-CCIW games.

IMPACT DOESN'T ALWAYS SHOW IN THE BOX SCORE: Illinois Wesleyan junior forward Evan Schneider has served in a variety of roles for the Titans this season. From starter, to first big off the bench, he has produced quality minutes for the Green and White. Schneider locked down Preseason All-American Daniel Carr in IWU's win over Augie, Jan. 14, holding Carr to nearly a quarter of his season scoring average. Carr, who entered the game averaging 17.5 points per game, scored just five points against the Titans.
    Additionally, Illinois Wesleyan holds a 6-0 record when Schneider corrals five-or-more rebounds.

ON THE HORIZON: The winner of Tuesday night's tilt will advance to the CCIW Tournament Semifinals, where they will take on either top-seeded Wheaton or No. 2 North Park in Wheaton Friday night, Feb. 24. If sixth-seeded IWU defeats third-seeded Carthage, the Titans will earn a semifinal showdown with Wheaton. If Carthage takes down the Green and White, the Firebirds will play second-seeded North Park. 

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