Men's Basketball

CCIW Men's Basketball Tournament Preview

NCC Men's Basketball

Semifinal Game Notes (PDF)

Live Video/Audio/Stats

Setting the Scene:  The Cardinals look to capitalize on home-court advantage as they seek to lift the CCIW Tournament championship trophy for the sixth time in the 15-year history of the event.

CCIW Tournament Schedule 
Friday, Feb. 28 
Illinois Wesleyan vs. Augustana, 5:00 
Elmhurst vs. North Central, 7:00 

Saturday, Feb. 29 
Championship game, 7:00

Friday's Semifinal Round vs. Elmhurst


National Rankings: North Central is ranked No. 9 and Elmhurst is ranked No. 22 in the most recent D3hoops.com Top 25 Poll. 

Series History: This is the 173rd men’s basketball meeting between the two institutions. North Central owns a 108-64 lead in the all-time series and won both meetings during the regular season. 

The Cardinals erased a 12-point second-half deficit to post a 76-74 victory at Elmhurst on Dec. 14, getting an 18-point, 10-rebound double-double from Matt Cappelletti. 

The Bluejays traveled to Naperville on Feb. 8, and North Central used a 20-0 first-half run to pull ahead for good en route to a 56-45 win. Cappelletti once again led the way with 16 points and 11 rebounds and the Cardinals limited Elmhurst to 28.3 percent shooting (15 of 53) from the floor. 

Scouting the Bluejays: After enduring a three-game losing streak in early February, Elmhurst has won its last three contests, claiming a 71-58 victory over Wheaton on Tuesday in the opening round of the tournament. 

The Bluejays scored 11 of the game’s first 13 points and never trailed as Wheaton was limited to 7 for 37 shooting (18.9 percent) from three-point range.  

Elmhurst leads the CCIW in scoring offense (83.0 points per game) and junior guard Jake Rhode is the conference’s top individual scorer at 20.3 ppg. Rhode has led the Bluejays in scoring 15 times, including a 41-point effort at North Park Jan. 25. 

This Week for the Cardinals: North Central is the CCIW regular-season champion for the first time since 2012 and has eclipsed the 20-win plateau for the seventh time in the program’s history. 

The Cardinals closed the regular season on Saturday with a 78-71 win at Wheaton, giving North Central six straight victories and 17 wins in its last 18 games dating back to early December. 

The Cardinals limited CCIW opponents to a league-low 63.8 points per game in conference play this season while also leading the CCIW in three-point percentage (.391) and free-throw percentage (.745) and committing a conference-low 10.2 turnovers per contest.

North Central in the CCIW Tournament: The Cardinals own a record of 11-6 in 11 previous conference tournament appearances, winning the championship five times (2006, 2012, 2013, 2017, 2019). Augustana is the only team with more CCIW Tournament championships (6). 

North Central became the first CCIW team to win the tournament as the No. 4 seed, defeating Carthage (87-85) and Augustana (69-64) in 2017 at Carthage. 

The tournament has been won by a team other than the No. 1 seed six times. North Central has four of those six titles (2006, 2012, 2017, 2019). 

All-CCIW Honors: Connor Raridon was named the CCIW Fred Young Most Outstanding Player on Tuesday, becoming the fourth Cardinal to be so honored and the first since Derek Raridon ‘13 in 2013. 

Raridon and Cappelletti both earned First Team All-CCIW honors and Blaise Meredith was selected to the Second Team. Each received the same distinctions last season. 

Todd Raridon was named the CCIW Coach of the Year for the third time and the first since 2012. 
 

Connor Raridon
Aiden Chang

Career/Single-Season Rankings: Connor Raridon became the Cardinals’ all-time leader for assists during the 2017-2018 campaign and has extended his record total to 618 in his career.  

He also owns the Cardinals’ records for assists in single game (13, accomplished twice) and in a single season (187, 2017-2018). 

Raridon became North Central’s 27th 1,000-point scorer last season and currently ranks second in school history with 1,721 points. 

Raridon also ranks second in school history in free throws made (531), free throws attempted (658) and games played (116), sixth in rebounds (794), ninth in steals (90) and 10th in blocked shots (64). 

In the Cardinals’ 83-53 win at Aurora on Dec. 11, Cappelletti became the program’s 28th 1,000-point scorer and currently ranks 17th all-time with 1,225 points. He is seven points from matching Dick Howard ‘60 for 16th. 

Michael Pollack currently ranks third in school history in career three-pointers made (178), while Cappelletti ranks fifth (158) and Aiden Chang is ninth (146). Chang owns the Cardinals’ career record for games played (118) and ranks seventh in the program’s history in assists (246). 

 

Coaching Milestone: Todd Raridon became the 45th coach in Division III history to eclipse 500 career wins last season in a 92-78 victory over Albion at Gregory Arena on Dec. 19, 2017. He ranks eighth among current active Division III coaches and 30th all-time with 557 wins. 

Raridon’s 288 victories at North Central make him the program’s all-time leader in coaching wins. 

North Central vs. the Rest of the Field: Friday's other semifinal features No. 2 seed Augustana against No. 3 seed Illinois Wesleyan. Each team won on the other's home floor during the regular season. Illinois Wesleyan defeated the Vikings in Rock Island, 74-67, on Dec. 15, and the Vikings returned the favor with a 78-64 victory in Bloomington on Feb. 8.

The Cardinals swept both meetings with Augustana this season, claiming a narrow 54-53 victory at home on Jan. 22 before heading to the Carver Center on Feb. 12 and cruising to a 70-55 win after leading by as many as 31 points early in the second half. It was North Central's most decisive victory in Rock Island since 1990. The Vikings lead the all-time series, 109-62.

North Central and IWU split their two meetings. The Cardinals prevailed, 82-69, in Naperville on Jan. 8 before the Titans evened the score by collecting a 77-71 victory at the Shirk Center on Jan. 29. It is North Central's only loss since early December. IWU leads the all-time series, 116-48.