BLOOMINGTON, Ill - The College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin men's basketball Tournament rolls on as the Illinois Wesleyan men's basketball team will face off against Elmhurst University in the semifinals Tuesday, March 9. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. inside the Shirk Center.
    Illinois Wesleyan enters the matchup as the No. 2 seed and holds a 6-1 record. Elmhurst is the No. 3 seed and comes into the game with a 7-2 record. The semifinal matchup will serve as the first meeting between the Titans and Bluejays this season.
    Fans can tune into the game via live stats or live stream. Links on how to follow along can be found on the men's basketball schedule page of IWUsports.com.

IWU AND THE CCIW TOURNAMENT: Illinois Wesleyan has made 13 CCIW Tournament appearances since the league began holding a tournament in 2006. Over that time, the Titans have gone 10-12 in CCIW Tournament games.

TWO-SEEDS IN THE TOURNAMENT: Since the CCIW began hosting a conference tournament in 2006, the No. 2 seed has compiled a 16-10 record and won five tournament titles. The last No. 2 seed to take home the trophy was North Central in 2019. NCC also won it as the No. 2 seed in 2006 and 2013, while Augustana claimed it in 2011, and Wheaton won it in 2014.

ALL-TIME VERSUS ELMHURST: Illinois Wesleyan holds a 113-25 advantage in the 138 all-time meetings between the Titans and Bluejays. In the 2019-20 season, IWU was 2-1 against Elmhurst.
    The Bluejays ousted the Titans in the CCIW Tournament Championship, 78-72 last season despite 22 points from Doug Wallen and a 17-point, 13-rebound performance from Matthew Lertiz.

SIMILAR OPPONENTS: The CCIW Tournament semifinal will be the inaugural meeting between the Titans and Bluejays in the condensed 2020-21 season. However, Illinois Wesleyan and Elmhurst have played three of the same conference opponents: Millikin, Carroll, and North Park. The Bluejays and Titans each have two wins over Millikin. IWU is 1-0 over Carroll while Elmhurst is 2-1 against the Pioneers and, against North Park, the Titans are 2-1 compared to the Bluejays 1-0 record over the Vikings.

FAMILIAR FACE: When the Titans take on the Bluejays Tuesday night, IWU fans may recognize a familiar face in Elmhurst bench boss John Baines. A 1998 Illinois Wesleyan graduate, he was a part of teams that compiled a 103-14 record, played in the NCAA Tournament four times, reached the Final Four twice, and won a national championship in 1997.

DOUBLE-DOUBLE MACHINES: The quarterfinal win over North Park Saturday, March 6 saw Matthew Lertiz and Charlie Bair both record double-doubles. Leritz enjoyed a game-high 23 points and 16 rebounds while Bair had 11 points and 12 rebounds. This was just the 10th occasion in school history where multiple players recorded a double-double in the same game. The feat was accomplished twice in the 2019-20 season by Bair and Doug Wallen.

POINTS APLENTY: The semifinal matchup will host the two top offenses in the conference. Elmhurst averages 78.3 points per game, while the Titans top the conference with 79.3 points per game, despite the Bluejays having played three more games than the Titans entering the postseason. IWU has surpassed the 80-point mark three times this season, while Elmhurst has reached 80-plus points five times this year.
    Furthermore, the Titans lead the league in field goal and three point percentage, shooting a .513 clip from the floor and .426 from three.

LEADERS IN THE CONFERENCE: With the top offense in the conference, comes with it some of the top shooters in the league. Senior Doug Wallen leads the conference in field goal percentage shooting at a .725 clip while Matthew Lertiz ranks second shooting .635 from the floor. From three, Leritz tops the conference shooting .632 and Keondre Schumacher comes in second at a .630 clip.
    Additionally, Luke Yoder leads the CCIW in assists with four per game and Peter Lambesis tops the conference with two steals per game.

HOME COOKING: One of the greatest athletic venues in NCAA Division III, the Shirk Center has been home to more than 600 Titan basketball games between both the men and women. The men hold a 278-56 record on their home floor, good for a .832 win percentage.

ON THE HORIZON: With a win, the Titans will advance to the CCIW Tournament Championship game and play the winner of the semifinal between top seed Wheaton and No. 4 seed Augustana. If Wheaton is victorious, the Titans will hit the road for the championship game; however, if Augustana pulls the upset, IWU will host the title tilt.

RANKINGS ON REPEAT: Illinois Wesleyan is one of 20 programs that have appeared in at least 100 D3Hoops.com Top-25 rankings. In fact, the Titans 169 appearances in the weekly poll are 10th-most all-time.