BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Tournament play rolls on this weekend Friday-Saturday, March 11-12, as the seventh-ranked Illinois Wesleyan University men's basketball team hosts three games at the Shirk Center. The Titans will take on No. 18 Wheaton College Friday night, March 11, at 7:30 p.m. for a spot in the Elite Eight, while No. 15 Wabash College and No. 22 Williams University will tangle in the other third round contest at 4:30 p.m. The winners will then meet Saturday night, March 12, at 7:30 p.m. with a Final Four berth on the line.
    Illinois Wesleyan advanced to the second weekend of the tournament after topping Franklin College, 73-55, and 14th-ranked University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, 65-56, last weekend. Wheaton edged Hope College, 71-69, before upending host Washington University in St. Louis, 63-61. Wabash won its pod with wins over Berry College (91-79) and Emory University (87-86), while Williams clobbered Neumann University (95-57) and defeated Stevens Institute of Technology (84-74) to advance to the second weekend.
    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.

TICKET INFO: This weekend's games will be split into two sessions on Friday, with the arena set to be cleared out following the Wabash-Williams game. Tickets to each game cost $15 for adults and $10 for seniors, students, and children over three.

WINNINGEST TEAM IN TOURNEY HISTORY: With Saturday's win over UW-La Crosse, Illinois Wesleyan passed Wittenberg for most all-time NCAA Tournament wins. Prior to Saturday's matchup, IWU and Wittenberg were tied at 55, while the Titans 65-56 triumph propelled Illinois Wesleyan atop the list.

HOW SWEET IT IS: Illinois Wesleyan has advanced to the Sweet 16 for the 17th time in program history, and the first time since 2014. IWU is 11-6 all-time in the Round of 16.

FINDING A WAY: Senior Matthew Leritz has been a key force for the Titans this season, especially on the offensive end. Leritz leads the team in scoring and rebounding, while ranking second on the team in assists. With Leritz hampered by foul trouble, which led to limited minutes for the 6-foot-7 forward, the Green and White turned to other players to step up. Leritz finished with eight points in the game, marking just the third time this season he had been held below double-digits.
One of several players stepping up for the Titans was Cody Mitchell, who scored a team-high 15 points and pulled in nine rebounds. Through two NCAA Tournament games, Mitchell is averaging 14 points and 10 rebounds per contest.

CCIW IN TOURNEY: The CCIW is the only conference with three teams advancing to the Sweet 16 with Illinois Wesleyan, Wheaton, and Elmhurst all winning their first two tournament games. With Illinois Wesleyan and Wheaton matching up on Friday, there is at least one CCIW team guaranteed to play in the Elite 8. Successful CCIW teams in the tournament is not an anomaly, as the conference saw two teams advance to the Sweet 16 in 2019 and 2020.
    The Titans and Thunder have never met in the NCAA Tournament. The last time the Green and White met a CCIW foe in the tournament was in the third round of the 2013 tournament, where the Titans were defeated by North Central 83-73.

DOUBLE THE DOUBLE-DOUBLES: In Friday's win over Franklin, Cody Mitchell and Matthew Leritz each recorded a double-double, marking the 11th time since the 1999-00 season that two players have posted double-doubles in the same game. Leritz recorded 14 points and 11 rebounds, while Mitchell added 12 points and 11 rebounds of his own. A full table listing the previous occurences can be found in the full PDF of game notes linked above.

AGAINST THE THUNDER ALL-TIME: Illinois Wesleyan and Wheaton will battle for the 135th time Saturday night. IWU holds a 84-51 lead in the all-time series, which dates back to the 1946-47 season. Despite the Titans' stronghold on the all-time series, the Thunder have come out victorious in six of the past eight meetings.
    Most recently, the Titans upended the Thunder on senior night, Feb. 12 at the Shirk Center, 79-71. Matthew Leritz recorded a career-high 31 points and pulled down eight rebounds. Cory Noe finished with 17 points, including a 4-of-7 shooting performance from three. Cody Mitchell finished a rebound shy of a double-double with 11 points and nine rebounds.

CCIW ON THE NATIONAL STAGE: The College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin has seen incredible success on the national stage, with six NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Championships to its credit. North Park won five titles (1978, 1979, 1980, 1985, and 1987), while Illinois Wesleyan is the most recent team to accomplish the feat as IWU hoisted the trophy in 1997.

HOME COOKING: One of the greatest athletic venues in NCAA Division III, the Shirk Center has been home to more than 650 Titan basketball games between both the men and women. The men hold a 292-58 record on their home floor, good for a .834 win percentage.

POSTSEASON PLAY AT SHIRK: The NCAA Tournament returns to the Shirk Center, March 11-12, for the second consecutive weekend. Before last weekend, this was the Shirk Center's first time hosting since IWU's 2014 tournament run. In 2014, the Titans also hosted the first two rounds of the tournament, and defeated Webster (71-70), St. Norbert (84-68), Calvin (78-64), and Dickinson (79-66) to advance to the Final Four.

MADE FOR MARCH: The Titans are amid the program's 34th all-time postseason appearance, including the 26th in the NCAA Division III Tournament. IWU boasts a 56-25 record in the Division III tournament since first qualifying for it in 1984.
    Of the 64 teams in the field, no school has made more postseason appearances  or won more NCAA Tournament games than IWU (info courtesy @IWUhoopscom).

BATTLE TESTED: Of the tournament's 64 teams, the Green and White have played seven of them in UW-Oshkosh, Calvin, Elmhurst, WashU, Wheaton, Hope, and Yeshiva. The Titans went 6-3 against the group during the regular season.

STRONG ON BOTH SIDES: Illinois Wesleyan was one of 12 schools across Division III to have both its men's and women's basketball teams competing in the NCAA Tournament this season, while the Titans were one of seven that saw both teams win their opening round matchup. In fact, IWU's combined history ranks the Titans among the top in Division III. In research compiled by former WashU SID Chris Mitchell, the Titans' 76 combined wins - the fifth-most in Division III.