BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - The ninth-ranked Illinois Wesleyan University men's basketball team travels to Mitchell Hall on the campus of University of Wisconsin-La Crosse for its first Sweet Sixteen appearance since 2022. The Titans will take on weekend host and fifth-ranked UWL Friday night, March 14, at 7 p.m. No. 17 WashU and 22nd-ranked Wisconsin Lutheran College will play in the 4 p.m. contest.
IWU (24-5) extended its season to the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament with wins over Bethany Lutheran College and No. 7 St. John's University, March 7-8. UW-La Crosse (24-5) made its way through the opening weekend with home wins over Greenville University and St. Norbert College. WashU (21-6), which hosted an opening pod, took down Central College (Iowa) and Franklin College to earn its place in the Sweet Sixteen. After edging out Calvin University in the opening round, Wisconsin Lutheran (27-3) bested University of Wisconsin-Platteville, 75-73, in overtime on the Pioneers home floor.
Eric Stock and Joel Swanson will have the radio broadcast on WESN, while the game can be viewed on NCAA.com or via the NCAA Championship Pass app. Live stats will also be available. Links on can be found on the men's basketball schedule page of IWUsports.com.
HOW SWEET IT IS: IWU is the only Division III school to have its men's & women's teams & women's volleyball teams advance to the Sweet Sixteen in the NCAA Tournament this year.
STRONG ON BOTH SIDES: Illinois Wesleyan was one of 15 schools across Division III to have both its men's and women's basketball teams competing in the NCAA Tournament this season and is one of two to see both competing in the second weekend (NYU). 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 enter the weekend with 82 combined wins - the fifth-most in Division III.
CALM, COOL, COLAK: The Titans needed some late-game heroics to hold off seventh-ranked St. John's Saturday, March 8, in the second round of the NCAA Tournament as junior Karlo Colak provided them. Hauling in an offensive rebound with time ticking down, Colak gathered himself and put up the game-winning putback from the baseline with 0.3 seconds left. The bucket lifted IWU to a 75-73 triumph and advanced the Green and White to this weekend.
The junior guard put together quite a weekend in his NCAA postseason debut. Over two games, Colak averaged 18.0 points and 3.0 rebounds per game. He converted 14-of-19 shot attempts (73.7 percent) from the field, went 3-for-6 from three-point distance, and 5-for-7 at the free throw line.
KEEPING IT 100: Illinois Wesleyan erupted for 101 points in its opening round win over Bethany Lutheran, March 7. It marked IWU's highest scoring performance since putting up 111 against North Park Feb. 13, 2019. Additionaly, it is the first time the Titans have hit triple digits in the NCAA Tournament since 2012. That year, IWU needed 108 points and two overtimes to down Hope (108-101) in the second round. Overall, it is Illinois Wesleyan's eighth 100-point game in NCAA Tournament play all-time (1988, 1995, 1996, 1997, 2001, 2006, 2012), while the Green and White put up 100 just once in NAIA Tournament play (1976).
TALE OF THE TAPE: Friday night's game will be a rematch of the 2022 NCAA Tournament second round as IWU and UW-La Crosse will duke it out for a spot in the Elite Eight. The Titans and Eagles have met just once previously, with IWU securing a 65-56 win inside the Shirk Center March 5, 2022. The win catapulted the Green and White into the Sweet Sixteen. Cody Mitchell led the Titans with 15 points and nine rebounds, while Luke Yoder (13) and Cory Noe (10) also hit double digits.
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.
BATTLE TESTED: Of the tournament's 64 teams, the Green and White have played five of them in California Lutheran, Carthage, Chicago, UW-Platteville, and WashU. The Titans went 5-2 against the group during the regular season.
HELPING HANDS: Senior Hakim Williams dished out a career-high 10 assists in IWU's win over Wheaton, Jan. 25, as the floor general became the 13th Titan to dole out double-digit assists. It is the 33rd time in program history that a player has notched 10+ helpers and is tied for 16th-most in a game all-time.
With four assists in a win at Elmhurst, Feb. 1, Williams surpassed 200 for his career. He is the 29th player in program history with 200+ assists. For his career, Williams has been credited with 226 helpers and ranks tied for 22nd all-time in program history. He is four ahead of Bryce Dolan's career total of 222 and three behind Terry Edlen (229).
HARD TO COME BY: Illinois Wesleyan has established itself as one of the stingiest defenses in all of Division III this season. The Titans are ranked 29th nationally in field goal percentage defense, limiting opponents to 39.5 percent. IWU is allowing just 69.0 points per game, a mark which is slotted 87th-best across Division III. Futhermore, the Titans are 16-1 when limiting opponents to fewer than 70 points compared to 7-4 when the opposition scores 70-or-better.
TAKE WHAT'S FREE: Illinois Wesleyan's aggressive offensive play and willingness to attack the rim has led to a lot of trips to the free throw line this season. In fact, IWU is averaging 23.1 free throws per contest, the 31st-most across Division III. More importantly however, the Titans are 30th nationally with 16.4 free throws made per contest. The scary part? Illinois Wesleyan has the opportunity to improve the second ranking, as the Titans are converting 71.0 percent of their free throws - a mark that sits seventh in the CCIW and 169th nationally. IWU is 14-1 when making 70-percent-or-better of its free throw tries this season and just 10-4 when shooting below 70 percent from the stripe.
BENCH BOSS: In his 18th season leading his alma mater, Ron Rose has compiled a 349-163 overall record. His career mark includes 187 CCIW wins, the most of any active head coach in the conference.
The Titans won the 2013, 2014, 2022, and 2024 CCIW titles outright and shared the 2018 regular season championship with Augustana. Illinois Wesleyan claimed the 2021 CCIW Championship in a COVID-shortened season as well as the regular season title last season.
CUE UP THE CHANTS: Freshman Josh Fridman lit up Augustana in IWU's CCIW Tournament semifinal bout Friday, Feb. 28. The rookie point guard poured in a career-high 24 points, aided by six three-pointers, to pace the Titans. Illinois Wesleyan dispatched the Vikings, 70-65, to advance to the CCIW Tournament Championship for the second straight season.
SHOWED UP WHEN IT MATTERED MOST: A nominee for the CCIW's Most Outstanding Player, Nick Roper put together a monster game to lead IWU to the league tournament title, March 1. Roper erupted for 27 points on 11-of-16 shooting with three three-pointers in the championship game against Carthage. The St. Louis, Mo. native added seven rebounds and two assists as IWU overpowered the Firebirds, 79-60. It marked his eighth 20-point game of the season and checked in two points shy of his career-high.
THE COMFORT OF KNOWING: One year ago on "Selection Monday," the Titans were spurned as one of the first teams out of the 2024 NCAA tournament field. This year was much different though, as Illinois Wesleyan secured the CCIW Tournament Championship and the league's automatic bid and did not have to sweat it out.
CCIW TOURNEY CHAMPS: The league began hosting a conference tournament in 2003, but had not seen IWU win the bracket in its regular format until this past weekend. Saturday's win over Carthage gave Illinois Wesleyan the first CCIW Tournament Championship in program history. The Titans won the 2021 COVID tournament, which was used to award the CCIW Regular Season Champion and did not require qualifying as all nine team competed.
ON THE HORIZON: The winner of Friday night's game between Titans and UW-La Crosse will advance to Saturday's Elite Eight to face the winner of the WashU-Wisconsin Lutheran game. Game time is scheduled for 7 p.m.
