TERRE HAUTE —
A 60-46 loss at Transylvania on Saturday did not help Rose-Hulman’s chances, but coach Jim Shaw’s Engineers are still in their best position to capture a Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference men’s basketball championship and earn an NCAA Division III tournament bid in several years.
Saturday’s setback dropped Rose (12-3 overall) out of a first-place tie with Transylvania and into a three-way tie for second with Hanover and Franklin, all 6-2 in HCAC play and one game behind 7-1 Transylvania.
“Transylvania is really good,” Shaw stressed Sunday. “When you play really good teams, you have to play well. I don’t think we played terrible, but we didn’t play well enough to beat a really good team on its home floor when it’s playing well like Transy was.”
The Engineers have a key home matchup with Franklin (9-6 overall and riding a three-game winning streak) on Wednesday, starting at 7:30 p.m. in Hulbert Arena. On Saturday, they’ll travel to Bluffton (10-5, 4-4) to start a three-game road swing that also includes trips to Manchester (Jan. 25) and Mount St. Joseph (Jan. 28).
“We’re in the middle of a tough stretch, playing really good teams,” Shaw noted. “This Wednesday, we play a really good team at home, but playing at home is no magic elixir. We have to play well. The conference race is tight and it’s going to remain that way, so every game is important to everyone. We can’t pout about getting beat at Transy. We have to come out and play Wednesday.”
Last Wednesday, Shaw’s squad put itself into the first-place tie by winning a 71-70 decision at Anderson. Julian Strickland, a 6-foot-3 sophomore guard from Pike High School in Indianapolis, led the Engineers in scoring that night with 24 points.
Asked what he did well against Anderson, Strickland replied: “Just getting it to the hole. Lately, I had been settling, so coach [Shaw] stressed to me to stop settling … stop taking jumpshots when I know I can get closer to the basket. If I keep taking it to the basket, I think I’ll have a lot of success.”
Strickland and 6-2 sophomore guard Austin Weatherford have emerged as the Engineers’ top scorers this season with averages of 12.7 and 11.0 points per game respectively. Strickland also tallied a team-high 15 points against Transylvania.
Strickland said the primary reason for Rose-Hulman’s recent success has been players “playing to our potential.”
“In practice, coach pushes us real hard, harder than the games — makes the games seem pretty much easier than practice,” he explained. “We look at our opponents as harder than they really are … then we come in and play hard.”
Shaw praised the effort of his players, although he added there is plenty of room for improvement.
“I think that we have generally defended pretty well,” the veteran coach assessed. “There have been a couple times when it’s taken us a while to figure out exactly how to defend people. Wednesday night [at Anderson] was one of those times. It took us a while to figure out how to guard Anderson a little bit better.
“And the other thing that I think has really helped us is our depth. We have a number of guys who can contribute. What’s happened a few times is there’s a few guys MIA [missing in action], as I say, but there’s been some other guys who have picked us up. Pretty much every night, at least a couple guys have played well enough to give us that push to win the game. What we really want is for everybody to start showing up every night. That’s when we’ll truly reach our potential, which I think is pretty high.”
The Engineers clearly didn’t reach their potential against Transylvania, but they’ll get another chance to face the Pioneers — this time in Hulbert Arena — on Feb. 4.
Looking ahead, Shaw insists — quite believably — that he is not thinking one bit about the NCAA Division III tournament, which Rose has not been a part of since 1999. The Engineers also went to the Division III version of the “Big Dance” in 1997 and 1996 under Shaw.
“We’re not worried about that,” he emphasized. “There’s a long way to go. We play in an extremely tough conference. We’re not even halfway through the conference season yet.
“We’ve got a conference tournament at the end [which takes in the top six teams from the regular -season standings], so the NCAA tournament is every team’s goal. But if you lock in on that, you’re making a big mistake. You gotta lock in on the next game and conference play. That makes each game fun because they’re all important.”
On a personal note, however, Shaw admits that he’s missed the thrill and excitement of NCAA tournament atmosphere for his teams over the last 13 years.
“I miss it,” he said. “It was nice to go those years. Going to the NCAA tournament is a tremendous experience for the kids. I certainly want this group of guys to have that experience. But it doesn’t just come. You have to earn it and you have to earn it over time, then be ready to go and keep improving by the end of the year. That’s what we’re focused on. The NCAA tournament is the furthest thing from my mind right now.”
Despite the occasional loss, Shaw also acknowledged this has been a fun season for him.
“Yeah it’s fun because I’ve got a bunch of guys who are really committed to the same goal,” he pointed out. “Anytime that happens, it makes it fun every day.”
Based on the score of Saturday’s loss to Transylvania, there may be a few not-so-fun moments for players during Rose-Hulman practices over the next few days.
“I think we need more consistent inside play, particularly offensively,” Shaw said during a calm moment late last week. “We’ve got to get some production from our post players offensively. We’ve got to finish opportunities better at the offensive end and just get a little bit more consistent.”
One thing is for sure: Rose players aren’t ready to provide opponents with bulletin-board material about how they’re going to win the conference, although they believe it is a realistic goal.
“We’ll see,” Strickland remarked. “I’m not going to speak too soon. I know we can do really well if we keep playing to our potential.”
Rose-Hulman
HCAC title still a possibility for Rose
- Rose-Hulman
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Rose-Hulman swimmers flying to nationals
Rose-Hulman swimmers John Craig Huster and Orion Martin have qualified for the Division III national meet in the 100 butterfly
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Despite four NCAA Division III titles, Rose-Hulman’s Liz Evans remains as driven as ever
Even though Rose-Hulman senior Liz Evans has won four NCAA Division III titles in the women’s high jump, getting motivated is still easy for her.
Ultra-competitive athletes find ways. -
Balsbaugh’s late-season scoring giving Rose-Hulman a lift
If someone were to predict before last weekend that Rose-Hulman would capture its second straight Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference championship in men’s basketball and that senior Brenton Balsbaugh would be named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player, fans probably would believe the first statement but consider the second as wishful thinking.
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Rose-Hulman baseball team kicking off season in Florida
Jeff Jenkins is serious about his baseball.
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Rose-Hulman men clinch conference title
Rose-Hulman will host the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference men’s basketball tournament and claimed the league’s regular-season title with a 59-57 win at Hanover College on Saturday.
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No. 23 Rose-Hulman takes down No. 22 Transylvania on the road
No. 23 ranked Rose-Hulman claimed a two-game lead in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference men’s basketball standings with a 54-49 victory at No. 22 Transylvania University on Saturday.
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Rose-Hulman 18-2 after pulling away from Anderson
Rose-Hulman opened the second half on a 20-3 run to pull away and earn a convincing 71-40 men’s basketball victory at Anderson University on Wednesday night.
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Freshman paces Engineer women to HCAC win
The Rose-Hulman women’s basketball team improved to 10-10 for the season and 6-7 in Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference play with a 52-44 win over Anderson on Wednesday in Hulbert Arena.
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Rose men top Franklin
Rose-Hulman improved to 14-2 overall and kept its Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference lead at 8-1 with a 58-42 men's basketball victory at Franklin College on Wednesday night.
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Rose men run winning steak to 11 games
Anderson arrived in Terre Haute with a 7-6 record and a scoring average of 76.5 points per game.
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Anderson holds off rally by Rose women
Rose-Hulman rallied from an 11-point deficit to close within three points late, but Anderson University held on to earn a 64-57 victory in Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference women’s basketball Wednesday night inside O.C. Lewis Gymnasium.
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Rose-Hulman men ranked 26th in Division III
Rose-Hulman’s men’s basketball team is ranked 26th nationally in the d3hoops.com national weekly poll released on Thursday.
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Gerken hits game-winner to put Rose-Hulman at 9-1 on season
Making the game-winning shot, with what turned out to be seven-tenths of a second to go, was probably the easy part for Jon Gerken on Saturday afternoon in Hulbert Arena.
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Rose women struggle from field in loss to Hanover
In the Rose-Hulman women’s college basketball game, frigid shooting undermined good work the Engineers did in other aspects of the game against Hanover.
The Engineers came out on the wrong end, 55-43. -
Efficient Engineers stifle Millikin
The word that probably best describes the Rose-Hulman men’s basketball team is efficiency.
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Rose-Hulman women's basketball regains Clabber Girl Trophy
Rose-Hulman reclaimed the Clabber Girl Trophy for the first time since 2009 with an 80-74 women’s basketball victory over Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College on Tuesday night in Hulbert Arena.
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Balanced Rose tops Fontbonne
Senior forward Nate Gissentanner came off the bench to deliver 14 points for balanced Rose-Hulman in a 72-54 men’s basketball victory over Fontbonne University on Wednesday night in Hulbert Arena.
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Rose-Hulman men's basketball preview: Engineers looking to follow up last year’s success
It’s pretty safe to say that expectations for the Rose-Hulman men’s basketball team have not been this high since the late 1990s when the Engineers reached the NCAA Division III tournament three times within a four-year period.
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Rose-Hulman women's basketball preview: Engineers continuing to improve
The Rose-Hulman women’s basketball team didn’t dominate many opponents last season when it ended up with records of 9-18 overall and 6-12 in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference.
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Earlham tragedy leads to Rose football cancellation
Little did Rose-Hulman’s football players and coaches know, their 42-8 home victory over Anderson University last Saturday turned out to be their final game of the season.
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This weekend's Rose-Hulman vs. Earlham football game canceled
Due to Friday's tragic events involving three Earlham College students, the football game between Earlham and Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology has been canceled.
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Anderson squeaks past Rose-Hulman
Anderson University scored in the 11th minute and held off a Rose-Hulman charge to earn a 1-0 men's soccer victory in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference semifinal match on Wednesday night at the Engineer Intramural Field.
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Rose swimmers near top because of vets, youth
Rose-Hulman swimming depth is at an all-time high, putting the Engineers at No. 15 in the NCAA Division III national rankings.
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A bigger taste?
On the night of Oct. 14, Rose-Hulman basketball fans were treated to something described by a couple of men’s players as “spectacular” and “epic” when they all jammed into Hulbert Arena for the insititute’s first “Midnight Madness” to tip off a season.
The memorable site wasn’t a 360-degree dunk or a no-look, behind-the-back pass.
It was Rose men’s coach Jim Shaw performing the “Bernie Dance,” based on the deceased character from the 1989 movie “Weekend At Bernie’s.”
“For a second, I thought he was having a seizure,” senior starting guard Austin Weatherford said with a straight face later. -
Rose women picked for 6th
The Rose-Hulman women’s basketball team has been picked to finish sixth in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference this season, according to a preseason poll of league coaches released Tuesday.
Hanover and Franklin were selected for first and second respectively, with just two poll points separating the two squads. -
Rose-Hulman no match for Franklin
Franklin showcased its No. 23 NCAA Division III ranking from d3football.com in a 56-0 victory over Rose-Hulman in Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference football Saturday.
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Rose blanks Woods 3-0 in women’s soccer
Rose-Hulman women’s soccer coach Amy Helliwell is riding a youth movement to what she hopes could produce a strong turnaround in this 2012 season.
It has so far.
Led by freshman Hayley Gilliam, a Zionsville native, the Engineers improved to 5-4-1 for the season with a dominant 3-0 victory against cross-county rival St. Mary-of-the-Woods College on Wednesday at Jim Rendel Field. -
METRO ROUNDUP: Engineers dominate HCAC honors
Rose-Hulman Institute student-athletes earned three Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference Player of the Week awards, in results released by the league office on Monday.
West Vigo graduate John Burt was named HCAC Defensive Player of the Week and Eric Schaible the Special Teams Player of the Week in football, and B.J. Thompson earned Player of the Week honors in men’s soccer.
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Snyder throws for two early TDs in Rose-Hulman victory
Rose-Hulman scored 33 points in the middle two quarters and held off a Defiance rally to earn a 33-20 victory in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference football opener for both schools Saturday.
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Rose’s record setter
Kyle Kovach got off to a great start in Rose-Hulman’s football season opener Saturday night in what turned out to be a heartbreaking 29-28 home loss to Kalamazoo College at Cook Stadium.
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