Ticket Information/Live Coverage
Setting the Scene: A thrilling comeback victory has the Cardinals on the verge of a second trip to the national quarterfinals, but a stout opponent with two sizable tournament wins of its own stands in the way.
This Weekend's Schedule
Friday, Mar. 13
Washington University in St. Louis vs. North Central, 7:30
National Quarterfinals
Friday, Mar. 20
Hobart/Christopher Newport winner vs. WashU/North Central winner
Allen County War Memorial Coliseum
Fort Wayne, Indiana
Series History: This is the third men's basketball meeting between the two institutions and the second in the last 50 years. This is the Bears' first trip to Gregory Arena.
The teams last met Mar. 3, 2012 at WashU in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. The Cardinals held the Bears without a field goal for nearly three minutes late in the game and emerged with a 72-68 victory to advance to the round of 16 for the first time.
Kevin Gillespite put up a game-high 22 points for North Central, while Derek Raridon scored 14 and Landon Gamble and Aaron Tiknis each put up 12. Gamble also grabbed 10 rebounds.
WashU was led in scoring by Ben Hoener, who came off the bench to score 16 points in 18 minutes.
National Rankings: North Central is ranked No. 11 and WashU is ranked No. 16 in the most recent D3hoops.com Top 25 Poll.
Scouting the Bears: WashU traveled to Nebraska Wesleyan last weekend, cruising to a 102-68 first-round win over Bethany Lutheran before running over the host Prairie Wolves, 79-58.
The Bears scored 18 of the game's first 22 points against Nebraska Wesleyan and owned a 44-17 advantage by halftime. WashU made 14 of a season-high 38 three-point attempts, getting 26 points and 10 rebounds from sophomore forward Justin Hardy and 24 points from junior guard Jack Nolan.
WashU has a 2-1 record against CCIW opposition this season. The Bears defeated Augustana, 73-70, on Dec.1 and Illinois Wesleyan, 97-88, on Dec. 19 before a 63-61 loss at Millikin on Dec. 31.
This Week for the Cardinals: North Central is in the round of 16 for the third time and the first since 2013 after an 84-82 overtime victory over Wisconsin-Oshkosh on Saturday.
The Cardinals erased a double-digit second-half deficit behind the efforts of Blaise Meredith and Michael Pollack, who combined for 23 of the team's 38 points in the period. Pollack's layup with 3.2 seconds remaining in overtime proved to be the game-winner.
Meredith finished with a career-high 23 points and tied a career best with six assists. Pollack totaled 17 points (matching his season high) on 6 of 8 shooting, including a 5 for 6 effort from three-point range.
North Central has made 261 three-point shots this season, just two shy of matching the program's single-season record of 263 set during the 2018-2019 campaign.
The Cardinals in the NCAA Tournament: North Central is in the NCAA Tournament for the 12th time. The Cardinals have a 12-12 all-time record in the tournament and have made the field in each of the past five seasons.
North Central defeated Chatham, 77-48, in the first round of last year's tournament before a 84-82 second-round loss to Loras.
The Cardinals also made tournament appearances in 1984, 1985, 1989, 1990, 2006, 2012, 2013, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019. North Central advanced past the first round for the first time in 2012, making the round of 16, and advanced to the national semifinals for the first time in 2013.
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.
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 634 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 1,761 points.
Raridon also ranks second in school history in free throws made (544), free throws attempted (677) and games played (119), fourth in rebounds (816), ninth in steals (91) and 10th in blocked shots (66).
In the Cardinals' 83-53 win at Aurora on Dec. 11, Cappelletti became the program's 28th 1,000-point scorer and currently ranks 16th all-time with 1,253 points. He is five points from matching Mike McFadden '84 for 15th.
Michael Pollack currently ranks second in school history in career three-pointers made (186), while Cappelletti ranks fifth (161) and Aiden Chang is ninth (147). Chang owns the Cardinals' career record for games played (121) and ranks seventh in the program's history in assists (247).
Coaching Milestone: Todd Raridon became the 45th coach in Division III history to eclipse 500 career wins 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 559 wins.
Raridon's 290 victories at North Central make him the program's all-time leader in coaching wins.