CCIW Preview

WHEATON, Ill. – The second-seeded North Park men's basketball is set for a College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) tournament semifinals match up with third-seeded Carthage this coming Friday, Feb. 24. The Vikings will take on the Firebirds inside Wheaton's King Arena at 5:00 PM CST.

North Park Notes

• North Park's 20 wins are the most since 1987 and its 13 CCIW wins are the most since 1991. The Vikings mark their highest finish since the 2016-17 team shared a league title with Carthage and Augustana.
• The Vikings secured the CCIW play team steals record with 217 this season, crushing the old record of 151 by Elmhurst in 2021-22.
• National Stat Rankings for NPU, as of Feb. 22
  • 4^th in turnover margin (+7.8)
  • 5^th in steals per game (13.3)
  • 6^th in turnovers forced per game (20.16)
  • 8^th in FT attempts per game (24.7)
  • 17^th in FT made per game (15.9)
  • 28^th in ORB per game (13.96)
• Transfers Shamar Pumphrey (Aurora) and Marquise Jackson (Lewis) appear in national stat rankings:
  • Pumphrey: 21^st in A/TO ratio (+2.58), 21^st in steals (63), and 36^th in assists (124)
  • Jackson: 5^th in steals per game (2.96) and 9^th in steals (68)
• Kolden Vanlandingham leads North Park with 16.6 points per game, followed by 12.6 from Jalen Boyd.
• On the boards, Jordan Boyd leads the Vikings with 142, including 64 on offense.

Carthage Notes

• Carthage outlasted six-seeded Illinois Wesleyan on Tuesday night, earning a 69-67 win to advance to the CCIW Semifinals
• The Firebirds and Vikings split their season series as North Park won on Feb. 8 (87-84) while Carthage won in the first battle on Jan. 11 (104-95)
• National Stat Rankings for Carthage, as of Feb. 22
  • 5^th in FG% (49.7)
  • 39^th in scoring offense (81.2 PPG)
• Unanimous first team All-CCIW selection Fillip Bulatovic leads Carthage with 16.7 PPG, 417 total points, and 200 rebounds
• CCIW Newcomer of the Year Julian Campbell averaged 12.2 PPG. He is one of four Firebirds posting double-digit scoring averages, alongside All-CCIW selections AJ Johnson (15.0 PPG) and Antuan Nesbitt (14.1 PPG)
• In conference action, Carthage led the league in PPG (77.4), FG% (47.1), 3FG% (36.5), and was second only to NPU in turnover margin (+0.50).

Tournament Championship

The winner of Friday's game will square against the winner of host Wheaton and fourth-seeded Elmhurst to determine the CCIW Tournament champion on Saturday, Feb. 25. Tipoff for the championship inside King Arena is set for 7:00 PM CST.