(L-R): Kasey Hunt, Luke Chicone, Devin Burgess, and Sean Collins
The Blue Streaks will be headed to central Illinois to play Grinnell in the First Round
BLOOMINGTON, Ill. — For a fourth season in a row, John Carroll Men's Basketball is going dancing.Â
By virtue of winning the North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament, JCU secured an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Basketball Tournament.
John Carroll will be headed to central Illinois to play in the Illinois Wesleyan pod. JCU will play Grinnell College in the First Round on Friday. It will be a 458-mile trip from University Heights to the Shirk Center, a 7-hour, 15-minute bus trip without stopping.Â
Illinois Wesleyan will host JCU's former Ohio Athletic Conference foe Heidelberg University in the other opening round game of the pod.Â
Full Bracket
The Blue Streaks are set to make the 19th NCAA Tournament appearance in program history. JCU has a 25-20 overall record in the tournament.Â
The Blue Streaks enter the tournament with a 22-6 record, coming off a 84-66 victory at Denison University on Saturday in the NCAC title bout. JCU claimed a third straight conference tournament title and the first trophy as an NCAC member. In program history, JCU has won a total of eight conference tournament titles.Â
Luke Chicone made history this weekend as the Mentor native set the school single-season records for points  (previously held by George Dalton, 1952-53) and steals, and also tied David Pfundstein's assist record.
John Carroll has never played Grinnell College before. The Pioneers check in with a 22-3 record after handily winning their second Midwest Conference Tournament title in a row on Saturday. JCU finished 32nd in the NPI ratings, while Grinnell came in at 41st. The Pioneers have won 12 straight games. The two teams do not share any common opponents.
#12 Illinois Wesleyan, the host of the pod, enters the postseason with a 23-4 record. IWU won the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin Tournament with an overtime win over Elmhurst, 69-59. The Titans, #11 in the NPI ratings, won even without Noah Cleveland, the CCIW's Most Outstanding Player and the First-Year Student-Athlete of the Year. JCU and IWU share one common opponent in Kenyon College. The Blue Streaks swept the season series by scores of 88-67 on January 10 and 98-72 on February 7. The Titans won handily on November 22, 89-59.Â
Heidelberg is a familiar foe for the Blue Streaks. The Student Princes upset #8 Mount Union in the Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament Semifinal and then #20 Otterbein in the Championship, both on the road. Heidelberg enters the postseason with a 16-12 overall record, rated #105 in the final NPI rankings. Back on November 15, JCU defeated Berg in the Seiberling Gymnasium, 103-88. Heidelberg lost to Ohio Wesleyan a day before, while JCU split the season series with the Battling Bishops. Both teams beat Olivet this season (JCU won 100-96 in the season opener, while Berg won, 64-63, on November 29.Â
John Carroll's fourth straight NCAA Tournament appearance marks the second such run in program history, the other being from 1996-99.Â
