By Steve Marovich

This season has been tough enough already.  For the second time in a month, the Carthage College men's basketball team (8-12, 2-7 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin) faces two top-10 teams this week.  Both on the road.  Carthage travels to Elmhurst, Ill., on Wednesday, Feb. 3 to play No. 9 Elmhurst College (17-3, 7-2 CCIW) in a 7 p.m. game at R.A. Faganel Hall.  The Bluejays were an 85-56 winner over Millikin University this past Saturday in Elmhurst. 

This coming Saturday, the Red Men travel to Rock Island, Ill., to take on No. 2 Augustana College (Ill., currently 19-1, 8-1 CCIW) in a 7 p.m. contest at the Roy J. Carver Physical Education Center.

Three weeks ago, the Red Men played the same two teams at home.  Carthage fell to then-No.2 Elmhurst, 78-58, on Jan, 13 before losing to then-No. 3 Augustana (Ill.) by a 71-63 margin.  "There's good teams at the top of the standings, like there always are," said Carthage coach Bosko Djurickovic.  "We have another tough week coming up, and we just have to keep plugging away.  Elmhurst is really playing well.  They're so overpoweringly big inside, and we have to keep them off the boards."

John Baines (51-22, 3 years at Elmhurst/108-60, 6 years overall thru Feb. 2) coaches the Elmhurst Bluejays, who went 20-8 last year (9-5, 3rd CCIW) and lost to Illinois Wesleyan University, 80-67, in the semifinals of the CCIW Men's Basketball Tournament.  Elmhurst received an at-large berth to the NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Championship and advanced to the second round before losing to Northwestern College, 84-75.  Carthage leads the Elmhurst series, which dates to a Jan, 23, 1932 game in Chicago, 82-53.

The Bluejays, with an all-senior starting lineup, lead the league in scoring offense (85.4 points per game) and rebounding margin (9.9) and are second in scoring margins (14.2 points per game).  Kyle Wuest (Sr., Edinburgh, Ind.) is fifth in CCIW scoring (15.7 points per game) and fourth in free-throw percentage (.840).  Will Nixon (Sr., Plainfield, Ill./South) is first in field-goal percentage (.658) and fifth in rebounding (7.5 per game).

Grey Giovanine (330-122, 17 years at Augustana/410-207, 23 years overall thru Feb. 2) coaches the Augustana (Ill.) Vikings, who compiled a 27-5 record last year and won their 14th league title with an 11-3 mark.  Augustana (Ill.) won the CCIW Men's Basketball Tournament with a 78-74 victory over Illinois Wesleyan University.  The Vikings won four games in the NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Championship before losing to Wisconsin-Stevens Point, 70-54, in the title game in Salem, Va.  Augustana (Ill.) leads the Carthage series, which dates to a Jan. 27, 1912 game contest in Rock Island, 117-55.

The Vikings, who also start five seniors, lead the league in both scoring margin (18.1 points per game) and scoring defense (61.7 points per game).  Ben Ryan (Sr., Washington, Ill.) is eighth in CCIW scoring (14.6 points per game) and third in rebounding (7.9 per game).  Hunter Hill (Sr., Byron, Ill.) is ninth in scoring (14.4 points per game), second in free-throw percentage (.889) and fifth in assists (3.9 per game).

Carthage coach Bosko Djurickovic has a 315-196 record in 20 years at Carthage (511-275, 30 years overall)  Jordon Kedrowski (Fr., Bolingbrook, Ill./Downers Grove-North) leads the Red Men in scoring (13.4 points per game) with a .378 three-point field-goal percentage.  Tony Pierce Jr. (Sr., Evanston, Ill./Skokie-Niles West) averages 13.0 points with a .302 three-point mark, while Mike Stevenson (Jr., Burlington, Wis./Wilmot-Union) carries a 10.7 scoring mark with 4.9 rebounds per game.