GAMEDAY CENTRAL
IUP Crimson Hawks (16-5, 12-2 PSAC)
at Slippery Rock "The Rock" (17-4, 11-4 PSAC)
Wednesday, January 31, 2018 | 7:30 p.m.
Slippery Rock, Pa. | Morrow Field House

Full Game Notes (PDF)
Stats: RockAthletics.com | Sidearm Stats
Radio: WQMU 92.5 FM | u92radio.com | U92.5 Sports App (Android & iPhone)
Video: RockAthletics.com | Rock All-Access
Social Media: Twitter | @IUP_MBB

COMING UP
Saturday, Feb. 3 vs. Gannon (7:30 p.m.)
Wednesday, Feb. 7 vs. Pitt-Johnstown (7:30 p.m.)

THE GAME AT A GLANCE
It's a battle of the top two teams in the PSAC West when IUP men's basketball (16-5, 12-2 PSAC) hits the road to face Slippery Rock (17-4, 11-4 PSAC) Wednesday night. Tipoff at the Morrow Field House is 7:30 p.m. Both teams enter the matchup with win streaks, the Crimson Hawks having won five straight after Saturday's 67-65 victory at Mercyhurst. The Rock has won three straight, including an 86-65 win at California (Pa.) Saturday. 

TIPOFF NOTES
>> The Crimson Hawks defeated Slippery Rock 89-85 on Jan. 8, as Sr. G Anthony Glover, Jr. (Toledo, Ohio/St. John's Jesuit) scored a career-high 34 points and made six 3-pointers; It was IUP's highest scoring game (174 points) of the season
>> They are 55-6 in the month of January since the 2011-12 season, including an 8-1 record this year; The 85-82 loss to ESU was IUP's first in the month of January since 2015
>> IUP is 7-1 in true road games this season, with the loss coming at West Chester (93-78) on Dec. 2
>> IUP is the only team to defeat Mercyhurst at the MAC in Erie this year; The Lakers are now 8-1 at home
>> Slippery Rock owns an 8-2 home record, winning eight straight at Morrow since dropping games against No. 8 Shippensburg (90-87) and Kutztown (86-72) back in November 
>> Jr. G Dante Lombardi (Indiana, Pa./The Kiski School) was named the PSAC West co-Athlete of the Week on Monday, averaging 21.5 PPG and 6.5 APG with a 13-3 assist-turnover ratio in a pair of IUP wins last week

SERIES WITH THE ROCK
>> IUP leads the all-time series with Slippery Rock 106-76, including three straight victories
>> IUP HC Joe Lombardi has a lifetime record of 22-6 against Slippery Rock; Lombardi is 6-6 vs. SRU on the road
>> The Crimson Hawks have outscored Slippery Rock 826-815 (68.8-67.9) in those 12 games

WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT THE ROCK
>> Slippery Rock is 17-4 overall and is currently second in the PSAC West with a 11-4 league record
>> The Rock's 11 PSAC wins are tied with Shippensburg, ESU and West Chester for second most in the PSAC (IUP-12)
>> Slippery Rock is defeating opponents by an average of 20 points during its eight-game home win streak; Six of those eight opponents are Division II and own a combined 63-53 overall record 
>> SRU owns one of the top offenses in the conference, averaging 84.4 points per game
>> They lead the PSAC with an average of 70.6 total shots and 18.0 offensive rebounds per game
>> R-So. F Micah Till is one of three players in the PSAC averaging a double-double with 21.2 PPG and a league-leading 11.1 RPG; He scored 22 points with 12 rebounds in the first meeting with IUP

CRIMSON HAWKS ONE OF HOTTEST TEAMS IN PSAC
>> IUP sits on top of the PSAC West with an 12-2 league record; Slippery Rock trails at 11-4
>> Their current five-game win streak is the second longest in the PSAC (West Chester - W7)
>> The Crimson Hawks are 11-1 in their last 12 games, with 10 of those wins coming against PSAC opponents
>> They've scored 80+ points six times in those 12 games, averaging 77.9 PPG with a 48.2 FG% and 38.3 3FG%
>> IUP had a six-game win streak that included a 74-59 win over Fairmont State, last year's national finalist
>> IUP started the year 1-3 and had four losses in its first nine games
>> Three of IUP's five losses are to teams currently ranked in the Top 25 by the NABC/D2SIDA - #3/2 Ferris State (86-82), #13/17 Virginia State (69-64), and #11/9 Findlay (80-61)

3-POINT SHOOTING CARRYING CRIMSON HAWKS, ONE OF TOP SHOOTING TEAMS IN THE REGION
>> IUP is second in the PSAC and ranks fifth in the Atlantic Region with a 38.3 3FG% (192-501)
>> The Crimson Hawks' 192 made 3s are second overall in the PSAC; their 9.1 3s made per game are fourth
>> They're averaging 10.5 made 3s in the last four games, including 13 at Cal and 12 against Seton Hill
>> IUP has made 10+ 3-pointers eight times this year, including 15 against Urbana and Pitt-Johnstown
>> Six Crimson Hawks have made double-digit 3-pointers this year, led by 63 from Sr. G Anthony Glover, Jr. (Toledo, Ohio/St. John's Jesuit)

GLOVER LEADS IUP, AMONG PSAC BEST IN SCORING
>> Sr. G Anthony Glover, Jr. (Toledo, Ohio/St. John's Jesuit) is having his best season, leading the Crimson Hawks and ranking 9th in the PSAC with an average of 19.3 PPG
>> Glover is one of the best pure shooters in the PSAC, ranking 3rd with a 44.7 3FG%, 3rd with 3.0 made 3FGs per game, 5th with an 87.7 FT% (64-73), and 15th with a 48.3 FG% (139-288)
>> He has three 30-point performances in the last nine games, averaging 22.1 PPG during that span
>> Glover has 10 games of 20-plus points, reaching double-figures 20 of 21 games
>> Glover scored a career-high 34 points (8-15 FGs, 6-8 3FGs, 12-12 FTs) in an 89-85 win over Slippery Rock (Jan. 8)
>> During the Slippery Rock win, Glover went over 1,000 points in his 3-year IUP career; He's totaled 1,347 points collegiately, including 1,129 with the Crimson Hawks and 218 as a freshman at Chicago State (2014-15)
>> Glover scored 31 points (11-17 FGs, 6-8 3FGs, 3-4 FTs) in an 81-76 comeback win over Pitt-Johnstown (Jan. 3)

ALL-AMERICAN DIAZ CLOSE TO 1,000-POINT MILESTONE
>> Jr. F Jacobo Diaz (Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain/CBA Gran Canaria) will look to become the second IUP player to hit the 1,000 point milestone this season, entering Wednesday's game with 995 for his career
>> He's second on the team with 13.6 PPG and fourth in the PSAC with 9.6 RPG
>> Diaz was one of 100 players named to the Bevo Francis Award Watch List, which goes to the top small college player in the nation; It's the second straight year he was named to the watch list
>> He has 9 double-doubles in 21 games this year; That brings his career total to 25 double-doubles, including 14 in 32 games as a sophomore and two in 29 games as a freshman
>> Diaz averaged a double-double with 14.4 PPG and 10.0 RPG in 2016-17; He was the first IUP player since Darryl Webb (Elkridge, Md./Long Reach) in 2010-11 (17.4 PPG, 10.1 RPG) to average a double-double for an entire season

LOMBARDI ON A HOT STREAK, NAMED PSAC WEST ATHLETE OF THE WEEK MONDAY
>> Jr. G Dante Lombardi (Indiana, Pa./The Kiski School) was named the PSAC West Athlete of the Week Monday, averaging 21.5 PPG and 6.5 APG in the Crimson Hawks two wins last week
>> He's fourth in the PSAC averaging 4.9 assists per game
>> Lombardi is also close to the scoring milestone with 929 points (11.6 PPG) in his career