GAMEDAY CENTRAL
(3/5) IUP Crimson Hawks (21-2, 14-2 PSAC)
at Pitt-Johnstown Mountain Cats (13-10, 8-8 PSAC)
Wednesday, February 13, 2019 | 7:30 p.m.
Johnstown, Pa. | Sports Center
*Rankings reflect NABC/D2SIDA Top 25 Polls

HOW TO FOLLOW
Stats: PittJohnstownAthletics.com | Sidearm Stats
Watch: PittJohnstownAthletics.com | Stretch Internet
Video App: PSAC Sports Network
Radio: WQMU 92.5 FM | u92radio.com
Audio App: U92.5 Sports App (Android & iPhone)
Social Media: Twitter | @IUP_MBB

GAME PREVIEWS
IUP Game Notes (PDF)
UPJ M. Basketball Preview

COMING UP
Wednesday, February 20 vs. Clarion, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, February 23 at Cal, 3 p.m.

THE GAME AT A GLANCE
No. 3 IUP men's basketball (21-2, 14-2 PSAC) looks to keep a grip of its top spot in the division when they hit the road Wednesday to square off against Pitt-Johnstown (13-10, 8-8 PSAC). Tipoff at the Sports Center is 7:30 p.m. The Crimson Hawks have won their last two games to take over the PSAC West lead and are coming off a 78-63 win over Gannon in Erie. The Mountain Cats have gone the other way, dropping each of their last two ballgames including a 71-66 loss at Clarion Saturday. 

TIPOFF NOTES
>> Jr. G Malik Miller led IUP in scoring for the third straight game, dropping 22 points on 8-16 shooting with four 3-pointers in the win at Gannon. 
>> Sr. F Jacobo Diaz posted his 13th double-double of the season and Sr. G Dante Lombardi scored 18 points.
>> The Crimson Hawks hit 11 3-pointers and had their best shooting performance from beyond the arc since going 15-30 in the win at Clarion (Jan. 26).
>> IUP leads the PSAC West standings by one game over Slippery Rock (13-3) and two-and-a-half games over surging Mercyhurst (11-4). 
>> IUP is 8-1 on the road this year, including four straight wins since its 74-69 loss to Slippery Rock Jan. 12. 
>> The Crimson Hawks have a scoring margin of +16.25 during their four-game road win streak. 
>> IUP HC Lombardi is 13-3 against Pitt-Johnstown, including a 12-1 mark since UPJ joined the PSAC in 2013. 
>> IUP is 5-0 and averages 84.0 points with a +14.8 scoring margin at the Sports Center since 2013. 
>> IUP is looking for the regular season sweep of UPJ after defeating the Mountain Cats 86-73 at home Jan. 5. Miller had 25 points, Sr. F Willem Brandwijk had a career-high 21 and Lombardi had a double-double.

WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT THE MOUNTAIN CATS
>> Pitt-Johnstown is 13-10 overall and 4th place in the PSAC West standings with an 8-8 conference record.
>> Despite its current two-game losing streak, UPJ has a relatively firm grasp of the 4th spot sitting 3.5 games behind 3rd place Mercyhurst (11-4) and 2 games ahead of 5th place Gannon (6-10) with five games to play.
>> The Mountain Cats' two straight losses have come to the two worst teams in the conference standings. They lost to 8th place Edinboro (4-11) 96-88 and 9th place Clarion (3-13) 71-66. 
>> UPJ is undefeated (10-0) at home this year. But those wins have come to seven Division II teams with a combined record of 61-92 and three non-NCAA schools with a 12-51 combined record.

CRIMSON HAWKS ONE OF TOP TEAMS IN THE NATION
>> IUP moved up three spots to No. 3 in this week's NABC Top 25. 
>> The Crimson Hawks have been ranked in the top 3 in seven of the 11 polls this season. They've also been ranked in the top 8 all year. 
>> IUP shows up at No. 5 in this week's D2SIDA Media Top 25.
>> IUP is among six Division II teams with 2 or fewer losses this season. 
>> They opened the year at No. 8 in the coaches and No. 6 in the media preseason polls. 
>> The Crimson Hawks are 3-0 against teams ranked in the top 25 - (16/15) Virginia State, 69-67; (11/13) Shippensburg, 88-77; and at (RV/18) Fairmont State, 83-64. 
>> IUP is again at No. 2 in the media's Atlantic Region rankings, taking two of the three first place votes. 

IUP BOASTS ONE OF TOUGHEST SCHEDULES IN DIVISION II
>> IUP has the 10th toughest schedule in Division II with an opponents win percent of .593 (289-198).
>> The Crimson Hawks went 7-0 in their non-conference schedule that included two top 25 teams.
>> IUP's non-conference schedule included six Division II schools that are a combined 85-51 (.625) this season.
>> IUP had an average scoring margin of +17.0 in their seven non-conference games.
>> The Crimson Hawks are a combined 7-2 against teams currently in the D2SIDA Atlantic Region top 10 rankings, with wins over No. 3 West Chester, No. 4 Virginia State, No. 5 Mercyhurst, No. 6 Fairmont State, No. 8 Shippensburg and No. 9s Slippery Rock and East Stroudsburg.

CRIMSON HAWKS OFF TO BEST STARTS OF LOMBARDI ERA
>> The Crimson Hawks' 21 wins in their first 22 games is the best start of any Joe Lombardi team.
>> The 2009-10 national finalist team started 18-1 before a Feb. 7 road loss to Clarion. That was IUP's final regular season loss of the season, winning the PSAC and Atlantic Region before falling in the Division II title game. 
>> The 14 consecutive wins to open this year marked the fourth win streak of at least 14 games under Lombardi. His longest win streak was 18 games during the 2016-17 season. 

LOMBARDI APPROACHING ANOTHER MILESTONE
>> At 296-99 (.749), Coach Lombardi is just 4 wins shy of becoming the 10th coach in PSAC history with 300 wins.
>> Already IUP's all-time victories leader, he's currently 3rd among active PSAC coaches in victories, trailing Kutztown's Bernie Driscoll (320) and East Stroudsburg's Jeff Wilson (313).
>> Lombardi is a combined 17-8 against Driscoll and Wilson in his 13 years at IUP. 

THE IUP OFFENSE PUTTING UP ITS BEST NUMBERS UNDER LOMBARDI
>> The Crimson Hawks are 5th in the PSAC with an 81.7 scoring average through 23 games.
>> Their current scoring clip is the best in 13 seasons under Lombardi. The 2015-16 and 2016-17 teams both averaged 77.7 points. 
>> IUP has 12 80-point games this season, scoring 106 against Westminster and 102 against Edinboro. 
>> IUP's 48.2 FG% is its best since shooting the same percentage during its 2014-15 national finalist season. The Crimson Hawks have shot at least 50 percent in 10 of their 22 games, including a season-best 56.5 percent (35-62) at Fairmont State.

CRIMSON HAWKS LOOKING TO CONTINUE DOMINANCE IN PSAC WEST
>> IUP currently leads the division standings by 1 game over Slippery Rock (13-3) and 2.5 games over Mercyhurst (11-4) with five games left to play. 
>> IUP has won eight PSAC West regular season titles under Lombardi in the last nine years.
>> The Crimson Hawks won five straight (2010-14) and have won each of the last three (2016-18). 

JACOBO DIAZ ONE OF THE TOP PLAYERS IN DIVISION II
>> Sr. F Jacobo Diaz ranks in the top 10 in the PSAC in 14 statistical categories, including 6th in scoring (18.9 PPG) and 3rd in rebounding (9.4 RPG). His 13 double-doubles lead the PSAC and are tied for 6th in Division II.
>> Diaz has led IUP in scoring eight times this year and has nine different 20-point performances. He scored a season-high 29 points at Slippery Rock and against Westminster, and had 28 at East Stroudsburg.
>> Diaz was named PSAC West Athlete of the Week twice this year (Nov. 12, Nov. 26). 
>> In January Diaz was named to the Bevo Francis Watch List, an award given annually to the best player from Division II, Division III, NIAA or NJCAA. 

DANTE LOMBARDI ONE OF TOP POINT GUARDS IN PSAC
>> Sr. G Dante Lombardi became IUP's all-time assist leader in last Saturday's loss to Mercyhurst, passing Devante Chance (2011-15). His 527 assists are 7th most among active Division II players. 
>> Lombardi is the only player in the PSAC averaging better than 15 points and 5 assists per game. 
>> His 15.9 PPG average is 19th in the PSAC. His 5.7 APG is 2nd in the league and 31st in Division II. 

MALIK MILLER IS A VALUABLE SCORING OPTION
>> Jr. G Malik Miller has turned himself into a big time scorer as a first year starter, ranking 2nd on the team and 10th in the PSAC with a 17.3 PPG average.
>> Miller has led IUP in scoring a team-best 10 times this year, including three straight times.
>> He has nine 20-point games this year, including a career-high 26 points in the Jan. 2 win over Gannon.