MATCHUP
(5/4) IUP Crimson Hawks at (-/-) Mercyhurst Lakers
Saturday, February 1, 2020 | 3 p.m. | Mercyhurst Athletic Center, Erie, Pa.
*Rankings reflect NABC/D2SIDA Top 25 Polls

PREVIEW INFORMATION
IUP (18-1, 13-1 PSAC) | Mercyhurst (11-7, 9-5 PSAC)

FOLLOW
Watch: HurstAthletics.com (Stretch Internet) | Live Stats: HurstAthletics.com (SIDEARM Sports) | Listen: WQMU 92.5, U92 Sports App | Twitter Updates: @IUP_MBB

COMING UP
Saturday, Feb. 8 vs. Slippery Rock, 7:30 p.m.
Wednesday, Feb. 12 at Cal U, 7:30 p.m.

THE GAME AT A GLANCE
No. 5 IUP men's basketball (18-1, 13-1 PSAC) goes for its 10th straight win with an always tough road matchup at Mercyhurst (11-7, 9-5 PSAC) Saturday afternoon. Tipoff is 3 p.m. at the Mercyhurst Athletic Center. The Crimson Hawks are coming off a dominant 92-65 victory at home over Seton Hill, putting up 55 points in the second half alone. The Lakers stopped a two-game skid with a 93-56 home win over Edinboro Wednesday. 

TIPOFF NOTES
>> Sr. G Malik Miller posted his second straight standout performance, scoring a career-high 32 points on 13-17 shooting to go along with 5 assists in Wednesday's win. 
>> Miller now has five straight 20-point games, averaging 25.0 PPG with a 51.8 FG% during that span. He's the reigning PSAC West Athlete of the Week. 
>> R-So. G Armoni Foster also excelled, nearly grabbing a triple-double with 21 points, 13 rebounds and 7 assists.
>> The Crimson Hawks shot a season-best 60.0 percent from the field, making 12 3-pointers. 
>> IUP also went 14-16 from the foul line Wednesday and is shooting 85.0 percent over the last three games. 
>> The Hawks now have a pair of 9-game win streaks sandwiched around its lone loss to Shippensburg Dec. 21. 
>> The Crimson Hawks are one of five teams in Division II with just 1 loss.  
>> IUP averaged 86.1 PPG during January with seven double-digit wins and a +18.0 scoring margin. 
>> Despite ranking 9th in the PSAC in 3-point shooting, the Hawks have shot 38.9 percent from long range during divisional play with five games of 10+ made treys.
>> The Crimson Hawks are looking to sweep the regular season series after a 71-56 win over the Lakers Jan. 6. Foster had a game-high 18 points as IUP went 22-31 from the foul line and held a +15 advantage on the glass.
>> HC Joe Lombardi is 20-10 lifetime against Mercyhurst, including a 6-6 record in Erie. Lombardi and IUP have won three straight road matchups with the Lakers by an average of 8.0 points. 

WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT THE LAKERS
>> Mercyhurst is 11-7 overall and 4th in the PSAC West standings with a 9-5 league record.
>> Always much better at home, the Lakers are 8-2 in the MAC with a +15.4 scoring margin. Their losses came to Slippery Rock (62-52) last week and Le Moyne (76-66) in December. 
>> Mercyhurst went 5-3 during the first round of divisional games with losses to IUP, Slippery Rock and Cal U.
>> The Lakers are 2nd in the PSAC with a 38.9 3FG%

IUP IN THE RANKINGS
>> The Crimson Hawks moved up two spots to No. 5 in the latest NABC Top 25 coaches' poll.  
>> It marks the 10th straight week the Crimson Hawks appear in the top 10 of the coaches' poll after opening the preseason at No. 11. 
>> It's also the 28th straight poll release that the Crimson Hawks have been in the top 25. 
>> IUP reached as high as No. 3 in the poll (Dec. 17). 

IUP OFF TO ANOTHER STRONG START
>> IUP is one of five teams in Division II (as of Jan. 29) with just 1 loss this year. 
>> IUP's nine straight wins to open the season was the fourth best start in the Joe Lombardi era.
>> This is IUP's third 18-1 start in the HC Joe Lombardi era, including the 2018-19 and 2009-10 seasons. 
>> Lombardi and the Crimson Hawks opened the 2018-19 and 2013-14 seasons with 14 straight wins. 

OFFENSE COULD BE BEST IN LOMBARDI ERA
>> The Crimson Hawks are 2nd in the PSAC and 38th in Division II with an 84.1 scoring average.
>> It's the best mark in Lombardi's 14 seasons and ahead of last year's 19-game pace of 83.0 PPG. 
>> IUP is 2nd in the league in FG% (.494) and assists (15.7 APG), and 3rd in FT% (.758) and made 3s (9.2 PG).
>> IUP has 13 games of 80+ points, including games of 108 vs. Bethany and 100 vs. UPJ. 
>> IUP averaged 86.1 PPG during the month of January. 
>> Sr. G Malik Miller and R-So. G Armoni Foster have combined for 18 of IUP's 20 20-point games. 
>> IUP is 14-0 when a player scores 20 points. 

DEFENSE IS ROCK SOLID
>> IUP leads the PSAC and ranks 15th in Division II allowing just 65.8 PPG.
>> IUP has held opponents under 70 points 12 times, including 10 times in 14 PSAC games. 
>> IUP also leads the conference in defensive FG% (.396), defensive 3FG% (.298), is 2nd in steals per game (7.9) and 3rd in blocks per game (4.3). 
>> Fr. F Ethan Porterfield (32) and Sr. F Chucky Humphries (22) rank 2nd and 6th, respectively, in the PSAC in total blocks. 
>> Foster is 5th in the league with 33 steals, R-So. G Dave Morris is 10th with 30. 

3-POINT IMPROVEMENT
>> IUP is 9th in the PSAC with a 35.4 3FG% this year but saw huge improvement in January with a 38.9 3FG%.
>> The Hawks made 10+ treys six times in nine games last month, including a season-high 13 at UPJ.
>> Jr. G Anthony White shot 55.6 percent (10-18) last month while Fr. F Ethan Porterfield shot 46.4 (13-28).
>> Porterfield leads the team with a 43.5 3FG% this year.

MILLER ON A HOT STREAK
>> Sr. G Malik Miller has been the PSACs best scorer over the last two weeks, averaging 25.0 PPG in the last five games.
>> He has back-to-back career-highs, scoring 27 against Clarion and 32 against Seton Hill. He has five straight 20-point games and nine for the season. 
>> Miller is currently 17th in IUP history with 1,328 career points and is 30 points away from Garry Lupek's (1966-69) 1,358 points. 
>> Miller leads IUP and is 6th in the PSAC with 18.8 PPG.. 
>> Miller was named a preseason player of the year candidate by Wayne Cavaldi of NCAA.com.

FOSTER HAS BEEN HUGE AS FIRST-YEAR STARTER
>> R-So. G Armoni Foster was named to the top-100 watch list for the Bevo Francis Award, which annually goes to the top small college player in the nation.
>> He is 8th in the PSAC at 18.3 PPG.
>> Foster has nine 20-point outings and has scored in double-figures 17 times in 19 games. 
>> Foster is the top shooting guard in the conference, ranking 7th overall with a 50.2 FG% (120-239).
>> He scored a career-high 28 points in the comeback win at Le Moyne, shooting 13-20, and scored 22 of his points in the second half. 

PORTERFIELD VALUABLE AS FRESHMAN STARTER
>> Fr. F Ethan Porterfield has started each of the last 12 games, the most by an IUP freshman since Dante Lombardi (13) in 2015-16. 
>> He scored a season-high 19 points at Shepherd, the most by an IUP freshman since Jacobo Diaz in 2015-16. 
>> Porterfield is 2nd in the PSAC with 32 blocks and leads IUP with a 56.8 FG% and 43.5 3FG%. 
>> He posted his first career double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds at Edinboro. 

MORRIS COMING INTO HIS OWN
>> R-So. G Dave Morris is averaging 13.1 PPG with 28 assists over the last six games. 
>> The Erie native posted a career-high 19 points in the win at Gannon and had outings of 17 points against Cal U and 16 points at Pitt-Johnstown. 
>> Morris leads the team with 77 assists, including a career-high 10 (with 1 turnover) against Bethany.