MATCHUP
(9/6) IUP Crimson Hawks at (-/-) Cal U Vulcans
Wednesday, February 12, 2020 | 7:30 p.m. | Convocation Center, California, Pa. 
*Rankings reflect NABC/D2SIDA Top 25 Polls

PREVIEW INFORMATION
IUP (19-2, 14-2 PSAC) | Cal U (15-7, 11-5 PSAC)

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

COMING UP
Saturday, Feb. 15 vs. Gannon, 7:30 p.m.
Wednesday, Feb. 19 vs. Edinboro, 7:30 p.m.

THE GAME AT A GLANCE
No. 9 IUP men's basketball (19-2, 14-2 PSAC) looks to start another long win streak in the home stretch of the regular season as they head to Cal U (15-7, 11-5 PSAC) Wednesday. Tipoff at the Convocation Center is 7:30 p.m. The Crimson Hawks rebounded from their second loss of the year with a 96-60 blowout home victory of Slippery Rock Saturday. The Vulcans are coming off a 103-94 loss at UPJ to to end a four-game win streak. 

TIPOFF NOTES
>> Sr. G Malik Miller scored 28 points while the IUP defense forced Slippery Rock into 26 turnovers Saturday. 
>> Fr. F Ethan Porterfield tied a season-high with 19 points and R-So. G Armoni Foster added 18 in the win.
>> The 96 points were the most in the series with SRU since IUP scored 99 points during the 2009-10 season. 
>> IUP also extended its home win streak over Slippery Rock to 31 straight games.
>> IUP improved to 12-2 following losses in the last four years. After the Crimson Hawks first loss of the year at Shippensburg, they responded with a 93-68 win over Lock Haven. 
>> IUP has six games of 90+ points this year, the most in 14 seasons under HC Joe Lombardi. 
>> Miller has three of the highest scoring outings of his career over IUP's last four games - 32 points vs. Seton Hill, 28 points vs. Slippery Rock and 27 points vs. Clarion. 
>> The Crimson Hawks are one of 10 teams in Division II with 2 or fewer losses this season. 
>> IUP is looking to sweep its regular season series with Cal U including an 86-69 win over the Vulcans Jan. 18. All five IUP starters scored in double-figures, with Miller posting a game-high 22 points. 
>> The Hawks have swept Cal U each of the past five seasons and nine times during the HC Joe Lombardi era.
>> Lombardi is 23-6 lifetime against Cal U, including an 11-game win streak dating back to the 2013-14 season.
>> IUP's last loss in California came in Feb. 2012, falling to the Vulcans 65-54. 
>> The Crimson Hawks are 7-2 on the road this season with a +9.9 scoring margin. 

WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT THE VULCANS 
>> Cal U is 15-7 overall and in 4th place in the PSAC West standings with an 11-5 league record.
>> The Vulcans are one of five divisional teams that have clinched a conference tournament berth.
>> The Vulcans are 8-1 at home this season, including five straight wins dating back to early January. Their only home loss came to UPJ (77-57) on Jan. 3. 
>> Cal U is coming off a 103-94 road loss to UPJ last Wednesday which ended a four-game win streak which included victories over Gannon and Mercyhurst. 

IUP IN THE RANKINGS
>> The Crimson Hawks stayed at No. 9 in this week's NABC Top 25 coaches' poll.  
>> It marks the 12th 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 30th 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 GOES FOR WIN NO. 20
>> A win Wednesday would mark the 12th straight 20-win seasons under HC Joe Lombardi. 
>> IUP combined for 14 20-win seasons in the previous 48 seasons (1957-2006). 
>> UPJ and Shippensburg will also try for their 20th win, but they've each played more games. 
>> The Crimson Hawks were the first team in the conference to clinch a PSAC tournament berth back on Jan. 29. 
>> IUP is one of 10 teams in Division II (as of Feb. 10) with just 2 losses this year. 

OFFENSE COULD BE BEST IN LOMBARDI ERA
>> The Crimson Hawks are 2nd in the PSAC and 39th in Division II with an 83.6 scoring average.
>> It's the best scoring mark in Lombardi's 14 seasons.
>> IUP has six 90-point games this season, the most by any Lombardi team. 
>> In 11 games since the break, IUP has eight 80-point outings, including a run of six straight in January. 
>> IUP is 2nd in the league in FG% (.494) and FT% (.763), and 3rd in assists (15.7 APG) and made 3s (9.0 PG).
>> R-So. G Armoni Foster and Sr. G Malik Miller are both averaging over 18 points per game. 

DEFENSE IS ROCK SOLID
>> IUP is 2nd in the PSAC and 12th in Division II allowing just 65.6 PPG. 
>> IUP has held opponents under 70 points 14 times, including 12 times in 16 PSAC games. 
>> IUP is also among national leaders in defensive FG% (.397 - 5th), defensive 3FG% (.312 - 16th), and blocks per game (4.2 - 25th).  
>> Fr. F Ethan Porterfield (36) and Sr. F Chucky Humphries (22) rank 2nd and 6th, respectively, in the PSAC in blocks. 
>> Foster is 5th in the league with 37 steals, R-So. G Dave Morris is 6th with 36. 

CLUTCH AT THE FOUL LINE
>> The Crimson Hawks are 2nd in the PSAC shooting 76.4 percent from the foul line. 
>> IUP has been hot of late, converting 83.9 percent (99-118) from the charity stripe over the last five games. 
>> The Hawks top three FT shooters during that span have been R-So. G Armoni Foster (.854), Sr. G Malik Miller (.852) and Fr. F Ethan Porterfield (.778) and 

MILLER ON A HOT STREAK
>> Sr. G Malik Miller has put together three of the highest scoring games of his career over the last two weeks, including a career-high 32 vs. Seton Hill (Jan. 29). 
>> He's coming off a 28-point performance against SRU (Feb. 8) and scored 27 against Clarion (Jan. 25). 
>> Miller has six 20-point performances in the last seven games, averaging 22.7 PPG during that span. 
>> Miller is currently 15th in IUP history with 1,362 career points. He's 4 points away from 14th place Randy Allen's 1,366 and 7 from 13th place Sam Scott's 1,369. 
>> Miller is 5th in the PSAC with 18.7 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 7th in the PSAC at 18.8 PPG.
>> Foster has 10 20-point outings and has scored in double-figures 18 times in 20 games. 
>> Foster is the top shooting guard in the conference, ranking 7th overall with a 50.0 FG% (126-252).
>> 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 14 starts this year, the most by an IUP freshman since Ashton Smith's 23 during the 2008-09 season. 
>> Porterfield has a season-high 19 points on two occasions, which are the most by an IUP freshman since Jacobo Diaz (20 points 2x) in 2015-16. 
>> Porterfield is 2nd in the PSAC with 36 blocks and leads IUP with a 58.4 FG% and 44.4 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 11.8 PPG, 4.8 APG and 4.0 RPG over the last eight outings. 
>> The Erie native posted a career-high 19 points in the win at Gannon and had games of 17 points against Cal U and 16 points at Pitt-Johnstown. 
>> Morris leads the team with 87 assists, including a career-high 10 (with 1 turnover) against Bethany.