MATCHUP
(8/6) IUP Crimson Hawks at (-/-) Seton Hill Griffins
Saturday, February 22, 2020 | 3 p.m. | McKenna Center, Greensburg, Pa.
*Rankings reflect NABC/D2SIDA Top 25 Polls

PREVIEW INFORMATION
IUP (22-2, 17-2 PSAC) | Seton Hill (4-19, 3-16 PSAC) 

FOLLOW
Watch: Westmoreland Sports | Live Stats: Athletics.SetonHill.edu (StretchInternet)  | Listen: WQMU 92.5, U92 Sports App | Twitter Updates: @IUP_MBB

COMING UP
Wednesday, Feb. 26 at Clarion, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, Feb. 29 vs. Pitt-Johnstown, 7:30 p.m. (Senior Night)

THE GAME AT A GLANCE
No. 8 IUP men's basketball (22-2, 17-2 PSAC) looks to lock up the top of the division Saturday with a trip to Greensburg to face Seton Hill (4-19, 3-16 PSAC). Tipoff at the McKenna Center is 3 p.m. The Crimson Hawks locked up at least a share of the PSAC West title with an 86-67 home win over Edinboro Wednesday night. Seton Hill has dropped five straight, including an 82-69 decision to Cal U this week. 

TIPOFF NOTES
>> Sr. G Malik Miller made history in the win over Edinboro, posting his first career triple-double with 20 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists. It was the first triple-double by an IUP player since Yancey Taylor in 1995. 
>> Miller has put together an impressive run over the last month with eight 20-point games, including the four best scoring performances of his career, in addition to his triple-double. 
>> The win clinched at least a share of IUP's fifth straight PSAC West regular season title. The Hawks have won 10 divisional titles in the last 11 years under HC Joe Lombardi. 
>> Postseason seeding is still up for grabs in the PSAC West with three games left to play. Mercyhurst is currently second in the standings with a 14-5 league record. One more IUP win will clinch an outright division title. 
>> The Edinboro win was also the 16th 80-point game of the season for the Crimson Hawks, the most in 14 seasons under HC Joe Lombardi. IUP also has six games of 90+ points this year, a Lombardi-era high. 
>> The Crimson Hawks are one of eight teams in Division II with 2 or fewer losses this season. 
>> A victory Saturday would give the Crimson Hawks a regular season sweep of Seton Hill after a 92-65 home win on Jan. 29. Miller scored a career-high 32 points that night while R-So. G Armoni Foster had a double-double. 
>> Lombardi is 15-1 lifetime against Seton Hill, including 5-1 in Greensburg. The Hawks have won three straight on the road against Seton Hill, including an 85-72 victory a season ago.  
>> IUP is 8-2 on the road this season with an average scoring margin of 9.8 PPG. 

WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT THE GRIFFINS
>> Seton Hill is 4-19 overall and eighth in the PSAC West standings with a 3-16 league record. 
>> The Griffins are in the midst of a five-game losing streak, which included a 68-39 loss to Mercyhurst Feb. 5. 
>> SHU is 1-9 at the McKenna Center this season, that win coming against Clarion (60-49) on Jan. 6. 

IUP NO. 1 IN NCAA ATLANTIC REGION RANKINGS
>> The Crimson Hawks debuted at No. 1 in the Atlantic Region when the NCAA released its Division II regional rankings Wednesday.
>> It's the first of three in-season ranking releases before the Division II field of 64 is announced March 8. 

IUP IN THE RANKINGS
>> The Crimson Hawks moved up one spot to No. 8 in this week's NABC Top 25 coaches' poll.  
>> It marks the 13th 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 31st straight poll release that the Crimson Hawks have been in the top 25. 

OFFENSE COULD BE BEST IN LOMBARDI ERA
>> The Crimson Hawks are 2nd in the PSAC and 37th in Division II with an 83.5 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 14 games since the break, IUP has 10 80-point outings, including a run of six straight in January. 
>> IUP is 2nd in the league in FG% (.494), FT% (.762), and assists (15.8 APG), and 3rd 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 19th in Division II allowing just 66.6 PPG. 
>> IUP has held opponents under 70 points 15 times, including 13 times in 19 PSAC games. 
>> IUP is also among national leaders in defensive FG% (.405 - 8th), defensive 3FG% (.316 - 22nd), and blocks per game (4.3 - 25th).  
>> Fr. F Ethan Porterfield (41) and Sr. F Chucky Humphries (23) rank 2nd and 8th, respectively, in the PSAC in blocks. 
>> R-So. G Dave Morris (44) and Foster (42) are 5th and 7th, respectively, in the PSAC in steals. 

CLUTCH AT THE FOUL LINE
>> The Crimson Hawks are 2nd in the PSAC shooting 76.2 percent from the foul line. 
>> IUP has been hot of late, converting 80.7 percent (151-187) from the charity stripe over the last eight games. 
>> Five Hawks have made at least 12 free throws during that span with all of them converting at least 74 percent.
>> Foster is 60-70 (.857) in the last eight games. 

MILLER ON A HOT STREAK
>> Sr. G Malik Miller is coming an historical performance, putting together a triple-double in IUP's win over Edinboro. He finished with 20 points, 11 rebounds and a career-high 10 assists. 
>> Miller has also had four of the highest scoring games of his career over the last three weeks. 
>> He scored a career-high 32 vs. Seton Hill and had 30 points against Gannon, along with games of 28 points against SRU and 27 against Clarion.  
>> Miller has eight 20-point performances in the last 10 games, averaging 21.4 PPG during that span. 
>> Miller is currently 13th in IUP history with 1,417 career points. He's 93 points away from tying Joe DeLise for 12th place with 1,510 points. 
>> Miller is 6th in the PSAC with 18.6 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 leads IUP and ranks 6th in the PSAC with 18.8 PPG.
>> Foster has 12 20-point performances, including four in the last six games (20.8 PPG). He averaged 25.0 PPG last week in wins over Cal U and Gannon. 
>> He's one of the top shooting guards in the conference, ranking 7th overall with a 49.2 FG% (150-305).
>> Foster is averaging 8.8 trips to the foul line over the last eight games, with performances of 12-12 against UPJ and 14-16 against Gannon. 
>> He 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.

PORTERFIELD VALUABLE AS FRESHMAN STARTER
>> Fr. F Ethan Porterfield has 17 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 41 blocks and leads IUP with a 57.3 FG% and 42.2 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 11.5 PPG and 4.3 APG with a 54.3 FG% over the last 11 games. 
>> 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 96 assists, including a career-high 10 (with 1 turnover) against Bethany.