MATCHUP
(7/6) IUP Crimson Hawks at (-/-) Clarion Golden Eagles
Wednesday, February 26, 2020 | 5:30 p.m. | Tippin Gymnasium, Clarion, Pa.
*Rankings reflect NABC/D2SIDA Top 25 Polls

PREVIEW INFORMATION
IUP (23-2, 18-2 PSAC) | Clarion (5-22, 4-16 PSAC)

FOLLOW
Watch: ClarionGoldenEagles.com (StretchInternet) | Live Stats: ClarionGoldenEagles.com (StretchInternet) | Listen: WQMU 92.5, U92 Sports App | Twitter Updates: @IUP_MBB

COMING UP
Saturday, Feb. 29 vs. Pitt-Johnstown, 7:30 p.m. (Senior Night)
Wednesday, March 4 vs. TBD (PSAC Quarterfinals), 7:30 p.m.

THE GAME AT A GLANCE
No. 7 IUP men's basketball (23-2, 18-2 PSAC) looks to extend its momentum into the final week of the regular season with a trip to Clarion (5-22, 4-16 PSAC) Wednesday night. Tipoff at the new Tippin Gymnasium is 7:30 p.m. The Crimson Hawks are coming off an embarrassingly dominant 89-38 victory at Seton Hill Saturday afternoon for their fifth straight win. Clarion has lost three straight, including a 79-54 defeat at the hands of Cal U Saturday.

TIPOFF NOTES
>> R-So. G Armoni Foster scored a game-high 23 points with 4 steals while Sr. G Malik Miller came off the bench to score 17 in just 21 minutes in the win at Seton Hill.
>> The win clinched an outright PSAC West regular season division title and the No. 1 divisional seed in next week's PSAC Championships. IUP will host a quarterfinal matchup next Wednesday at the KCAC. 
>> The Crimson Hawks have won five straight regular season division titles and 10 of the last 11. IUP is the only program to win five consecutive PSAC West crowns and it's accomplished that feat twice. 
>> This was the 17th 80-point game of the season for IUP, including the 10th in the last 12 games. 
>> IUP also has six games of 90+ points. Both are season-highs in the 14-year HC Joe Lombardi era. 
>> Miller was named PSAC West Athlete of the Week on Monday after averaging 18.5 PPG, 7.5 APG and 7.0 RPG last week, highlighted by a triple-double (20/11/10) against Edinboro. 
>> The Crimson Hawks are one of seven teams in Division II with 2 or fewer losses this season. 
>> IUP is looking for the ninth straight regular season sweep of Clarion after defeating the Golden Eagles 82-71 at the KCAC Jan. 25. Miller had a then-career-high 27 points in the victory. 
>> Lombardi is 23-4 lifetime against Clarion with 18 consecutive wins dating back to 2010-11. He and the Hawks have won nine straight in Clarion by an average of 16.4 PPG. 
>> IUP is 9-2 on the road this season with an average scoring margin of 13.5 PPG. 

WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT THE GOLDEN EAGLES
>> Clarion is 5-22 overall and last in the PSAC West standings with a 4-17 league record. 
>> Clarion has lost three in a row and eight of its last nine games dating back to the first meeting with IUP (Jan. 25).
>> The Golden Eagles are 3-10 at the new Tippin this season, its lone divisional win coming over Edinboro. 

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 more spot to No. 7 in this week's NABC Top 25 coaches' poll.  
>> It marks the 14th 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 32nd 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 36th in Division II with an 83.8 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 15 games since the break, IUP has 11 80-point outings, including a run of six straight in January. 
>> IUP is 2nd in the league in FG% (.498), FT% (.765), and assists (15.8 APG), and 5th made 3s (9.0 PG).
>> IUP is the only PSAC school with two players averaging over 18 points per game in R-So. G Armoni Foster (19.0) and Sr. G Malik Miller (18.6). 

DEFENSE IS ROCK SOLID
>> IUP is 10th in Division II allowing just 65.4 PPG. 
>> IUP has held opponents under 70 points 16 times, including 14 times in 20 PSAC games. 
>> IUP is also among national leaders in defensive FG% (.401 - 5th), defensive 3FG% (.308 - 10th), and blocks per game (4.3 - 22nd).  
>> Fr. F Ethan Porterfield (45) and Sr. F Chucky Humphries (24) rank 2nd and 7th, respectively, in the PSAC in blocks. 
>> R-So. G Dave Morris (49) and Foster (46) are 2nd and 6th, respectively, in the PSAC in steals. 

CLUTCH AT THE FOUL LINE
>> The Crimson Hawks are 2nd in the PSAC shooting 76.5 percent from the foul line. 
>> IUP has been hot of late, converting 81.1 percent (167-206) from the charity stripe over the last nine games. 
>> Five Hawks have made at least 12 free throws during that span with all of them converting at least 74 percent.
>> Foster is 67-78 (.859) in the last nine games. 

MILLER ON A HOT STREAK
>> Sr. G Malik Miller earned PSAC West Athlete of the Week on the strength of his triple-double (20/11/10) against Edinboro. 
>> He averaged 18.5 PPG, 7.5 APG and 7.0 RPG last week.
>> The triple-double was the first by an IUP player since Yancey Taylor in the 1995 regional finals. 
>> 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 12 20-point performances this year, with eight of those coming in the last 11 games. 
>> Miller is currently 13th in IUP history with 1,434 career points. He's 76 points away from tying Joe DeLise for 12th place with 1,510 points. 
>> Miller is 7th 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 19.0 PPG.
>> Foster has 13 20-point performances, including five in the last seven games (21.1 PPG). 
>> He's one of the top shooting guards in the conference, ranking 7th overall with a 49.1 FG% (157-320).
>> Foster is averaging 8.6 trips to the foul line over the last nine 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's 18 starts this year are 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. 
>> He's been heating up since mid-January, averaging 12.5 PPG and 5.5 RPG with a 59.8 FG% and 27 blocks in this last 11 games.
>> Porterfield is 2nd in the PSAC with 45 blocks and leads IUP with a 57.6 FG% and 40.9 3FG%. 
>> He posted his first career double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds at Edinboro. 

MORRIS ONE OF TOP POINT GUARDS IN PSAC
>> R-So. G Dave Morris is putting up numbers on both ends of the court, averaging 11.0 PPG with a 53.5 FG%, 54 assists and 32 steals in the last 12 games. 
>> He has nine double-figure scoring games and five outing of 7+ assists. 
>> The Erie native scored a career-high 19 points in the Jan. 11 win at Gannon. 
>> His 49 steals are tied for 2nd in the PSAC.