INDIANA, Pa. - The No. 3-ranked IUP men's basketball team (24-2, 18-2 PSAC) looks to extend its momentum into the final week of the regular season against Clarion (9-16, 5-15 PSAC) at home on Wednesday. Tipoff is 7:30 PM at the KCAC. The Crimson Hawks have won nine straight games and are coming off a 78-53 win over Seton Hill. The Golden Eagles have lost seven straight games, including a 79-65 home loss to Gannon on Monday. 

TIPOFF NOTES
>> IUP had a huge first half and Jr. G Armoni Foster scored 21 points in the Wednesday win over Seton Hill. 
>> The victory clinched IUP's 6th straight PSAC West regular season title. It also locked up the No. 1 seed and home court advantage in next week's PSAC tournament. IUP will host a quarterfinal game on Wednesday, March 2.
>> The Hawks have won 11 of the last 12 PSAC West regular season titles, also getting five straight from 2010-14.   
>> IUP will be making its 14th straight PSAC tournament appearance, the longest current streak in the league.
>> IUP has won 20 games for the 13th consecutive season under HC Joe Lombardi dating back to 2008-09.
>> A win would give the Hawks 25 on the season. It would be the 8th 25-win season under Lombardi since '09-10. 
>> IUP is one of seven Division II schools with 2 or fewer losses this season. 
>> The Hawks are seeking their 10th straight regular season sweep of Clarion, winning the season's first meeting, 81-47 at Clarion on Jan. 22. So. F Ethan Porterfield scored 30 points on 13-16 shooting. 
>> Lombardi is 26-4 lifetime against Clarion with 21 consecutive wins dating back to 2010-11. He and the Hawks have won 10 straight in Indiana by an average of 15.8 PPG. 
>> The Hawks are 72-6 (.922) in PSAC West games since the 2016-17 season. That record includes a 36-2 mark at home and 36-4 away. IUP is 13-1 against divisional teams this year. 
>> IUP has won 31 of its last 32 home games dating back to the start of 2019-20, including 14-1 this year. 
>> IUP is 27-3 in February and March over the last three full seasons, including 15-2 at home.

WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT THE GOLDEN EAGLES
>> Clarion is 9-17 overall and 8th in the PSAC West standings with a 5-16 league record.
>> The Golden Eagles are 3-9 since losing to IUP in January, including wins over Seton Hill and Slippery Rock.
>> Clarion is 1-10 in true road games this season.

IUP IN THE POLLS
>> The Hawks are No. 3 in the NABC Coaches' poll and No. 2 in the D2SIDA Media poll for the 2nd straight week.
>> These are the highest rankings in each poll for the Crimson Hawks this year. 
>> IUP has been inside the top-10 of the media poll each week this year, including a four-week stretch at No. 3. 
>> This is the 13th straight week the Hawks are ranked in the top-10 of both polls.
>> It's the 47th time in the last 49 polls the Hawks have been eligible for that they rank in the top-10, dating back to the 2019-20 preseason poll. 
>> IUP spent the entire 2018-19 season in the top-5 of the media poll and all of 2019-20 in the top-10.

HAWKS NO. 1 IN INITIAL REGIONAL RANKINGS
>> IUP is ranked No. 1 in the season's first NCAA Atlantic Region rankings released this week. 
>> These rankings determine the eight teams from Division II's eight regions to earn NCAA tournament berths.
>> IUP is looking to clinch its 11th NCAA tournament appearance since 2009. 

IUP ON SECOND 9-GAME WIN STREAK OF YEAR
>> The Hawks have won their last nine games since Jan. 26 by an average of 15.6 PPG. 
>> It's IUP's second 9-game win streak of the year, also going 9-0 to start the year. 
>> The Hawks have had 14 win streaks of 9+ games during HC Joe Lombardi's tenure.
>> In 2019-20 IUP had two 9-game win streaks and ended the year with 10 straight wins.
>> The longest win streak under Lombardi was 18 straight games during the 2016-17 season.

HAWKS OFFENSE PROVIDES FIREWORKS
>> IUP is 3rd in the PSAC and is 32nd in DII at 82.6 PPG. 
>> The Hawks have scored at least 81 points 15 times in 26 games this season.
>> They have scored 100+ points four times and have five more 90-point efforts. 
>> The 107 points against Pitt-Greensburg is a season-high. IUP also scored 106 against Le Moyone, 103 at West Chester, and 100 at Seton Hill. 
>> Five times this year at least five Crimson Hawks have scored in double-figures. 
>> Four of IUP's regular starters average double-figures.

KNOCKING DOWN THE "3"
>> IUP leads the PSAC with 9.5 made 3FGs per game.
>> IUP's 36.0 3FG% is 4th in the conference. 
>> The Hawks made a season-high 18 3-pointers in the 100-60 win at Seton Hill on Jan. 19.
>> They also have performances of 16 3FGs against Edinboro (Jan. 26) and 15 against Gannon (Jan. 31). 
>> IUP has 11 games of 10+ 3-pointers made and has made at least 5 in every game this year.
>> Eight players have made at least 10 3-pointers.
>> So. F Ethan Porterfield is 1st in DII with a 51.6 3FG% (65-126) and 3rd in the PSAC with 2.5 3s per game.

SHOOTING THEIR SHOT
>> IUP is 4th in the PSAC and ranks 51st in Division II with a 47.7 FG%. 
>> The Hawks have shot at least 50 pct. nine times in 26 games this year, going 9-0 in those games.
>> IUP had a season-high 67.8 FG% in the win over Virginia State, the 4th best percentage in program history.
>> The Hawks also had a 63.5 FG% in the win over Le Moyne. 
>> So. F Ethan Porterfield is 3rd in the PSAC and 35th in Division II with a 58.4 FG%.

PROVIDING THE ASSIST
>> IUP leads the PSAC and ranks 7th in Division II with 17.9 assists per game.
>> The Hawks have assisted on 60.5 pct. (466-770) of their made buckets this season.
>> IUP has double-figure assists in 25 of its 26 games.
>> The Hawks have nine outings with 20+ assists, including a season-high 28 in the win over Virginia State.
>> IUP assisted on 25 of its 28 made buckets against Gannon on Jan. 31. 
>> Seven Hawks have dished out 20+ assists with Jr. G Armoni Foster (175) and Jr. G Dave Morris (103) on top.

MAKING PLAYS ON "D"
>> IUP is 18th in Division II with 8.9 steals per game. 
>> The Hawks have 11 games of 10+ steals, including a season-high 16 against Concord and at West Chester.
>> Jr. G Dave Morris leads the PSAC and ranks 18th in Division II with 2.32 steals per game. 
>> Morris (58) is one of seven Hawks with more than 10 steals this season.
>> The Hawks' 4.4 blocks per game ranks 2nd in the PSAC and 27th in Division II. 
>> They tallied a season-high 11 blocks in the win over Edinboro on Jan. 26.
>> So. F Ethan Porterfield ranks 4th in the PSAC with 1.5 blocks per game, including 6 against Edinboro.
>> Jr. F Ousmane Diop has two games of 4 blocks this season (vs. Pitt-Greensburg, at Seton Hill).

BATTLE OF THE BOARDS
>> IUP is 2nd in the PSAC and ranks 13th in Division II with a +7.6 rebounding margin.
>> IUP has won the rebound battle in 19 of 26 games.
>> IUP has a PSAC-best +5.3 rebound margin in 20 conference games.
>> The Hawks posted a season-best 61 boards and +37 margin in the win over Pitt-Greensburg.

IUP SUCCESSFUL AT HOME
>> The Crimson Hawks have lost one home game since the start of the 2019-20 season, going 31-1. 
>> The lone loss came to Shippensburg on Dec. 19, ending IUP's 24-game home win streak. 
>> IUP's longest home win streak during the Lombardi Era is 30 straight victories, from 2008-11. 
>> IUP is 211-36 (.854) at home under Lombardi, including a 50-3 (.943) mark since the 2018-19 season.
>> IUP has two undefeated home seasons under Lombardi - 18-0 in 2009-10 and 16-0 in 2019-20. 

FOSTER GETTING IT DONE ALL OVER THE COURT
>> Jr. G Armoni Foster is averaging 20.6 PPG, 5.4 RPG and 6.7 APG, to go along with 43 steals and 17 blocks.
>> He's the only player in NCAA basketball averaging at least 20.0 / 5.0 / 6.7. 
>> He ranks 2nd in the PSAC and 26th in DII in points.
>> Foster is 2nd in the PSAC and 4th in DII in assists.
>> He's one of three Division II players with multiple triple-doubles this year.
>> Foster tallied his last triple-double with 25 points, 10 boards and 10 assists against Pitt-Greensburg (Dec. 31).
>> He also had 22 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds against Virginia State. 
>> Foster also has five double-doubles this year, his latest coming in the win at Seton Hill - 27 points, 12 assists.
>> Foster has 14 20-point performances, including three of 30+, this season, with a career-high 33 at West Chester.
>> Foster is currently 14th in IUP history with 1,438 points (Joe DeLise, 13th, 1,510).

FOSTER'S AWARDS
>> Foster was named to the Bevo Francis Award Watch List (top 50) on Feb. 15. The award recognizes the top players in NCAA Division II, III, the NAIA and JC.
>> Foster earned back-to-back PSAC West Athlete of the Week honors (Nov. 29, Dec. 6).
>> He was also named the PSAC West Defensive Athlete of the Week on Jan. 31.

PORTERFIELD IS MR. INSIDE AND MR. OUTSIDE
>> So. F Ethan Porterfield is averaging 17.2 PPG and 7.0 RPG, has 65 3-pointers and 39 blocks.
>> He's 10th in the PSAC in scoring and 13th in rebounds.
>> He's 4th in the PSAC with a 58.0 FG% (163-281).
>> Porterfield leads all NCAA players (DI, DII, DIII) with a 51.6 3FG% (65-126).
>> Porterfield's 1.5 blocks per game is 4th in the PSAC.
>> He has three double-doubles this year: Shepherd (16/14), Shippensburg (19/12), Edinboro (10/11). 
>> He posted a career-high 30 points on 13-16 FGs, 3-5 3FGs, and 1-1 FTs in the win at Clarion on Jan. 22.
>> Porterfield has nine games of 20-plus points.
>> He was named PSAC West Defensive Athlete of the Week on Dec. 20 (11.0 RPG, 5 blocks, 3 steals).
>> He's averaging 18.2 PPG during conference games, 8th most among PSAC players.

MORRIS IS A TWO-WAY POINT GUARD
>> Jr. G Dave Morris is averaging 11.7 PPG and is 2nd on the team with 103 assists.
>> His 4.1 APG ranks 9th in the PSAC. 
>> Morris had a career-high 12 assists in the win at Clarion on Jan. 22.
>> Morris leads the PSAC and ranks 18th in Division II with 2.32 steals per game. His 58 steals is 10th in DII.
>> He has 10 games of 3+ steals this year, tying a career-high with 6 against Concord and Lock Haven.
>> Morris has four 20-point performances over his last 14 games, including a career-high 23 points against Edinboro (Jan. 26).

DEMOGERONTAS RETURNS TO THE COURT
>> 5th yr. F Tommy Demogerontas returned against Seton Hill on Feb. 19 after missing 7 games. 
>> He's 4th on the team with 11.6 PPG and averages a team-best 7.3 RPG. 
>> He has 3 double-doubles and a 51.6 FG%.
>> Demogerontas had a career game with highs of 23 points and 15 rebounds at Bowie State.

JONES WILL NOT RETURN IN 2021-22
>> Sr. G Shawndale Jones will miss the remainder of the 2021-22 season after suffering an injury at West Chester on Dec. 4.
>> At the time of his injury, Jones led the PSAC and ranked 6th in Division II with 25.0 PPG. 
>> He had five 20-point games, including a career-high 37 points at Bowie State.
>> He's one of four IUP players this century to score at least 37 points in a game. 
>> He was also 9th in the PSAC with a 57.4 FG%, 4th with an 86.8 FT%, and 4th with 33 free throws made. 

SULAIMAN MAKING QUALITY STARTS
>> Fr. F Tomiwa Sulaiman has started 10 of the last 12 games for the injured Demogerontas.
>> He broke out with a season-high 26 points on 10-15 FGs and 6-6 FTs against Cal U (Feb. 9). 
>> He's averaging 10.7 PPG and 6.7 RPG with a 56.9 FG% (45-79), 12 blocks and 13 steals in 10 starts.
>> With Sulaiman in the lineup, IUP is 10-0 with a +20.7 scoring margin. Opponents are averaging 58.4 PPG and shooting just 37.6 pct. 
>> He has five multi-block games this season, including three 3-block games in his last 10 outings.

POLCE STEPPING INTO STARTING 5
>> Fr. G Kyle Polce took Jones' spot in the lineup and has 17 starts this season.
>> Since moving into the lineup against Millersville, he's averaging 4.2 PPG and 3.2 RPG with a 40.0 3FG%.
>> Polce has a 3.2-1 assist-turnover ratio this season.

DILLARD PACKS A PUNCH
>> Fr. G Dallis Dillard had his redshirt pulled when Jones was hurt. He's averaging 20.6 minutes in 19 games.
>> He scored a season-high 19 points on 7-7 FGs (5-5 3FGs) in 25 minutes at Seton Hill (Jan. 19). 
>> He's averaging 5.8 PPG with a 18-9 assist-turnover ratio in 14 PSAC West games.