Iup basketball

[IUPNation]

Trip to Gannon tonight. I remember when this was the game of the year in the West and a fierce rivalry.

Crowds in the 'Mill (or, 'Mark) have naturally stunk this year. I suspect IUP will have a large contingent in the building tonight with all its Erie-area players.

Gannon's lineup is hard to read. They've have a revolving door of players in and out, and played basically all of December and (thus far) January very short-handed.

This is a 'take care of business' game (and not get caught looking ahead).

...and some sort of payback for what LIT AF did to us.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Trip to Gannon tonight. I remember when this was the game of the year in the West and a fierce rivalry.

Crowds in the 'Mill (or, 'Mark) have naturally stunk this year. I suspect IUP will have a large contingent in the building tonight with all its Erie-area players.

Gannon's lineup is hard to read. They've have a revolving door of players in and out, and played basically all of December and (thus far) January very short-handed.

This is a 'take care of business' game (and not get caught looking ahead).

[IUPbigINDIANS]

I was in the KCAC for the first time in several years today, but I had a very excited 6 year old who had never been to a game before with me. So I can’t really provide in depth analysis, but I did think both teams look like they’ll be a handful come March. IUP putting up 80 points on Mercyhurst is quite impressive, even more so when you consider they missed a number of point blank bunnies. I’m sure the rematch in Erie will be a battle.

It was nice to finally get to see this core group in person. And my son absolutely loved being there so I imagine we’ll be back a couple more times at least.

DM next time. I'll get you whatever tickets you need. On the house.

[Chuck Norris]

I was in the KCAC for the first time in several years today, but I had a very excited 6 year old who had never been to a game before with me. So I can’t really provide in depth analysis, but I did think both teams look like they’ll be a handful come March. IUP putting up 80 points on Mercyhurst is quite impressive, even more so when you consider they missed a number of point blank bunnies. I’m sure the rematch in Erie will be a battle.

It was nice to finally get to see this core group in person. And my son absolutely loved being there so I imagine we’ll be back a couple more times at least.

[Ship69]

My official prediction:

If IUP plays team ball, the Hawks will win.

You can read between those lines.

IUP is the favorite in every PSAC game this season until someone proves otherwise.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

My official prediction:

If IUP plays team ball, the Hawks will win.

You can read between those lines.

[IUPalum]

The '18-'19 regular season loss was awful. Cobo blew the inbound coverage (out of a timeout) and then IUP left Porzinkas (sp) wide open in the corner when the entire building knew who was taking the last shot.

They split 4 games that year. Obviously Mercyhurst won the biggest of the four and then won the Region two days later. That was Gary's best team up there.

YMCA boy… only reason he was on that team was bc he was lights out shooting! Still pisses me off!

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Although I can’t imagine many of the same kids are still around, Hurst has shown an ability to win in Indiana. I was at both games in the 18-19 season when it happened. Even when IUP has gotten leads that other opponents would have succumbed to, Hurst has shown an ability to stay in the game and somehow be within striking distance until the bitter end. The regular season game in 18-19 was very much like that when it seemed like IUP had the game in hand only to inexplicably leave their 6th man sharpshooter wide open for a game winning three at the buzzer.

Per your earlier post, I think the bench gets shortened a bit today. I’m confident that IUP has the better overall material, but Hurst is showing up with a proven system and a group of kids that won’t be intimidated. It’s not often you get a chance to take down the #1 team in the country in its own building. We should get our moneys worth today.

The '18-'19 regular season loss was awful. Cobo blew the inbound coverage (out of a timeout) and then IUP left Porzinkas (sp) wide open in the corner when the entire building knew who was taking the last shot.

They split 4 games that year. Obviously Mercyhurst won the biggest of the four and then won the Region two days later. That was Gary's best team up there.

[EyeoftheHawk]

Last 11 meetings in the IUP vs Mercyhurst series:

YEAR	VENUE	SCORE	NOTES
21-22	MAC	70-67 IUP
21-22	KCAC	60-51 IUP
21-22	KCAC	58-55 IUP	ROUND 2 NCAAs
19-20	KCAC	71-56 IUP
19-20	MAC	68-62 MER
18-19	MAC	77-66 IUP
18-19	KCAC	64-63 MER
18-19	KCAC	56-49 IUP	PSAC FINAL
18-19	KCAC	75-65 MERC	ROUND 2 NCAAs
17-18	KCAC	67-57 IUP
17-18	MAC	67-55 IUP

In the past 11 games, IUP has:

* Gone 8-3 (including three straight wins)
* Averaged 65.09 ppg
* Given up 60.27 ppg
* Reached 77 points just once

Here's an even crazier stat from this series:

If you go all the way back to the 2010-11 season, these two have played 27 times. An '80' was put on the scoreboard just once -- in IUP's win in the MAC in 2016-17 (80-69). During this stretch, there have been numerous games where the winner scored in the mid-50s.

Does the matchup zone get easier as the season moves along? The numbers say the opposite. Last year, in order, IUP scored 70, 60 and then 58 against Mercyhurst.

The last meeting, of course, in Round 2 of the NCAAs, was one of the instant classics -- straight down to the controversial ending (Dallis Dillard drew a charge on a made bucket that was waived off). Ethan Porterfield was also pure ice at the line in the second half -- hitting 11 of 12 when IUP couldn't buy a bucket. IUP stormed out to a 13-1 lead and lead 30-22 at the half, but the Lakers came soaring back in the second.

Although I can’t imagine many of the same kids are still around, Hurst has shown an ability to win in Indiana. I was at both games in the 18-19 season when it happened. Even when IUP has gotten leads that other opponents would have succumbed to, Hurst has shown an ability to stay in the game and somehow be within striking distance until the bitter end. The regular season game in 18-19 was very much like that when it seemed like IUP had the game in hand only to inexplicably leave their 6th man sharpshooter wide open for a game winning three at the buzzer.

Per your earlier post, I think the bench gets shortened a bit today. I’m confident that IUP has the better overall material, but Hurst is showing up with a proven system and a group of kids that won’t be intimidated. It’s not often you get a chance to take down the #1 team in the country in its own building. We should get our moneys worth today.

[Ship69]

Those are legit thoughts, Chuck. I've talked to a couple people who also follow the program and their theory also was he's trying to go all in for this year. It wasn't an eligibility issue. He's a very good student from what I've heard. You can tell watching Stewart that he's still in the 'thinking' rather than 'playing' mode ... but that will slowly wear off. It would have been great to activate him prior to PSU-Altoona. He then could have played 30 minutes.

As for winning it all this year ... I'm not sold yet. This team has some flaws. Well, maybe not flaws, but things that make me a little nervous. For instance, I think they need to spread the scoring around more. Polce and Dillard are legit players. They need a bigger leash / role. Tomiwa had 19 and 11 last night and they don't run a single play for him. That was 19 points the hard way. The overall 3-point shooting is alarming, but this could be a prolonged funk of sorts. I don't think they are getting Ethan enough outside shots -- something that was key a year ago. He's only taken 33 attempts. Conversely, Shawndale has put up 48 but is hitting just 27%. Knit picking, perhaps, but some of these things will be more visible against better opponents.

I'm trying not to think about Ethan and Tomiwa yet. I don't 'think' either is going to leave. If they both say, yes, business as usual next year. If they leave, along with Morris and Shawndale graduating, yes, massive rebuild. Thankfully we have a couple months until that comes up.

Big test awaits. One of the Mercyhurst players mentioned last night that IUP got them last year (IUP won all 3 meetings) and they are eager to redeem themselves. This is a really big game. Obviously it won't define either teams' season but the winner gets a real nice boost. Gotta win the big ones at home. And, as always, you have to start strong against Mercyhurst. They are extremely difficult to come back against.

At least you guys can hope for a somewhat intact roster next year. Ship has a guaranteed massive rebuild. It probably will be Fite's most pivotal recruiting season since his first two years at the helm.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Last 11 meetings in the IUP vs Mercyhurst series:

YEAR	VENUE	SCORE	NOTES
21-22	MAC	70-67 IUP
21-22	KCAC	60-51 IUP
21-22	KCAC	58-55 IUP	ROUND 2 NCAAs
19-20	KCAC	71-56 IUP
19-20	MAC	68-62 MER
18-19	MAC	77-66 IUP
18-19	KCAC	64-63 MER
18-19	KCAC	56-49 IUP	PSAC FINAL
18-19	KCAC	75-65 MERC	ROUND 2 NCAAs
17-18	KCAC	67-57 IUP
17-18	MAC	67-55 IUP

In the past 11 games, IUP has:

* Gone 8-3 (including three straight wins)
* Averaged 65.09 ppg
* Given up 60.27 ppg
* Reached 77 points just once

Here's an even crazier stat from this series:

If you go all the way back to the 2010-11 season, these two have played 27 times. An '80' was put on the scoreboard just once -- in IUP's win in the MAC in 2016-17 (80-69). During this stretch, there have been numerous games where the winner scored in the mid-50s.

Does the matchup zone get easier as the season moves along? The numbers say the opposite. Last year, in order, IUP scored 70, 60 and then 58 against Mercyhurst.

The last meeting, of course, in Round 2 of the NCAAs, was one of the instant classics -- straight down to the controversial ending (Dallis Dillard drew a charge on a made bucket that was waived off). Ethan Porterfield was also pure ice at the line in the second half -- hitting 11 of 12 when IUP couldn't buy a bucket. IUP stormed out to a 13-1 lead and lead 30-22 at the half, but the Lakers came soaring back in the second.

[Chuck Norris]

Those are legit thoughts, Chuck. I've talked to a couple people who also follow the program and their theory also was he's trying to go all in for this year. It wasn't an eligibility issue. He's a very good student from what I've heard. You can tell watching Stewart that he's still in the 'thinking' rather than 'playing' mode ... but that will slowly wear off. It would have been great to activate him prior to PSU-Altoona. He then could have played 30 minutes.

As for winning it all this year ... I'm not sold yet. This team has some flaws. Well, maybe not flaws, but things that make me a little nervous. For instance, I think they need to spread the scoring around more. Polce and Dillard are legit players. They need a bigger leash / role. Tomiwa had 19 and 11 last night and they don't run a single play for him. That was 19 points the hard way. The overall 3-point shooting is alarming, but this could be a prolonged funk of sorts. I don't think they are getting Ethan enough outside shots -- something that was key a year ago. He's only taken 33 attempts. Conversely, Shawndale has put up 48 but is hitting just 27%. Knit picking, perhaps, but some of these things will be more visible against better opponents.

I'm trying not to think about Ethan and Tomiwa yet. I don't 'think' either is going to leave. If they both say, yes, business as usual next year. If they leave, along with Morris and Shawndale graduating, yes, massive rebuild. Thankfully we have a couple months until that comes up.

Big test awaits. One of the Mercyhurst players mentioned last night that IUP got them last year (IUP won all 3 meetings) and they are eager to redeem themselves. This is a really big game. Obviously it won't define either teams' season but the winner gets a real nice boost. Gotta win the big ones at home. And, as always, you have to start strong against Mercyhurst. They are extremely difficult to come back against.

Good info, thanks. I didn’t mean to necessarily imply poor grades with Stewart. I know sometimes with transfers there’s other red tape that needs worked out.

[EyeoftheHawk]

Apologies if this was already addressed, but is it possible Stewart wasn’t eligible for the fall semester for any reason? If not and Joe did just suddenly change his mind, could he be looking at this as a legit chance to win it all, perhaps his last best one at his age and he wanted to leave no stone unturned in putting out the best possible team to get that done? And Stewart having more collegiate experience than Bethea gives him the edge?

It was brought up briefly at the end of last year the possibility that Ethan and Tomiwa could look to finish their careers at D1 after this year. That would mean a pretty heavy reload job in store next year for Joe. While I don’t think IUP would ever fall too far under his leadership, it may still take some time to have a team this capable of winning the whole thing. And Joe’s in his 60s now. I don’t know, just a few thoughts I had.

When we’re not getting answers to questions we have, it’s easy to overthink things and even create scenarios that aren’t there. I’ve run a few of them through my mind as well. Stewart coming on may be as simple as Joe not being satisfied with Bethea’s development. When I look at Bethea and Brooks, I would say Brooks is quite a bit further ahead in his development and can contribute. We aren’t at practice but it may have just become clear that Stewart is the better and more experienced choice in a year when winning it all is possible.

As for Dilliard and Diop sitting out the other night, maybe they were serving some type of one game suspension for doing something stupid. It could have been something that was minor in the grand scheme of things but major enough that Joe wanted to send a message.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Apologies if this was already addressed, but is it possible Stewart wasn’t eligible for the fall semester for any reason? If not and Joe did just suddenly change his mind, could he be looking at this as a legit chance to win it all, perhaps his last best one at his age and he wanted to leave no stone unturned in putting out the best possible team to get that done? And Stewart having more collegiate experience than Bethea gives him the edge?

It was brought up briefly at the end of last year the possibility that Ethan and Tomiwa could look to finish their careers at D1 after this year. That would mean a pretty heavy reload job in store next year for Joe. While I don’t think IUP would ever fall too far under his leadership, it may still take some time to have a team this capable of winning the whole thing. And Joe’s in his 60s now. I don’t know, just a few thoughts I had.

Those are legit thoughts, Chuck. I've talked to a couple people who also follow the program and their theory also was he's trying to go all in for this year. It wasn't an eligibility issue. He's a very good student from what I've heard. You can tell watching Stewart that he's still in the 'thinking' rather than 'playing' mode ... but that will slowly wear off. It would have been great to activate him prior to PSU-Altoona. He then could have played 30 minutes.

As for winning it all this year ... I'm not sold yet. This team has some flaws. Well, maybe not flaws, but things that make me a little nervous. For instance, I think they need to spread the scoring around more. Polce and Dillard are legit players. They need a bigger leash / role. Tomiwa had 19 and 11 last night and they don't run a single play for him. That was 19 points the hard way. The overall 3-point shooting is alarming, but this could be a prolonged funk of sorts. I don't think they are getting Ethan enough outside shots -- something that was key a year ago. He's only taken 33 attempts. Conversely, Shawndale has put up 48 but is hitting just 27%. Knit picking, perhaps, but some of these things will be more visible against better opponents.

I'm trying not to think about Ethan and Tomiwa yet. I don't 'think' either is going to leave. If they both say, yes, business as usual next year. If they leave, along with Morris and Shawndale graduating, yes, massive rebuild. Thankfully we have a couple months until that comes up.

Big test awaits. One of the Mercyhurst players mentioned last night that IUP got them last year (IUP won all 3 meetings) and they are eager to redeem themselves. This is a really big game. Obviously it won't define either teams' season but the winner gets a real nice boost. Gotta win the big ones at home. And, as always, you have to start strong against Mercyhurst. They are extremely difficult to come back against.

[Chuck Norris]

Stewart nailed 4 treys in one game against IUP last year so he can definitely shoot. However, it appears he has a red light.

These whacky lineups aren't going to work Saturday.

I kind of suspect he plays 7-8 guys Saturday and that's it.

Apologies if this was already addressed, but is it possible Stewart wasn’t eligible for the fall semester for any reason? If not and Joe did just suddenly change his mind, could he be looking at this as a legit chance to win it all, perhaps his last best one at his age and he wanted to leave no stone unturned in putting out the best possible team to get that done? And Stewart having more collegiate experience than Bethea gives him the edge?

It was brought up briefly at the end of last year the possibility that Ethan and Tomiwa could look to finish their careers at D1 after this year. That would mean a pretty heavy reload job in store next year for Joe. While I don’t think IUP would ever fall too far under his leadership, it may still take some time to have a team this capable of winning the whole thing. And Joe’s in his 60s now. I don’t know, just a few thoughts I had.