Iup basketball

[EyeoftheHawk]

The KCAC had WCU mentally fried tonight. It was a good crowd for break. Rams got a little chippy early which got the place pretty fired up.

That game was seconds away from a brawl several times (including the handshake line).

WCU fought to the end. Gotta give them that much. Joe played some wild lineups in the second half. It was over at halftime (40-17) so he was likely experimenting.

I liked Joe’s quote in the paper today about embracing the opportunity to be the #1 team in the country. I didn’t realize the highest ranking ever was #2, and that happened more than once. I admit I was a little nervous coming into these two games since both opponents are respectable and IUP’s lineup being a little unpredictable with injuries, illness, etc. Obviously it was nothing to worry about.

West Chester really tried to goon it up when they realized the were outmatched. That crap drives me crazy. Credit to IUP for being the more mature team. I suspect they’ll see this from other teams down the road. There’s no place for that nonsense and it starts with the head coach.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

The KCAC had WCU mentally fried tonight. It was a good crowd for break. Rams got a little chippy early which got the place pretty fired up.

That game was seconds away from a brawl several times (including the handshake line).

WCU fought to the end. Gotta give them that much. Joe played some wild lineups in the second half. It was over at halftime (40-17) so he was likely experimenting.

[IUPNation]

Walk-ons just got b*tch slapped in first half. Gonna play dirty that's what you get.

LOL

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Walk-ons just got b*tch slapped in first half. Gonna play dirty that's what you get.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Well, as usual, West Chester is a little hard to get a read on. They can have stretches of looking fantastic, and, well, other stretches of not looking fantastic.

Lot of size. This may be the biggest D2 team IUP will play all year. Their faster bigs start, and two giants come off the bench (in the 6'9" and 270+ lb range). The two big boys don't play a whole lot (single digit minutes). Their regular rotation appears to be 8 deep.

The Rams' best wins are against Virginia State and Lincoln (OT). They've lost to Wilmington (by 17), Mercyhurst (by 15) and UPJ (by 2). Now, they had the lead on Mercyhurst with 8 minutes left in the game but collapsed in the final minutes. Wilmington jumped them early and WCU never really got back in to it. Last night, UPJ hit the game-winner with seconds remaining. Oddly, they struggled mightily with an undermanned Gannon a couple weeks ago.

They shoot the ball - usually - pretty well and are +46 on the glass this season. Last night they shot very poorly (40% FG and 8-32 from deep). So, they could be hot tonight. Strange stat of the night: West Chester committed just (2) TOs last night and still lost.

They are averaging 80.9 ppg and giving up 76.4 ppg. Their lowest scoring output of the season, no surprise, came against Mercyhurst (66 points).

The glaring stat when you look them is simple. When the treys are falling -- and, they launch them all night -- they win. In their three losses, on average they shot about 27% from deep.

Joe has won the past four meetings in the series, however, WCU won three in row prior to this current stretch.

West Chester has lost three straight inside the KCAC.

It will be an entertaining night. Lombardi vs. Blair always is. It's just a shame this game will be played in a relatively empty building.

This isn't going to be an easy one.

Of note, the PSAC schedule is showing an 8 p.m. tip-off. However, the IUP site says 7:30 p.m.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Looking at the box score I see Tomiwa had 21 yesterday! That’s the quietest 21 I think I’ve ever seen. I mentioned earlier I thought he was a bit tentative on the defensive end seemingly to avoid foul trouble, but I didn’t realize he was in for 20+ on the other end. What a scorer he’s become, although I agree with IUPAlum’s assessment that he should stay inside the 3-point arc.

He also had 12 boards.

[EyeoftheHawk]

Looking at the box score I see Tomiwa had 21 yesterday! That’s the quietest 21 I think I’ve ever seen. I mentioned earlier I thought he was a bit tentative on the defensive end seemingly to avoid foul trouble, but I didn’t realize he was in for 20+ on the other end. What a scorer he’s become, although I agree with IUPAlum’s assessment that he should stay inside the 3-point arc.

[Chuck Norris]

They definitely didn’t shoot well. I have to imagine it’s hard to get into a rhythm with this sporadic pre-holiday schedule. West Chester is coming in off a tough narrow loss to UPJ. I think IUP will be fine, even if Ethan doesn’t play. I just don’t like how long Ethan has been off. It’s starting to feel like a delayed flight that keeps getting delayed a little longer and yet a little longer. You start to wonder if that bird is going to fly.

Yeah I’m no doctor and don’t pretend to know what’s going on with Ethan, but if he’s not ready to go after not playing since the 3rd, with another 10 days off coming up it feels like sitting him again tomorrow makes more sense. And if we get to December 30th and the questions are still there, then I agree, unfortunately you have to wonder just what he’ll be able to give them this year. I really hope that doesn’t end up being the case. All the best to him, he’s certainly proved his toughness throughout his career.

[IUPalum]

Thoughts:

1) Extra sloppy in all aspects.
2) Good to see Diop but he is a goof. I'm still scratching my head about his first two fouls. It's like he's never played D before.
3) KJ... I don't get it.
4) Brooks does some wow things but then all of a sudden he does things that make him look like the most uncoordinated human ever.
5) Tomiwa, stay inside the 3 point arc please.
6) Congrats to David but it's over. Grow on this season.

[EyeoftheHawk]

I'd say the Moe Williams mystery is solved. He had one heck of a contraption on his right leg. If we see him at all this year it would be very late.

Kutztown is a scrappy bunch. They'd be real handful with Williams.

Hopefully all the shots that wouldn't fall tonight will tomorrow. IUP was a dreadful 26.3% from deep and an equally dreadful 58.3% from the FT line.

Once they got that lead up to 19 I got the impression they thought Kutztown was going to pack it in and they took their foot off the gas. The Bears then went on a quick 10-0 run and Joe wasn't a real happy camper during the timeout he called.

I'd agree on Brooks. That alley-oop in the first half was D1 level stuff. Good Lord. He had 13 and 9 tonight. Each game ... it's coming. If he catches a few balls today he easily has 6 more points.

Diop had a rough debut -- probably as expected. But, he just gives them another big guy off the bench who can contribute. It's nice to have him back.

I was a little surprised Polce was at just 12 minutes but that was more of a game for Dallis, tempo-wise.

They definitely didn’t shoot well. I have to imagine it’s hard to get into a rhythm with this sporadic pre-holiday schedule. West Chester is coming in off a tough narrow loss to UPJ. I think IUP will be fine, even if Ethan doesn’t play. I just don’t like how long Ethan has been off. It’s starting to feel like a delayed flight that keeps getting delayed a little longer and yet a little longer. You start to wonder if that bird is going to fly.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

It’s a good win. It wasn’t pretty at times but there were a lot of positives. Brooks continues to get better and better. I wish he had better hands around the basket like Ethan does, but maybe that will develop over time. He’s becoming a scoring threat though and looks more confident. Diop obviously looked rusty. Why isn’t he just dunking when he’s all alone underneath? I thought Tomiwa played a little tentative but he was likely trying to protect his foul total with Ethan being out. That’s the smart move really.

To win fairly easily without Ethan is impressive. IUP just has such depth of talent most teams won’t be able to deal with it. Tonight was another example. The first 3-4 off the bench for IUP are significantly better than the first 3-4 off the bench of other teams. There are also plenty of guys to pick up the slack if a couple guys are having an off night.

I'd say the Moe Williams mystery is solved. He had one heck of a contraption on his right leg. If we see him at all this year it would be very late.

Kutztown is a scrappy bunch. They'd be real handful with Williams.

Hopefully all the shots that wouldn't fall tonight will tomorrow. IUP was a dreadful 26.3% from deep and an equally dreadful 58.3% from the FT line.

Once they got that lead up to 19 I got the impression they thought Kutztown was going to pack it in and they took their foot off the gas. The Bears then went on a quick 10-0 run and Joe wasn't a real happy camper during the timeout he called.

I'd agree on Brooks. That alley-oop in the first half was D1 level stuff. Good Lord. He had 13 and 9 tonight. Each game ... it's coming. If he catches a few balls today he easily has 6 more points.

Diop had a rough debut -- probably as expected. But, he just gives them another big guy off the bench who can contribute. It's nice to have him back.

I was a little surprised Polce was at just 12 minutes but that was more of a game for Dallis, tempo-wise.

[EyeoftheHawk]

It’s a good win. It wasn’t pretty at times but there were a lot of positives. Brooks continues to get better and better. I wish he had better hands around the basket like Ethan does, but maybe that will develop over time. He’s becoming a scoring threat though and looks more confident. Diop obviously looked rusty. Why isn’t he just dunking when he’s all alone underneath? I thought Tomiwa played a little tentative but he was likely trying to protect his foul total with Ethan being out. That’s the smart move really.

To win fairly easily without Ethan is impressive. IUP just has such depth of talent most teams won’t be able to deal with it. Tonight was another example. The first 3-4 off the bench for IUP are significantly better than the first 3-4 off the bench of other teams. There are also plenty of guys to pick up the slack if a couple guys are having an off night.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Hopefully Ethan returns tomorrow.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Not pretty

[IUPalum]

IUP looks very much out of sorts with no Ethan.