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The morning after reality check:
* IUP has lost three straight and is now 16-11 - far and away the worst record any team at IUP has had in the past 17 years. IUP's streak of 20+ win seasons is almost certainly going to end. IUP has lost more games this year (already) than in the past several seasons combined.
Last night:
* Garvin finished with 25 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists. He was electric around the basket. That was the good part. The bad part was he took a whooping 30 shots -- and hit just 1 of 10 from outside. He also committed 6 turnovers. Cal has twice baited him to fire away from outside. In two games against the Vulcans, Clarke has gone 3-22 from deep. Danny's strategy has worked.
* In both games, Cal has sold out on not allowing Bryce or Ethan to shoot from outside. Last night, the duo attempted just 5 combined, hitting 3 of them.
* Overall, IUP's defense was pretty good. That Vulcans team can really put up some big numbers. In two games, IUP has held them to 65 and 75 points -- well below their season average. Last night was a game you REALLY miss having a 6'4" shutdown defender like Dallis Dillard. IUP just has nobody to cover KJ McClurg. He made some crazy shots.
* Jaylen Stewart started the game red hot, hitting his first two three-point attempts. He then went 0-7 from the field the rest of the game. He didn't play much in the second half.
* Petteno had a very strong game, going for 9 points and 8 rebounds in 25 minutes. He had a good look on a trey in IUP's final surge which could have tied the game but it didn't fall. He's better than most realize. I wish he had played much more this year.
* Damir Brooks scored 2 points, grabbed 5 rebounds and had 2 blocks in just 15 minutes. He did bobble/miss two great passes that should have been easy layups/dunks. Both resulted in costly turnovers.
* Bryce Radford was non-existent in the first half (on both ends). He did seem to catch a bit of a spark in the second half but he was a major defensive liability the whole game. Cal's guards are just too big and too fast for him.
* Sarp Furtun had a disatrous 3 minutes (two of those came in the first half when he committed two costly turnovers on back-to-back possessions and was beat defensively twice). Sarp has a future here, but he's not yet ready for that level of game. In fairness, if not for injuries he'd have never played this year and would have been redshirted.
* IUP got close several times, but couldn't get a key stop, make a big shot, etc., in crunch time. It was a strong effort. They just needed a couple more horses in the barn. Cal has vastly more depth and talent than they do this year.
All in all, losing down there by just 7 points was fairly impressive for this group. I thought they played hard (much harder than they did at SRU). Joe waited until the second to last game to tweak his rotation. Better late than never, I suppose.
As I said last night, this remaining roster just has too many weaknesses to win a big game. It's possible, but they'd have to play nearly perfect. Ethan still being sick isn't helping. They had to keep pulling him out last night. This is the first IUP team in forever that has several poor defensive players. Good teams see it right away and take advantage of it.
Could this team make any noise next week? I doubt it. But, if motivated, they should be a tough out.
Hopefully they can stop this skid on Saturday. It will not be easy, however. Clarion lost yet another close game last night to Mercyhurst, 54-50. IUP barely won at Clarion last month - and that was without Golden Eagles' star power forward Jayson Harris. He's back now. It's going to be a battle.
* IUP has lost three straight and is now 16-11 - far and away the worst record any team at IUP has had in the past 17 years. IUP's streak of 20+ win seasons is almost certainly going to end. IUP has lost more games this year (already) than in the past several seasons combined.
Last night:
* Garvin finished with 25 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists. He was electric around the basket. That was the good part. The bad part was he took a whooping 30 shots -- and hit just 1 of 10 from outside. He also committed 6 turnovers. Cal has twice baited him to fire away from outside. In two games against the Vulcans, Clarke has gone 3-22 from deep. Danny's strategy has worked.
* In both games, Cal has sold out on not allowing Bryce or Ethan to shoot from outside. Last night, the duo attempted just 5 combined, hitting 3 of them.
* Overall, IUP's defense was pretty good. That Vulcans team can really put up some big numbers. In two games, IUP has held them to 65 and 75 points -- well below their season average. Last night was a game you REALLY miss having a 6'4" shutdown defender like Dallis Dillard. IUP just has nobody to cover KJ McClurg. He made some crazy shots.
* Jaylen Stewart started the game red hot, hitting his first two three-point attempts. He then went 0-7 from the field the rest of the game. He didn't play much in the second half.
* Petteno had a very strong game, going for 9 points and 8 rebounds in 25 minutes. He had a good look on a trey in IUP's final surge which could have tied the game but it didn't fall. He's better than most realize. I wish he had played much more this year.
* Damir Brooks scored 2 points, grabbed 5 rebounds and had 2 blocks in just 15 minutes. He did bobble/miss two great passes that should have been easy layups/dunks. Both resulted in costly turnovers.
* Bryce Radford was non-existent in the first half (on both ends). He did seem to catch a bit of a spark in the second half but he was a major defensive liability the whole game. Cal's guards are just too big and too fast for him.
* Sarp Furtun had a disatrous 3 minutes (two of those came in the first half when he committed two costly turnovers on back-to-back possessions and was beat defensively twice). Sarp has a future here, but he's not yet ready for that level of game. In fairness, if not for injuries he'd have never played this year and would have been redshirted.
* IUP got close several times, but couldn't get a key stop, make a big shot, etc., in crunch time. It was a strong effort. They just needed a couple more horses in the barn. Cal has vastly more depth and talent than they do this year.
All in all, losing down there by just 7 points was fairly impressive for this group. I thought they played hard (much harder than they did at SRU). Joe waited until the second to last game to tweak his rotation. Better late than never, I suppose.
As I said last night, this remaining roster just has too many weaknesses to win a big game. It's possible, but they'd have to play nearly perfect. Ethan still being sick isn't helping. They had to keep pulling him out last night. This is the first IUP team in forever that has several poor defensive players. Good teams see it right away and take advantage of it.
Could this team make any noise next week? I doubt it. But, if motivated, they should be a tough out.
Hopefully they can stop this skid on Saturday. It will not be easy, however. Clarion lost yet another close game last night to Mercyhurst, 54-50. IUP barely won at Clarion last month - and that was without Golden Eagles' star power forward Jayson Harris. He's back now. It's going to be a battle.
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