PSAC WEST

[IUPalum]

Re: PSAC WEST

Wow ... UPJ hung 17 on West Chester ... 102-85.

Mountain Cats are sizling.

Wow!!!

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Re: PSAC WEST

PSAC West Standings - 1/25/2018


IUP (11-2, 15-5) W4

Slippery Rock (10-4, 16-4) W2

Gannon (9-4, 13-6) L1

Edinboro (8-6, 11-7) L2

Pitt-Johnstown (8-6, 10-8) W4

Mercyhurst (6-7, 9-8) W2

California (5-9, 9-11) W1

Seton Hill (3-11, 6-13) L3

Clarion (0-14, 3-17) L9

[IUPalum]

Re: PSAC WEST

IUP has a nice two game cushion in the West but I'm looking at over all records and yikes!!! IUP and Gannon both played tough out of conference schedules, SRU and Edinboro did not. BUT now Gannon just lost to SRU... could get real interesting these next couple weeks.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Re: PSAC WEST

Correct. SRU played a high school non-conference schedule. Included were two D3 wins so they don't even count in the big picture.

Red hot UPJ's trip to Gannon this weekend has a whole different look to it now. That's a big game all the sudden. A game GU best win to stay in the race.

Edinboro is in a free fall. Granted ... very close losses .. but, losses nonetheless.

[Golden89]

Re: PSAC WEST

Correct. SRU played a high school non-conference schedule. Included were two D3 wins so they don't even count in the big picture.

Red hot UPJ's trip to Gannon this weekend has a whole different look to it now. That's a big game all the sudden. A game GU best win to stay in the race.

Edinboro is in a free fall. Granted ... very close losses .. but, losses nonetheless.

Gannon needs to go 7-3 over the final 10 at the worst. They're 0-1 with the SRU loss. GU needs a split of IUP, a split with SRU, and a split of the road contests at Edinboro and Mercyhurst. Gannon will be heavily favored at home against Cal and Clarion. This leave two tricky must-wins -- at Seton Hill (where the Knights blew a 17-point second half lead last year) and Saturday's home contest against UPJ. Hope UPJ got all their makes out of the way on Wednesday. At least the stats crew will have an easy day logging UPJ's minutes.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Re: PSAC WEST

That will be too many. If you assume another likely loss in the PSAC Tournament that would give Gannon 9 losses providing in your formula they only lose two more in the regular season.

They won't get in with 9 losses this year. The field is too tight.

Wheeling Jesuit and West Liberty are locks. Virginia State is a lock. That only leaves five spots. There's four East teams in serious contention. All will finish with less than 9 losses. IUP and Slippery Rock are in the mix along with Fairmont State.

This is also assuming there isn't a Cinderella in the conference tournaments (like Bowie last year) -- and then it's really tight.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Re: PSAC WEST

Saturday -- 1/27/2017

Men's -- PSAC West

Slippery Rock at California -- The first meeting was pretty close. Slippery Rock pulled away late in the game for an 11-point win in Morrow Field House. This has the making of a trap game for Kevin Reynolds' team. IUP comes calling Wednesday night. Cal really struggles to put 40 minutes together against strong teams. The Vulcans have to survive the first 20 minutes. Slippery Rock is much better than they were in early January. Reynolds' teams are historically much more difficult to beat the second time. If Cal can get a hot start, create some adversity ... that's their shot. Attack Micah Till. When he's in foul trouble, the Rock change is drastic. But, it's a long shot. The Rock is too big, too deep and just more talented. SRU -12

Seton Hill at Clarion -- Well, if Clarion is going to get a conference win ... this is the chance. Seton Hill is having a terrible season. Its roster is much better than a 6-13 mark. They will pull one upset this year. One night will come when all the shots fall. It's coming. Tomorrow, however, won't be an upset. Clarion's Cameron Grumbly is a nice player, but he just has no help. Opposing teams know as much. This won't be a pretty game. The Griffins should roll in this one, but Clarion is due to pull one out. Seton Hill -12

IUP at Mercyhurst -- The Crimson Hawks have won five straight in the series. Mercyhurst enters as a hot team. The Lakers hammered Cal and pulled a mild upset over Edinboro. Mercyhurst is never an easy out, and IUP has struggled some over the years in the MAC. Mercyhurst is 8-0 at home this season. IUP struggled for much of the first meeting before pulling out a 10-point win. Mercyhurst held IUP in the 60s (67) -- a rare feat in the Joe Lombardi era. Much like Slippery Rock, IUP can't find itself looking ahead. The Lakers pose a lot of problems and did a solid job frustrating IUP's shooters in the first meeting. The recent emergence of Willem Brandwijk has changed the complexion of the IUP attack which should help bust open the 'junk' zone a bit. Expect the typical IUP versus Mercyhurst game. It will be a slug-fest. The Lakers will hang around. Joe and Gary will pretend to speak. The referees will need Tylenol. In the end, IUP is just a better team with too many weapons. Bravado Joe has won 10 of his last 11. Crimson Hawks -6

Game of the Day

UPJ at Gannon -- Those who followed closely this season knew UPJ's record has a bit of a farce. The Mountain Cats were much better than what it was showing in the standings. The pain of the early, tight losses is paying off now. UPJ is on fire -- winners of four straight, including impressive wins against Mercyhurst, Slippery Rock and a shocking blowout of West Chester. Iron Man basketball or not, this is a dangerous team. Led by the PSAC's best point guard in senior Dale Clancy and the most unheralded low post player in the league (Isaac Vescovi), UPJ is capable of beating anybody in the PSAC. Vescovi exploded for 33 points against West Chester while Clancy finished with 19 points and 12 assists. Gannon ran in to a buzzsaw in its loss to Slippery Rock. The Golden Knights got beat up on the boards -- a rare event for a John Reilly team. The loss snapped a 9-game winning streak. It also kicked off a brutal stretch for Gannon. The Golden Knight faithful better fill up the 'Mill for this one. This is essentially a late January playoff game for Gannon. The Knights pulled out a 73-69 victory in Round 1 in Johnstown -- holding UPJ to just 5-20 from deep. That's not likely to happen twice. This has quietly become one of the more entertaining series in the PSAC over the past couple seasons. UPJ certainly won't be bringing the size of Slippery Rock but they bring a lot of intangibles. Ride the hot hand. UPJ -3 in a mild upset.


East (big one)

Kutztown at Shippensburg

[Guest]

Re: PSAC WEST

That will be too many. If you assume another likely loss in the PSAC Tournament that would give Gannon 9 losses providing in your formula they only lose two more in the regular season.

They won't get in with 9 losses this year. The field is too tight.

Wheeling Jesuit and West Liberty are locks. Virginia State is a lock. That only leaves five spots. There's four East teams in serious contention. All will finish with less than 9 losses. IUP and Slippery Rock are in the mix along with Fairmont State.

This is also assuming there isn't a Cinderella in the conference tournaments (like Bowie last year) -- and then it's really tight.

I agree that nine is way too many losses. I see only the psac west regular season winner getting an ncaa bid. Three at least from the psac east. At least two from the MEC and Virginia State from the CIAA. That gives you seven of eight bids. The eighth bid would heavily favor a fourth psac east or third mec team. Gannon probably needs to sweep IUP and win at home against slippery rock to have a chance at winning the psac west and receiving an at large bid.

[Golden89]

Re: PSAC WEST

I agree that nine is way too many losses. I see only the psac west regular season winner getting an ncaa bid. Three at least from the psac east. At least two from the MEC and Virginia State from the CIAA. That gives you seven of eight bids. The eighth bid would heavily favor a fourth psac east or third mec team. Gannon probably needs to sweep IUP and win at home against slippery rock to have a chance at winning the psac west and receiving an at large bid.

I think that Gannon can get in with eight total losses and no conference tourney upsets, given the tough early season schedule. This would require beating SRU at home, splitting with IUP, and sweeping road games in Erie County (and no other surprises). The loss to SRU made the road tougher, but not impossible. I really wish that the KPIs were published on this board like previous years.

[Golden89]

Re: PSAC WEST

http://www.psacsports.org/news/2018/...sac-hoops.aspx

Just saw that PCN is broadcasting a few PSAC doubleheaders starting tomorrow with Slippery Rock at Cal. The whole state gets to see Reynolds' antics! Followed by next week with Gannon at IUP!

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Re: PSAC WEST

But loss 9 would come in the PSAC Tournament (likely).

Eight total losses would give them a shot. Nine will be too many. IUP also played a monster non-conference as did Fairmont.

Gannon, my opinion, can only lose once more in the regular season.

[Golden89]

Re: PSAC WEST

But loss 9 would come in the PSAC Tournament (likely).

Eight total losses would give them a shot. Nine will be too many. IUP also played a monster non-conference as did Fairmont.

Gannon, my opinion, can only lose once more in the regular season.

Yes ... eight total losses included the PSAC tournament.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Re: PSAC WEST

I got you. I wasn't following there for a second.

[Golden89]

Re: PSAC WEST

The conference standings can be a tad skewed as the crossover games count despite the fact that teams play a different schedule of crossovers. It becomes a bigger deal when divisions are so imbalanced like the PSAC East, which drops off considerably after the top four NCAA contenders (KU, WC, Ship, ESU).

Of the top four teams in the West, Gannon played all of the top four, going 1-3. IUP, Edinboro, and Slippery Rock each played only two games against the top four. IUP and SRU lost both games; Boro went 1-1. I recognize that the conference standings won't be adjusted, but this fact should be a consideration come NCAA tournament selection time.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Re: PSAC WEST

It's the same in football. Somebody has to play a tough game like a Bloomsburg and somebody has to play Lock Haven.

I hate how big the conference is but that's a different topic.

In Gannon's case it certainly helps its strength of schedule.

That's the only positive that came out of IUP playing Findlay, Ferris State and Virginia State. I really believe IUP's win against Fairmont will be a major factor on Selection Sunday. The PSAC is deep this year with 7 potential tournament-caliber teams. Obviously 7 aren't going but the league is strong this year.

By the end of the Gannon at IUP game next Saturday night ... a lot should be more clear. Or, more messed up.

Starting today, this 3-game stretch for IUP -- at Mercy, at SRU and Gannon ... could very well tell the tale.

A slip up at the MAC today could likely spell doom. That's why the other night I said the playoffs came way early this year.