PSAC WEST

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Re: PSAC WEST

HUGE day in the PSAC. Four big games highlight a very strong day of match-ups.


West Chester at Millersville

-- The Rams have seemed to come to life after a slow start. Millersville is a very tough out and plays very well at home. West Chester is deeper overall, but Millersville's starting five compares well. This is a statement game for the Marauders, who are allegedly tired of hearing about an East Big 4. Hard pick here. West Chester, overall, has a little more off the bench. That's the edge. WCU -3

East Stroudsburg at Shippensburg

-- Both coming off somewhat surprising losses. East Stroudsburg ran in to a buzz saw at Saint Rose -- giving up 50+ in the first half (and 11 treys before intermission). Perhaps the three-point defense was a fluke in that one. It better have been. If not, Ship can make you pay dearly. The Red Raiders simply shot bad (as some say) against Shepherd. Their shooting percentages were awful. It happens. It won't, however, happen two straight games at home. This is a tough game to pick. Both will be fired up due to not only the rivalry factor but, just guessing, they both had a tough couple days of practice. Home team gets the edge. Red Raiders -2

Slippery Rock at Mercyhurst

-- Formerly a referees worst nightmare ... these two love to bang it out. Slippery Rock was looking much better until its last game (an OT win over lowly Seton Hill). Mercyhurst seems to be a good team, although they've lost against the two best teams they've played. The Lakers are, however, extremely good at home. SRU has been far too inconsistent -- especially on the road. The Lakers win this one -- perhaps big. Mercyhurst -8

UPJ at IUP

-- UPJ is certainly the surprise team of the season due to its youth. But, well, we've seen this movie before. Many times. UPJ is famous for finding kids nobody else recruits. They are one of the best-coached teams in the league -- perhaps the country. Few coaches get more out of less. Add to it junior guard Josh Wise. Watch him for 5 minutes and one player pops in to your mind: Brandon Norfleet. His weakness can be his temper. He's going to get a healthy dose of Malik Miller tonight -- which causes most tempers to flare. UPJ has defeated Virginia State and lost to Le Moyne in 3OT. They won't be intimidated tonight. IUP has to stay patient with the pick-and-rolls, backdoors, etc. UPJ has some legit size but it is young. IUP's upperclassmen post players have to take over. UPJ also isn't overly deep. Getting in to the bench early will be a huge benefit to IUP. Expect yet another tight game. The KCAC on a Saturday night is always a big stage for visitors. It's even bigger when the stakes are high. Will the lights be too bright for a young UPJ team used to playing in front of 100 fans? I don't think it will, but in the end IUP has a little too much. Crimson Hawks get Win 13. IUP -5



An intriguing game:

Cal at Gannon

-- Cal's offense is on fire -- albeit against some weak teams. Gannon can't score a lick but they can defend. Gannon is also deeper -- in particular with Reilly subbing 3 new guys in every 17 seconds for 40 minutes. Vegas says: Pick 'Em

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Re: PSAC WEST

If anybody follows the national polls, No.'s 4, 7, 12 and 25 (Ship) all lost last night.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Re: PSAC WEST

Fresh off the press, boys and girls:

EAST

East Stroudsburg (6-0, 9-3)
Shippensburg (5-1, 11-3)
West Chester (4-2, 7-5)
Millersville (3-2, 7-5)
Lock Haven (3-3, 4-5)
Kutztown (2-4, 8-6)
Bloomsburg (2-4, 4-6)
Mansfield (0-6, 1-10)

WEST

IUP (5-0, 12-0)
UPJ (4-1, 9-3)
Slippery Rock (4-1, 7-5)
Mercyhurst (3-2, 8-2)
California (2-3, 4-7)
Edinboro (1-4, 4-6)
Clarion (1-5, 3-7)
Gannon (1-5, 3-9)
Seton Hill (0-5, 2-9)


Big games up next (Saturday):

West Chester at Millersville
East Stroudsburg at Shippensburg
Slippery Rock at Mercyhurst
UPJ at IUP

[WarriorVoice]

Re: PSAC WEST

Kutztown 74 Bowie State 61

Slippery Rock 71 Seton Hill 67 (OT)

Shepherd 74 Shippensburg 67

Bloomsburg 77 Lock Haven 71

IUP 78 Gannon 57

Cal 90 Edinboro 66

Saint Rose 89 East Stroudsburg 72 ..... wow

UPJ 71 Clarion 70

St. Rose beat ESU last year. They are a good team in a tough conference of their own...

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Re: PSAC WEST

Cal dropped the hammer in McComb.

Just a guess but UPJ was already mentally at the KCAC.

SH taking SRU to OT .. didn't see that coming.

Huge win for Shepherd. They can play.

[IUPalum]

Re: PSAC WEST

Wide open this year!

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Re: PSAC WEST

Kutztown 74 Bowie State 61

Slippery Rock 71 Seton Hill 67 (OT)

Shepherd 74 Shippensburg 67

Bloomsburg 77 Lock Haven 71

IUP 78 Gannon 57

Cal 90 Edinboro 66

Saint Rose 89 East Stroudsburg 72 ..... wow

UPJ 71 Clarion 70

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Re: PSAC WEST

Take the seven points and IUP. Gannon is way to offensively challenged stay in this one.

I love how the PSAC has the Wednesday / Saturday game cadence. It give a nice rhythm to the otherwise cold & dreary January and February days.

Why are there three non-conference game in the East? I can see how we'd arrive at two non-conference games (one team has the bye, one team originally had Cheyney), but I can't see how three east teams wouldn't have a league game.

Strange stuff happens in rivalry games. See it all the time. I've seen way too many Gannon visits here as perceived heavy underdogs ... and the games are almost always tight.

I've been saying all year Gannon will eventually figure things out. Reilly is far too good of a coach. I just hope they do it Saturday.

I do think the IUP vs Gannon rivalry is a healthy, respectful one (mostly).

IUP vs SRU is always one moment away from a benches-clearing brawl. Of course that may change now with one key participant no longer involved.

[Golden89]

Re: PSAC WEST

Take the seven points and IUP. Gannon is way to offensively challenged stay in this one.

I love how the PSAC has the Wednesday / Saturday game cadence. It give a nice rhythm to the otherwise cold & dreary January and February days.

Why are there three non-conference game in the East? I can see how we'd arrive at two non-conference games (one team has the bye, one team originally had Cheyney), but I can't see how three east teams wouldn't have a league game.

[boatcapt]

Re: PSAC WEST

Big night on tap. It's opening night of divisional play -- with two big inter-regional games.


Clarion at UPJ: UPJ clobbers most in Johnstown. Tonight will be no different. Clarion is reeling. UPJ in a run-away (-28)

Kutztown at Bowie State: Two tough teams on any given night. Two average teams on any given night. It's a huge advantage to visit Bowie over break. Golden Bears in a close one (-4)

Seton Hill at Slippery Rock: Griffins coming off two smackdowns. A third comes tonight in Morrow. This will be a brutal night for SH under the basket. Men versus boys. SRU wins big (-18)

Shepherd at Shippensburg: What will become a big rivalry game next year gets a dress rehearsal tonight. The Rams are a deceiving 6-4 and are a legit team -- their biggest margin of defeat is just 8 points (including a 2-point loss at West Liberty). Shippensburg is very tough at home. Red Raiders get the win in what should be a tight, spirited game (Ship -5)

Lock Haven at Bloomsburg: The Bald Eagles aren't bad. LHU should get a nice road win (-12)

East Stroudsburg at Saint Rose: This should be a good trip to Albany for the Warriors. Saint Rose made some strides the past couple years but seem to be back in rebuilding mode. ESU wins big (-18)

California at Edinboro: Perhaps the toughest game of the night for the 'Pick 'Em' crowd. Our panel of experts is picking this game at a near 50/50 split. The great unknown is the health of Edinboro star guard Anthony Coleman. The Scots are a far different (better) team with him. They've (barely) stayed afloat in his 5-week absence -- going 2-4. California can score the ball. The Vulcans have averaged about 95 points in their past three outings since getting some injured players back. With Coleman's status unknown ... Vegas isn't putting any action on this one. "Pick 'Em" is the betting line.

Gannon at IUP: On paper, this would appear a mismatch. But, games aren't played on paper. It's a big rivalry game between two programs who know each other very well. IUP's one weakness may be it isn't an overly physical team. They'll get a whole lot of 'physical' tonight from the visiting Knights. Expect GU to do everything possible to slow this game down to a snail's pace. IUP must play its game and not get sucked in to the zone. IUP has won 5 of the past 6 in the series -- almost all close games. Tonight will be no different. Expect a very spirited effort from Gannon, but in the end the Hawks will have too much (IUP -7).

Other side of the Sheep coin is their average margin of victory in their 6 W's is 9 points and that includes a 17 point win over WVW. They are 6-2 at home and 0-2 on the road.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Re: PSAC WEST

Big night on tap. It's opening night of divisional play -- with two big inter-regional games.


Clarion at UPJ: UPJ clobbers most in Johnstown. Tonight will be no different. Clarion is reeling. UPJ in a run-away (-28)

Kutztown at Bowie State: Two tough teams on any given night. Two average teams on any given night. It's a huge advantage to visit Bowie over break. Golden Bears in a close one (-4)

Seton Hill at Slippery Rock: Griffins coming off two smackdowns. A third comes tonight in Morrow. This will be a brutal night for SH under the basket. Men versus boys. SRU wins big (-18)

Shepherd at Shippensburg: What will become a big rivalry game next year gets a dress rehearsal tonight. The Rams are a deceiving 6-4 and are a legit team -- their biggest margin of defeat is just 8 points (including a 2-point loss at West Liberty). Shippensburg is very tough at home. Red Raiders get the win in what should be a tight, spirited game (Ship -5)

Lock Haven at Bloomsburg: The Bald Eagles aren't bad. LHU should get a nice road win (-12)

East Stroudsburg at Saint Rose: This should be a good trip to Albany for the Warriors. Saint Rose made some strides the past couple years but seem to be back in rebuilding mode. ESU wins big (-18)

California at Edinboro: Perhaps the toughest game of the night for the 'Pick 'Em' crowd. Our panel of experts is picking this game at a near 50/50 split. The great unknown is the health of Edinboro star guard Anthony Coleman. The Scots are a far different (better) team with him. They've (barely) stayed afloat in his 5-week absence -- going 2-4. California can score the ball. The Vulcans have averaged about 95 points in their past three outings since getting some injured players back. With Coleman's status unknown ... Vegas isn't putting any action on this one. "Pick 'Em" is the betting line.

Gannon at IUP: On paper, this would appear a mismatch. But, games aren't played on paper. It's a big rivalry game between two programs who know each other very well. IUP's one weakness may be it isn't an overly physical team. They'll get a whole lot of 'physical' tonight from the visiting Knights. Expect GU to do everything possible to slow this game down to a snail's pace. IUP must play its game and not get sucked in to the zone. IUP has won 5 of the past 6 in the series -- almost all close games. Tonight will be no different. Expect a very spirited effort from Gannon, but in the end the Hawks will have too much (IUP -7).

[Golden89]

Re: PSAC WEST

The JR style can work but he can't miss on recruits. We've seen the years when he gets the right group together they are very difficult to play.

That team of his that got upset in the NCAA tournament by SRU was very good.

It's a challenge to find guys who want to play in an offense that scores 55 points per game and tries to hold opponents to 54 points.

Gannon will never be an easy game under JR. Even a team like this one at 3-8 ... you best be ready for a street fight. They aren't getting blown out in most of those 8 losses. I fully expect a fierce battle next Wednesday night in Indiana.

This is the best and worst parts of the Reilly era. If he gets the right combination of players, watch out ... They can be very good. (Like the 2015 PSAC champ team that was upset by SRU in the first round ...) But if he doesn't the bottom is endless (like 2016). Gannon fans aren't used to this volatility. But I agree that Reils isn't going anywhere and would be picked up quickly by anyone. His teams also are good representatives of the university off the court and in the classroom. The Phoenix situation is strange ... I think that there was plenty of time to find someone else. It's not like he quit in August.

Gannon is a very soft 3-8 if that's possible. The three teams GU's beaten are ranked 40, 41, and 43 (out of 43) in the Atlantic Region KPIs. I expect it to be ugly at IUP on January 2. Make this one of the lines in your Atlantic Region Pick-em!

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Re: PSAC WEST

Here is the most recent KPI for the PSAC teams (overall D2 rank out of 305 teams ... games against D3 opponents don't count):

You can see the criteria categories in the General Discussion forum.

1. IUP
10. Mercyhurst
41. Shippensburg
51. UPJ
72. East Stroudsburg
97. Kutztown
127. Slippery Rock
153. Millersville
166. West Chester
219. California
221. Lock Haven
241. Bloomsburg
243. Seton Hill
250. Edinboro
279. Gannon
294. Clarion
297. Mansfield

[IUPalum]

Re: PSAC WEST

https://gannonsports.com/coaches.aspx?rc=283

Look at the bottom of the webpage. He's had 4 losing seasons and two were the first two years he was there when he was rebuilding a mess. Reilly is one of the top coaches in this region bar none. If they want to get rid of him then there are many universities that would hire him instantly!

[PSAC76]

Re: PSAC WEST

You're absolutely wrong! Reilly's defensive style is not the reason attendance is way down. Attendance is way down across the board in all D2 basketball and football. The older population is dying off and this young generation doesn't give a rats A$$ about D2 sports. All this dang generation cares about is their electronics and social media. God for bid they leave that to go to a game!

Reilly's style has proven year in and year out that it wins! This is his second year since being at Gannon that he isn't winning. It doesn't help that he lost his center unexpectedly.

This would be his 5th losing season. I am not saying that he should be on the hot seat, I was asking because of the prior poster's comment that GU fans are not happy. That is the reason for my question