PSAC WEST

[IUPbigINDIANS]

You may want to tune in on Wednesday night. BRENT PEGRAM has been edging toward possible confrontations in the last several games especially when taking it to the hoop. He doesn't start things but also won't back down. He takes his cues straight from DS who has been known to put it out there. Looking forward to a tough, tight game.

Pegram walks a pretty fine line with it. He got T'd up in the Clarion game for such antics. Being honest, he was part of Cal's second half collapse at the KCAC. He let the crowd really get to him. He was focused more on Rows 1-2 in the last 20 minutes than he was on the game. That was a huge crowd that night and it went after him and Danny pretty hard. In all my years at the KCAC the only opposing player the crowd couldn't rattle was Dustin Sleva. Believe me, they tried. He'd hit a three and turn around and say F U to Row 1. Junior and Senior year Sleva, anyway. Josh Wise gets roasted every time he comes here and completely thrown off his game.

Pegram is a big-time talker -- which is fine. But when the crowd talked back to him he got pretty out of sorts. That and David Morris wasn't taking any of his crap. I could certainly see him and Josh Wise being an issue, although I doubt they guard one another. Pegram will likely get matched up with Mulbah (who has a much calmer demeanor). UPJ coach Rukavina does't take much crap from his players so I'm sure he had a real long talk with Wise on the way home from Erie.

If I was a Cal fan my fear with Pegram would be that the night is coming when he will get T'd up for some abusive language that some ref will deem as taunting. It's coming. You just have to hope it doesn't come at a terrible time.

Danny is a great coach. He is certainly the new Kevin Reynolds of the PSAC sideline. It's been fun watching him and Lombardi go head-to-head ... those poor officials. Danny and Joe are the best in the league at working officials. Manchel isn't far behind.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

The Stretch Run has arrived in the West. While the six teams going to the PSAC Tournament are pretty apparent, the seeding is far from settled. A glance at those six teams and what each has remaining:

IUP (13-2, 18-2) - After a winter of wins and bad news, the Hawks finally get some good news. Four challenging games remain -- but three of them will be played inside the KCAC. Slippery Rock, Gannon and UPJ all visit Indiana. The lone remaining difficult game is at California. More important than the schedule, some help is on the way. Chucky Humphries is set to return this week after missing the past 3 weeks. To say he's been missed would be an understatement.

Pitt-Johnstown (11-4, 15-5) - If UPJ is going to make a run, it is largely going to be done on the road. Three of the Mountain Cats' biggest remaining games are all away from home -- in tough venues. UPJ has to travel to Slippery Rock, Mercyhurst and IUP. They also have a huge game tomorrow against California in Johnstown.

California (11-4, 15-6) - The Vulcans start a brutal two-game stretch tomorrow in Johnstown. IUP visits next week. Three easy games follow and then Cal ends its season with the two Erie schools -- Gannon visits the Angelo Dome after a trip to Mercyhurst. A win at UPJ tomorrow should go a long way toward a potential first round bye.

Mercyhurst (10-5, 12-7) - The bad news for the league is it seems the Lakers are waking up and starting to click. The good news for the Region is they can't lose many more games to stay in the NCAA race. Mercyhurst should clobber Seton Hill and Clarion prior to next Wednesday's showdown in the Hammermill. After that, UPJ and California both visit the MAC prior to a (regular) season-ending date at SRU. The Lakers just gained a whole lot of confidence, too.

Gannon (9-6, 10-9) - The Knights go on the road this week for what should be two easy wins at Edinboro and Seton Hill. Once this week is complete, a daunting stretch run awaits -- Mercyhurst, at IUP, Clarion, Slippery Rock, at California. The Golden Knights are a hot team -- winners of three straight (ESU, @SRU, UPJ).

Slippery Rock (6-9, 10-11) - SRU has a three-game lead over the teams behind it in the West standings. So, unless an epic collapse happens, the Rock is making the conference tournament. Don't count them out. They've shown they can be a good team on some nights. Most wouldn't be in a hurry to play Micah Till in a one-and-done scenario, either. After Clarion visits tomorrow, SRU travels to IUP and then hosts UPJ. A trip to Gannon comes on Feb. 22 and Mercyhurst visits Morrow in the finale.


Trap Game: Clarion
- Since Jan. 11, the Golden Eagles -- very stealthy -- have been playing pretty tough basketball. Proof? Clarion lost to UPJ by 3 points. Gannon by 8. They won at Edinboro and beat Bloomsburg in Tippin. They played IUP in to the final 7 minutes and lost at Cal by single digits. The Golden Eagles got healthy over the holiday break and added, well, a real big guy. Don't be shocked to see Clarion pull a big upset down the stretch run. They are big, athletic and occasionally shoot well. If anybody overlooks them, ... they may pay the price.

[CALUPA69]

Pegram walks a pretty fine line with it. He got T'd up in the Clarion game for such antics. Being honest, he was part of Cal's second half collapse at the KCAC. He let the crowd really get to him. He was focused more on Rows 1-2 in the last 20 minutes than he was on the game. That was a huge crowd that night and it went after him and Danny pretty hard. In all my years at the KCAC the only opposing player the crowd couldn't rattle was Dustin Sleva. Believe me, they tried. He'd hit a three and turn around and say F U to Row 1. Junior and Senior year Sleva, anyway. Josh Wise gets roasted every time he comes here and completely thrown off his game.

Pegram is a big-time talker -- which is fine. But when the crowd talked back to him he got pretty out of sorts. That and David Morris wasn't taking any of his crap. I could certainly see him and Josh Wise being an issue, although I doubt they guard one another. Pegram will likely get matched up with Mulbah (who has a much calmer demeanor). UPJ coach Rukavina does't take much crap from his players so I'm sure he had a real long talk with Wise on the way home from Erie.

If I was a Cal fan my fear with Pegram would be that the night is coming when he will get T'd up for some abusive language that some ref will deem as taunting. It's coming. You just have to hope it doesn't come at a terrible time.

Danny is a great coach. He is certainly the new Kevin Reynolds of the PSAC sideline. It's been fun watching him and Lombardi go head-to-head ... those poor officials. Danny and Joe are the best in the league at working officials. Manchel isn't far behind.

I don't personally like yakkers but it's always been a part of the game. That aspect always has the downside of getting a team in trouble at the worst possible time. This wasn't really an issue recently as the VULCANS had ZERO to talk about. After the buzzer beater at SRU, IUP excepted, CAL U has been playing with confidence bordering on cockiness and they've won 8-9. This week will be another major test of how far they have come. Must at least split these games to maintain that upward curve. Though UPJ is the more likely W, I would really love a competitive game versus the C'HAWKS who I feel certain will have a large contingent on hand at ANGELO DOME.

[ironmaniup]

I don't personally like yakkers but it's always been a part of the game. That aspect always has the downside of getting a team in trouble at the worst possible time. This wasn't really an issue recently as the VULCANS had ZERO to talk about. After the buzzer beater at SRU, IUP excepted, CAL U has been playing with confidence bordering on cockiness and they've won 8-9. This week will be another major test of how far they have come. Must at least split these games to maintain that upward curve. Though UPJ is the more likely W, I would really love a competitive game versus the C'HAWKS who I feel certain will have a large contingent on hand at ANGELO DOME.

Cal has been having their top 3 players get many minuttes, will it wear them down by the end of the season though ?


HOUSE, Luke (Cal U)21 796 37.9
2Jaryn Simpson (Edinboro)16 581 36.3
3PEGRAM, Brent (Cal U)21 755 36.0
4Sullivan,James (Millersville)21745 35.5
5Davis,Nathan (Seton Hill)18635 35.3
6COLLINS, Zyan (Cal U)21739 35.2
7COTTRILL, Elijah (Clarion)21736 35.0
8Biss,Jake (Shippensburg)21728 34.7
9KELLY, Christian (Lock Haven)1965234.3
10Thomas Lang (Shepherd)2171233.9
11FOSTER, Armoni (IUP)2067633.8
12MAURAS,Ky (Bloomsburg)1964233.8
13CERRUTI, Matt (Lock Haven)1964233.8
14Hendricks,Mekhi (Millersville)2170233.4
15MILLER, Malik (IUP)2066633.3
16Heath,Robbie (West Chester)2066133.1
17Jackson,Malik (West Chester)1962432.8
18Butler,Wesley (Kutztown)2065232.6
19Williams,Khari (Millersville)2168332.5
20Jarrell Jones (Shepherd)2167332.0
21ROBINSON Jr., Will (Slippery Rock)2167132.0
22Jon Preston (Shepherd)2167031.9
23ANDERSON,Justin (Bloomsburg)2166631.7
24Moon,Jimmy (Seton Hill)1444131.5
25BRANCH, Kaison (Clarion)2166031.4

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Cal has been having their top 3 players get many minuttes, will it wear them down by the end of the season though ?


HOUSE, Luke (Cal U)21 796 37.9
2Jaryn Simpson (Edinboro)16 581 36.3
3PEGRAM, Brent (Cal U)21 755 36.0
4Sullivan,James (Millersville)21745 35.5
5Davis,Nathan (Seton Hill)18635 35.3
6COLLINS, Zyan (Cal U)21739 35.2
7COTTRILL, Elijah (Clarion)21736 35.0
8Biss,Jake (Shippensburg)21728 34.7
9KELLY, Christian (Lock Haven)1965234.3
10Thomas Lang (Shepherd)2171233.9
11FOSTER, Armoni (IUP)2067633.8
12MAURAS,Ky (Bloomsburg)1964233.8
13CERRUTI, Matt (Lock Haven)1964233.8
14Hendricks,Mekhi (Millersville)2170233.4
15MILLER, Malik (IUP)2066633.3
16Heath,Robbie (West Chester)2066133.1
17Jackson,Malik (West Chester)1962432.8
18Butler,Wesley (Kutztown)2065232.6
19Williams,Khari (Millersville)2168332.5
20Jarrell Jones (Shepherd)2167332.0
21ROBINSON Jr., Will (Slippery Rock)2167132.0
22Jon Preston (Shepherd)2167031.9
23ANDERSON,Justin (Bloomsburg)2166631.7
24Moon,Jimmy (Seton Hill)1444131.5
25BRANCH, Kaison (Clarion)2166031.4

Sounds like a yearly problem / tradition at another school I know ... lol.

[ironmaniup]

Sounds like a yearly problem / tradition at another school I know ... lol.

I was surprised Armoni and Malik were only 11th and 15th in the conference in terms of minutes. I suppose the real difference is in minutes for 4, 5, and 6

[CALUPA69]

Sounds like a yearly problem / tradition at another school I know ... lol.

Part of it has been nagging, but not critical injuries, have kept three players AJIKE, ALSTON and ALEXANDER from playing as many minutes as they might . In the last 4 ALEXANDER went from 5/0/20/19, AJIKE 24/25/0/0, ALSTON 2/0/0/13. Strains, sprains and foot/ankle issues have held them back. On the flip side SMITH,JR is adding minutes as he finally seems to be adapting to playing down low versus 4 years in HS as a point guard.
Both PEGRAM and COLLINS played 37+ minutes last year and don't seem bothered by the load. HOUSE is the revelation but his game seems to fit his time as he isn't a sprinter and doesn't work that hard looking for an open corner or other spot to shoot from. In fact his 3pt game has improved as the season's gone on from 37.5% in the first ten games to 50% in the last eleven. Overall those three seem to be holding up. Time will tell.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

I was surprised Armoni and Malik were only 11th and 15th in the conference in terms of minutes. I suppose the real difference is in minutes for 4, 5, and 6

I'd be curious what their numbers have been since January 1. Recall Bravado Joe was trying to play a deeper (for him) rotation earlier in the year. As injuries mounted and people made his doghouse, they've been down to about 5.5 guys for a while now. Luckily that goes back to 6.5 this weekend.

Chucky being back will move Shawndale back out to guard. That's good for all involved. He battled down there but he's not a power forward. Putting him back in the guard rotation will also let the others catch their breath.

[bballfan03]

I'd be curious what their numbers have been since January 1. Recall Bravado Joe was trying to play a deeper (for him) rotation earlier in the year. As injuries mounted and people made his doghouse, they've been down to about 5.5 guys for a while now. Luckily that goes back to 6.5 this weekend.

Chucky being back will move Shawndale back out to guard. That's good for all involved. He battled down there but he's not a power forward. Putting him back in the guard rotation will also let the others catch their breath.

Morris
Season - 29.75 mpg
2020 - 31.3mpg

Miller
Season - 33.3mpg
2020 - 35.5mpg

Foster
Season - 33.8mpg
2020 - 34.5mpg

[IUP24]

Pegram walks a pretty fine line with it. He got T'd up in the Clarion game for such antics. Being honest, he was part of Cal's second half collapse at the KCAC. He let the crowd really get to him. He was focused more on Rows 1-2 in the last 20 minutes than he was on the game. That was a huge crowd that night and it went after him and Danny pretty hard. In all my years at the KCAC the only opposing player the crowd couldn't rattle was Dustin Sleva. Believe me, they tried. He'd hit a three and turn around and say F U to Row 1. Junior and Senior year Sleva, anyway. Josh Wise gets roasted every time he comes here and completely thrown off his game.

Pegram is a big-time talker -- which is fine. But when the crowd talked back to him he got pretty out of sorts. That and David Morris wasn't taking any of his crap. I could certainly see him and Josh Wise being an issue, although I doubt they guard one another. Pegram will likely get matched up with Mulbah (who has a much calmer demeanor). UPJ coach Rukavina does't take much crap from his players so I'm sure he had a real long talk with Wise on the way home from Erie.

If I was a Cal fan my fear with Pegram would be that the night is coming when he will get T'd up for some abusive language that some ref will deem as taunting. It's coming. You just have to hope it doesn't come at a terrible time.

Danny is a great coach. He is certainly the new Kevin Reynolds of the PSAC sideline. It's been fun watching him and Lombardi go head-to-head ... those poor officials. Danny and Joe are the best in the league at working officials. Manchel isn't far behind.

I don't people realize how tough of an environment the KCAC can be when it gets going. My junior and senior year, we had it cooking for a few games. Crimson Crazies, baby.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

I don't people realize how tough of an environment the KCAC can be when it gets going. My junior and senior year, we had it cooking for a few games. Crimson Crazies, baby.

Getting it going is usually the problem. But, yes, when alive the crowd can take visiting teams out. They don't lose at home very often.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Time to recover your Super Bowl losses. Here are tonight's lines.


California at UPJ - On the surface, you could look at the first meeting. The Mountain Cats smoked the Vulcans in the Angelo Dome. Times change. Pitt-Johnstown is just 3-3 in its past 6 outings. Taking the recent trend a step further, they've lost to every good team they've played over the past 3 weeks. California, on the other hand, is 8-1 since that UPJ loss. Turn to tonight and what we have is a real big game. Both teams sit at 11-4 in the West. The loser is essentially out of contention to win the division. The winner, for now anyway, gets a hold of that all-important, potential first-round bye. This meeting has every indication of being a shootout. Both can really score the basketball. Neither plays great defense. Reviewing the first games' boxscore, Cal shot an abysmal 6-34 from outside. That's not likely to happen twice. UPJ has won 9 of the past 10 meetings in the series -- including 4 straight. Very tough game to predict. The Vulcans' hot streak can't be ignored. California escapes Johnstown with a tight win. Vulcans -3

West Chester at Shippensburg - The Rams got their slump-busting, throttling of Mansfield out of the way. Things get real tonight. Are they back? Was it just a real bad stretch? We'll find out quickly. Shippensburg should be a pretty focused, fired up bunch tonight coming off its recent home loss to East Stroudsburg. The Red Raiders, fairly convincingly, took the first meeting. Talk about a rivalry? The score in the past 10 meetings in the series? Five wins each. A loss tonight could really start to put a damper on WCU's NCAA hopes. Add to it a red hot Millersville team on its tail. Expect a spirited effort from West Chester. However, expect a Shippensburg win. Red Raiders -7

East Stroudsburg at Bloomsburg - Back on Jan. 8, things were looking up for the Huskies. They had back-to-back wins over Shepherd and (at) East Stroudsburg. Then ... the bottom fell out. Bloomsburg has just one win since, and has lost 6 of their past 7 games. The Warriors ended a 4-game skid and have since won 4 of 5 outings. The Huskies may have won the first one ... but there's nothing pointing to a Bloomsburg sweep. Warriors get redemption. Big time. ESU -13

Clarion at Slippery Rock - The Rock has been blown out of two straight gyms - their own and Hamer Hall. Typically this is a stage when seeing Clarion coming to town is perfect timing. The Golden Eagles may have other plans. Clarion is playing well. It may not show in the win-loss column, but it isn't the pushover of years gone by -- especially in this second semester. The Golden Eagles also aren't a team SRU can try and physically push around. Clarion can push back. SRU has more talent. The question is where is the team mentally? Two losses by a combined 48 points can do some strange things to morale. The Rock also knows what awaits this weekend at the KCAC. If SRU isn't ready to go tonight ... the Rock is going down. Ready or not, here's the upset special of the night. Clarion leaves Morrow with a win. Golden Eagles -3

Millersville at Kutztown - The surging Marauders hammered the Golden Bears a month ago. The venue is different this time but the result will be the same. Make it 5 in a row for the 'Ville. Millersville -12

Gannon at Edinboro - The Golden Knights are hot. The Fighting Scots can't get this season over with fast enough. Easy result. Gannon wins. Big. Knights -19

Lock Haven at Mansfield - The Mounties aren't technically dead yet. Close, though. Lock Haven is clinging on to that last PSAC Tournament spot. The Bald Eagles hammered Mansfield the first time. The second time will be more of the same. Lock Haven -17

Mercyhurst at Seton Hill - It won't be pretty in the yellow shoe box tonight. The Lake Show has a new confidence. The Griffins are going to pay the price. Mercyhurst in a run-away. Lakers -24

IDLE: IUP

[IUPbigINDIANS]

UPJ live feed SUCKS yet again .... unreal.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

52-43 UPJ at the half.

Cal dominated the first 10 minutes ... Rukavina went zone and whole game flipped.

Tempers are flaring.

[IUPalum]

52-43 UPJ at the half.

Cal dominated the first 10 minutes ... Rukavina went zone and whole game flipped.

Tempers are flaring.

U{J gpt a technical but who was it on?