Back At It

IUP goes to Pitt-Johnstown in search of first PSAC road win

Joe Lombardi looks at the standings and knows where his team sits, but the IUP basketball coach doesn’t discuss the position with his players.

“We don’t talk about standings,” he said. “At the beginning of January, we started talking about our record being 0-0 and after the game we’ll be 1-0 or 0-1 and the next morning we’ll be 0-0 again.”

The Crimson Hawks (11-11) have experienced an equal number of 1-0 and 0-1 game nights. The discrepancy comes on the road, where they are 0-7 in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference games, including 0-4 in the West Division.

IUP, 6-8 in the division, stays on the road Wednesday night at Pitt-Johnstown (10-12, 6-9). The Hawks won the first meeting at home, 84-73, on Jan. 15, so a second win would give them the head-to-head tiebreaker in the race for a playoff berth.

The PSAC West race looks like it’s going to the wire. Gannon needs one win to claim the division; otherwise, three games separate second through eighth place. Six teams qualify for the conference tournament.

Gannon (8-1 home, 5-2 away) is the only team in the PSAC West with a winning record in division road games. Edinboro (5-3, 4-4) is .500 on the road, and California (6-2, 3-5), Slippery Rock (4-3, 3-4), IUP (6-1, 0-7) Pitt-Johnstown (4-3, 2-6), Seton Hill (4-4, 3-5) and Clarion (4-3, 2-7) have losing records on the road.

IUP has six regular-season games remaining: at Pitt-Johnstown, Seton Hill and Clarion and home against Edinboro, Slippery Rock and California.

“We can’t win the regular season, so the goal is to make the playoffs,” Lombardi said. “All through the conference the home teams have been dominant. We’re not the only one struggling on the road. That’s what happens when there’s such parity. We’re just going to add them up at the end and see where we’re at.”

In the past three road games, IUP led twice and was tied once at halftime before falling apart in the second half while shooting below 30 percent from the floor.

“Everybody, including myself, is at a little bit of a loss why on the road we struggle offensively in the second half,” Lombardi said. “One thing you look at is obviously fatigue … but that doesn’t necessarily mean why. It’s either physical or mental.

“I’ve got to figure out how to work it. In coaching, you’re constantly trying to find solutions. Some are more obvious than others. This one is not as obvious, but I’ll try to find it. There’s no distinct way.”

Pitt-Johnstown has been up-and-down offensively. The Mountain Cats average 82.2 points scored and 83.6 allowed. The shoot 48.2 percent overall and 34.0 percent from 3-point range. Opponents shoot 46.5 percent overall and 35.5 percent from 3.

Ryan Smith, a senior guard Lombardi ranked as one of the best in the conference, has scored 20 or more points in each of the past 10 games, with a high of 35 last week against Seton Hill. He averaged 27.3 points over the past three games.

“They’re a really good offensive team,” Lombardi said. “I’m concerned about their balance on offense and some guys that can score inside. They have good perimeter players – one of the top five players in the league — and they have inside scoring. They have been great with their offensive concepts, and they’ve always been really good at that. It’s a tougher challenge this time around. I see guys that have improved, and the last time we played them they didn’t have one of their leading scorers.”

Baden Forup, a 6-8 sophomore, and Nick Watts, a 6-7 redshirt sophomore, power the inside game. Jay Rose, a 6-4 freshman who averages double figures, did not play in the first meeting.

“They have a young kid, Forup, who’s gotten better over the course of the season,” Lombardi said, “and him and Nick Watts are playing their best ball of the year, and their other guys understand their role and play to it.”

IUP has not missed the conference tournament since Lombardi’s second season in 2007-08, which is the last time the Hawks finished with a losing record at 13-15.

This year’s team features three freshmen, including two starters, and opened the season with six players in its eight-man rotation.

“None of our players averaged double figures last year,” Lombardi said, “and we’re the most inexperienced team. Next year we’ll have four guys that average double figures. My main focus is just to stay positive, stay upbeat and help these guys out. They show up and work every day and bring energy. They bring everything I ask for.”

PITT JOHNSTOWN (10-12) at IUP (11-11)
When and where — 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, UPJ Sports Center

In the PSAC West — Six PSAC West teams qualify for the conference tournament along with six from the PSAC East. IUP is sixth in the West Division at 6-8 and trails California (9-7), Edinboro (9-7), Slippery Rock (7-8) and Seton Hill (7-9) and leads Pitt-Johnstown (6-9) and Clarion (6-10). Gannon (13-3), the defending PSAC champion, is first and needs one win to secure the division title. IUP has six games remaining on a 20-game PSAC schedule, and the rest of the division has either four or five remaining.

About IUP — IUP is coming off Saturday’s 87-62 loss at Gannon. It was IUP’s widest losing margin of the season and left the Crimson Hawks winless in seven PSAC road games, including all four in the West Division. IUP has PSAC wins over Clarion (84-57), Seton Hill (59-56), Pitt-Johnstown (84-73), Kutztown (66-64), Shippensburg (72-57) and Lock Haven (80-70) and losses to Gannon, California (78-74), Slippery Rock (75-64), Edinboro (81-65), Gannon (89-82, 87-62), Shepherd (68-57), West Chester (88-80) and Millersville (76-68). IUP is 9-2 at home and 2-9 away from home.

About Pitt-Johnstown — The Mountain Cats, under 36th-year coach and IUP alumnus Bob Rukavina, are 3-9 in their past 12 games. They are coming off consecutive losses to Clarion (79-76) and Edinboro (97-75), which followed a double-overtime win over Seton Hill (100-97). Pitt-Johnstown’s PSAC wins came over Clarion (79-76, 68-65), California (105-93), Lock Haven (99-66), Mansfield (99-95) and Shippensburg (91-68) and its other losses came against Millersville (96-72), West Chester (71-57), Shepherd (80-65), Slippery Rock (90-64), Edinboro (72-71, 97-75), IUP (83-74) and Gannon (91-83).

Last meeting — IUP won at home, 84-73, on Jan. 15. The Crimson Hawks shot 56 percent, held Pitt-Johnstown to 43 percent and led the rebounding by nine, 39-30. Tyler Grove led IUP with a career-high 22 points and was followed by Damir Brooks (17), Kymani Merraro (16) and Christian Moore (14).

Five Pitt-Johnstown players scored in double figures: Ryan Smith (21), Sean Dillon (13), Vinnie Cugini (11) Baden Forup (11) and Will Kromka (10). Jay Rose, who averages double figures, did not play.

Coaches — IUP: Joe Lombardi (19th season, 428-131). Pitt-Johnstown: Bob Rukavina (36th season, 566-429)

All-time series — IUP leads 52-17 and has won six straight and 22 of 24.

Webcast — psacsportsdigitalnetwork.com/ pittjohnstownathletics

Broadcast — U92.5-FM and u92radio.com

Probable starters
IUP
Christian Moore (6-1 Jr. G, 17.0 ppg, 4.1 rpg)
Kymani Merraro (5-10 Fr. G, 13.9, 4.1)
Damir Brooks (6-6 RJr. F, 11.7, 7.2)
Tyler Grove (6-7 Fr. F, 11.4, 4.5)
Sarp Furton (6-4 So. G, 4.7, 4.3)
Pitt-Johnstown
Ryan Smith (6-3 Sr. G, 17.3 ppg, 5.0 rpg)
Jay Rose (6-4 Fr. G, 13.9, 4.4)
Baden Forup (6-8 So. F, 13.1, 6.1)
Vinnie Cugini (6-2 So. G, 9.7, 3.5)
Sean Dillon (5-10 Gr. G, 8.9, 4.0)

Next — IUP plays host to Edinboro at 3 p.m. Saturday.

WEDNESDAY’S PSAC GAMES
Games at 7:30 p.m. unless noted otherwise
West
IUP at Pitt-Johnstown
California at Clarion
Gannon at Slippery Rock
East
East Stroudsburg at Bloomsburg, 5:30 p.m.
Mansfield at Lock Haven
Kutztown at Millersville
West Chester at Shippensburg