Good Times
IUP rolls past Clarion, 84-57, on fun-filled day at the KCAC
After IUP blew out Clarion by 27 points at the KCAC on Saturday afternoon, a bunch of kids streamed onto the court seeking autographs from the Crimson Hawks.
It was just two groups of kids – one older and one younger – getting together on an entertaining afternoon after IUP’s 84-57 romp in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference basketball game.
“We played like kids today,” IUP’s Christian Moore said, “and that’s what Coach emphasized: Just come out and play like kids because it’s a kids’ game at the end of the day. We’ve just got to have fun, and we accomplished that.”
Moore, a 6-foot-1 junior guard, posted the first double-double of his collegiate career with 23 points and 10 rebounds, and 6-7 freshman forward Tyler Grove followed suit with his first double-double with 17 points and 10 boards.
“Coach definitely emphasized that before the game, and we definitely took it to heart,” Grove said. “We’ve all been playing this game since we were little kids, and it’s just finding that love for the game and finding that joy and playing with that joy and passion.”
Freshman point guard Ky Merraro finished with 16 points and six assists, and 6-6 junior forward Damir Brooks thrilled the crowd with four dunks en route to 10 points.
“Most of us have been playing this game since we were younger kids,” Merraro said. “We’ve got to realize it’s a game and have fun with it. Good stuff happens and bad stuff happens, and you’ve just got to overcome and just keep going and pushing.”
IUP bounced back from Wednesday’s 11-point loss at Slippery Rock and improved to 10-9 overall and 6-6 in the PSAC. The Hawks are tied for third in the West Division with Edinboro and trail second-place Slippery Rock by one game and first-place Gannon by five.
Against Slippery Rock, Moore made only 5 of 19 shots, including only one on 10 attempts from 3-point range. He bounced back against Clarion, going 9-for-15, including 5-for-10 from 3. He leads IUP in scoring at 17.0 points per game.
“Christian was struggling with his confidence some,” IUP coach Joe Lombardi said. “He had to deal with some failure and had to bounce back. He had maybe his worst showing against Slippery Rock and comes back and does this. He played a solid game and stayed within himself. He makes our team better.”
“Sometimes.” Moore said, “you get so caught up in the game and just the pressure of everything and try to perform and do everything Coach is telling us. At the end of the day, it is a game so guys are just having more fun with it and this is the outcome. Everybody’s happy and sharing the ball and playing like a team, and you can’t ask for more than that.”
Grove has experienced an up-and-down season in his first year in college. He turned in one of his best performances Saturday, going 7-for-15 from the field with three 3-pointers and grabbing six of his career-high 10 rebounds on offense. He is averaging 11.4 points and 4.4 rebounds.
“My dad was on me about that all year because he says I’m too big not to be rebounding,” Grove said. “I just went out and played hard and the ball ended up falling into my hands.”
IUP shot 50 percent or better for the sixth time this season and made 12 3-pointers, its second-most of the year. The Hawks led the rebounding by 11, 42-31, and committed only nine turnovers.
Clarion made 8 of its first 15 shots but shot only 26 percent the rest of the way. The Golden Eagles finished at 34 percent (18-for-53) and committed 16 turnovers. Cam Kearney, a 6-6 junior guard who entered the game leading the conference in scoring at 21.9 points per game, scored 17. Kendon Peebles added 12 off the bench.
Clarion, 9-9 overall and 4-8 in the conference, played in the absence of coach Damian Pitts, who has a lingering illness.
“You don’t expect to do this,” Lombardi said. “They played a lot of people tough. They’re a veteran team with guys that have been around a while, and they’re capable of going the other direction with that. We’re fortunate they missed some shots early and we found our offensive rhythm. We got some confidence early on and kept executing.”
IUP trailed 22-17 midway through the first half before outscoring Clarion 22-5 for a 13-point advantage. The Hawks led by nine at halftime, 41-32.
Moore opened the second half with 10 unanswered points and dished to Brooks for a dunk on the next possession. That started a 25-7 stretch that extended the lead to 27 points at 66-39 with 11 minutes to play. The widest spread was 29 at 75-46 with seven minutes to go, and the final margin was IUP’s largest by far against a Division II opponent this season.
“We’re showing flashes of capabilities,” Lombardi said. “The next game could be the opposite. The offense looked really good today and bad on Wednesday. It depends on what night you play. We could go down to California on Wednesday and who knows who shows up. But there are different stages in a season, and I think once you do it and get confidence like that you’re more likely to be more consistent. We have a pretty good ceiling, which we showed today, but we have a lower floor than most teams we’ve had in the past. I just want them to enjoy this.”
IUP plays at California on Wednesday. The Hawks are 2-7 in games away from home.
“We’re just grateful to get this one and have more games on the schedule to play because these kids love to play and I love coaching them,” Lombardi said. “There’s a good amount of season left and we’re going to try to have some fun when it presents itself.”
California, racked by injuries, is 10-10 overall and 5-7 in the PSAC West, one game behind IUP. The Vulcans, who were picked to finished second in the division in the preseason coaches’ poll, are 4-10 after a 6-0 start to the season. They are coming off losses to Pitt-Johnstown (105-93) and Edinboro (93-85).
“We need the same mentality going into that game,” Merraro said. “No matter where we play we know we’ve got each other’s back. We need to go in there and just enjoy the game and have fun with it and just stick to our game.”
SATURDAY’S BOX SCORE
IUP 84, CLARION 67
Clarion (9-9)
Easter 2-6 1-2 6, Kearney 5-10 4-5 17, Nelson 1-3 0-0 3, Cote 1-9 0-0 3, Thomas 2-7 0-0 4, Dow 2-6 4-4 9, Peebles 4-7 2-5 12, Gray 1-2 0-0 2, Shippen 0-1 1-2 1, Jones 0-1 0-0 0, Vaswani 0-1 0-0 0, Huth 0-0 0-0 0, Totals 18-53 (.340) 12-18 (.667) 57
IUP (10-9)
Brooks 5-7 0-0 10, Grove 7-15 2-2 19, Merraro 6-8 2-3 16, Moore 9-15 0-0 23, Furtun 2-2 0-0 5, Herring 2-10 0-0 5, Triggs 0-1 2-4 2, Pickens 1-4 0-0 2, MacNamara 1-2 0-0 2, Campbell 0-0 0-0 0, Watson 0-0 0-0 0, Totals 33-64 (.516) 6-9 (.667) 84
Halftime — IUP 41-32. 3-point field goals — Clarion 9-30 (Easter 1-4, Kearney 3-5, Nelson 1-3, Cote 1-7, Thomas 0-2, Dow 1-3, Peebles 2-4, Gray 0-1, Shippen 0-1), IUP 12-31 (Grove 3-8, Merraro 2-4, Moore 5-10, Furtun 1-1, Herring 1-4, Triggs 0-1, Pickens 0-3). Rebounds — Clarion 31 (Thomas 7), IUP 42 (Grove, Moore 10). Assists — Clarion 10 (Nelson 5), IUP 17 (Merraro 6). Turnovers — Clarion 16, IUP 9. Total fouls — Clarion 12, IUP 17. Technicals — Cote, Herring.
SATURDAY’S PSAC SCORES
IUP 84, Clarion 57
Edinboro 93, California 85
Seton Hill 79, Gannon 72
East Stroudsburg 118, Mansfield 46
West Chester 101, Bloomsburg 52
Lock Haven 73, Millersville 70
Shepherd 59, Kutztown 36
Shippensburg 95, Cheyney 68
After watching the Slippery Rock game, I was pleasantly surprised today. I expected a tight game. It was good to see IUP play a complete 40 minute game. I feel a bit more hopeful going into the final month. The team is maturing and should be fun to watch in February.