ABOUT THE GAME

• Millersville men’s basketball has won five of its last six games and boasts a 5-0 record in Pucillo Gymnasium, and on Friday, the Marauders end an 11-day layoff against the No. 1-ranked team in Division II. Indiana (Pa.) is 10-0 and has played in only one game decided by fewer than 11 points. It is also a rematch of the 2022 PSAC Championship game that IUP won on its home floor, 63-52. 
• Millersville is a much different team than the one that played in that conference championship game as only one starter from that game will be in the lineup Friday. IUP’s David Morris, Ethan Porterfield and Tomiwa Sulaiman were starters for that championship. Morris led all scorers with 19 points, hitting 5-of-9 3-pointers. Porterfield totaled 16 points and eight rebounds. Sulaiman had 11 rebounds and seven steals. Millersville trailed 35-18 at the half but did out-score IUP 34-28 over the final 20 minutes. Millersville held IUP to 36.9% shooting in the game, but shot just 30% itself. 
• IUP is 5-0 away from home while Millersville 20-2 at home over the last two seasons with a 4-1 record against PSAC West teams in Pucillo Gymnasium. The PSAC started counting East/West crossover games toward the conference standings in 2011-12, and Millersville is 20-23 in home games vs. the PSAC West in that time. Coach Casey Stitzel has fared better, going 10-6 with a .500 or better record in four of five seasons. 
• IUP has been on an incredible run of success lately. Since the start of the 2018-19 season, IUP is 103-9, not losing more than three games in any of the last three full seasons. IUP has spent every week since the start of the 2018-19 season ranked inside the nation's top 10, and has lost only one game to a PSAC East opponent in that stretch (at Shippensburg, Dec. 19, 2019). 
• Millersville has lost its last three games to nationally ranked opponents, including a loss to Virginia Union in the season opener. The Marauders' last win over a ranked team was in the 2022 PSAC Semifinals over Mercyhurst. Coach Casey Stitzel also won games over nationally ranked Shippensburg at home in both 2017 and 2018. 

SCOUTING THE MARAUDERS

• While Millersville has limited point totals, opponents have hit 35.6% from three, which puts Millersville 15th in the 18-team league, and the Marauders rank seventh in field goal percentage defense. Millersville is 6-0 when holding teams under 45% shooting. A key for Millersville has been generating turnovers (17.7 per game) while limiting its own, committing 13.7 per game--a 4.0 margin which is fourth in the PSAC. IUP ranks second. 
• While the defense has been solid, the Marauders have not yet found consistency at the offensive end, and that’s to be expected with four new starters. Five different players have led the team in scoring in the first 10 games. Drew Stover is the team’s scoring leader at 10.9 points per game while averaging 20.3 minutes per game. Stover has scored double-figures in six of the last nine games. 
• Guards Jahme Ested and Keith Mency had started to find their scoring before the Dec. 19 loss to Pitt-Johnstown. Ested had averaged 11.5 points and 3.6 assists in Millersville’s five-game winning streak while Mency had averaged 14.7 points and 2.7 steals in the prior three games.
   

SCOUTING IUP

•  Shawndale Jones was out with an injury last season, but he’s been among the best players in Division II this season, scoring a team-best 21.0 points per game. He has a knack for getting to the free throw line, and he’s hit 59-of-63 attempts (.937). 
•  Friday’s game pits two of the PSAC’s best defenses. IUP leads the PSAC in scoring defense, allowing just 57.6 points per game while Millersville ranks third at 63.4 points per game. IUP smothers opponents, allowing them to shoot just 35.2% from the field 26.3% from three. Only one opponent has scored more than 61 points against IUP--that was Kutztown on Dec. 18. 
• IUP takes care of the ball, totaling more assists than turnovers in nine of 10 games. IUP has recorded double-digit steals in four-straight games and in seven of 10. Opponents have committed at least 18 turnovers in five-straight games against IUP. 

SERIES HISTORY

• IUP has won 10 consecutive games in the series with Millersville's last win coming on the road on Jan. 13, 2008. IUP has won 15 of the last 17 meetings including six in a row in Pucillo Gymnasium. IUP last played in Pucillo Gymnasium on Dec. 2, 2018, and that game came down to the last shot with No. 3 IUP holding on to a 74-73 win. Marcus Adkison scored 22 of his 26 points in the second half. Millersville missed a last second 3-pointer attempt. 
• The story of IUP's success over Millersville has been its outstanding defense. Millersville has scored more than 60 points just twice in the last nine meetings.
• The Last Meeting IUP 63, Millersville 52 (March 6, 2022): IUP swarmed the Marauders for 40 minutes, holding them to 30% shooting and forcing 16 turnovers. After Millersville scored the game's first basket, IUP's suffocating half-court defense held the Marauders without a field goal for the next nine minutes. Millersville was stingy at the defensive end as well, holding IUP to 36.9% shooting and its third-fewest points of the season, but the Marauders just couldn't muster enough on offense. Jaden Faulkner finished with 20 points, seven rebounds and four assists, and James Sullivan scored 16, sinking 3-of-5 threes. No other Marauders scored more than seven. 

THE LAST TIME OUT

• Millersville: Pitt-Johnstown 68, Millersville 56 (Dec. 19, 2022) - Millersville struggled at the offensive end in the second half, and Pitt-Johnstown stopped Millersville's winning streak at five. The Marauders trailed by just five at the half, but missed seven of its first eight shots from the field and committed three turnovers while scoring just five points in the first nine minutes of the second half. Millersville also missed its first six 3-pointer attempts of the second half--a cold spell that allowed Pitt-Johnstown to open 15-point lead.