MILLERSVILLE, Pa. – IUP is ranked No. 1 in Division II for a reason--a suffocating a defense that has led to an 11-0 record. The Crimson Hawks held Millersville to 30.5% shooting, and the Marauders scored their fewest points in a home game since 2001 in Friday's 76-45 loss. 

While IUP retained four of its top players from last season's PSAC championship team, Millersville lost four starters from the team that played IUP in the 2022 title game. The difference in experience was evident early as Millersville struggled with its decision-making and execution on offense, leading to a 13 first-half turnovers, four total assists in the game, and 2-of-13 shooting from three. 

"It was a little bit of them making us uncomfortable and us doing it to ourselves," said Millersville head coach Casey Stitzel. "They are the best defensive team we will play all season. They have great length and older guys who have been in the system. They do a great job of switching one to four and their fives are big and athletic. We can't simulate that in practice. What you have to do against them is play basketball--make reads, pass well. With a young team, it's hard to get them to understand that one thing might not be open but if you do this, it might get this guy open. What happens as a young group is that when you see something new, you freeze. And that happened to us early."

Millersville entered the game 5-0 at home, but IUP has lost just nine games in the last four seasons and now has 11-straight wins over the Marauders. The common thread throughout the recent streak has been IUP's defense as Millersville has scored more than 60 points just twice in the last 12 meetings. 

Jahme Ested led Millersville in scoring with eight points but shot 4-of-13 from the field. Justin Nwosu made a 3-pointer for the first points of the game, but Millersville did not connect on another three until Day Waters' with 8:55 left in the game. 

Millersville mustered just 19 points in the first half and trailed by 18 at the break. The hesitancy at the offensive end led to Millersville getting to the free throw line just once in the first 20 minutes. While IUP wasn't particularly sharp to start, scoring 16 points in the game's first 12 minutes, it took advantage of Millersville miscues and scored 19 points off of Millersville's 13 turnovers. IUP closed the final eight minutes of the half on a 21-8 run. 

"We made so many mistakes in the first half," said Stitzel. "There was a time early where they were off, and we could have made a run and made them uncomfortable. But turnovers got them into transition and gave them open shots. They started getting confident. There is a reason they are a 35% field goal defense, but we could have done a better job."

Millersville couldn't find a way to mount a charge in the second half, missing 12 of its first 13 field goal attempts. Millersville made just one shot in the first eight minutes of the second half. 

"These are the games that if you win, you've beaten a very good, well-coached team, and if you lose, you still win," said Stitzel. "With a young team, it is a learning experience. The young guys we have have want to be good players in the PSAC, and they went up against four of the best in the PSAC tonight. It's a measuring stick. Now we ask the question, 'how do you respond?' We are going to go watch film. Yes, IUP is good, but we need to see what we did to make it worse, and what we can do to fix it."

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
• Dave Morris, who led IUP in scoring in the 2022 PSAC title game, did it again against the Marauders Friday, scoring 19 points on 8-of-12 shooting while also adding four assists. PSAC-leading scorer Shawndale Jones had an off night with 4-of-18 shooting but still managed 13 points. Ethan Porterfield tallied 11 points. 
• Ested grabbed 10 rebounds, recording double-digits for the season time this season. 

MORE FROM COACH STITZEL
• On evaluating the first 11 games with the PSAC East schedule starting next week: "It was up and down, and that was expected. We didn't start well but had a nice stretch. I thought we had three really good practices after the break. I feel like this game is a bit of anomaly. I don't think it's something that will keep going. It was a solid first semester. The noticeable difference is that IUP has been through the wars together, and they are out their talking and communicating. Our guys don't really know how to do that yet. The voice isn't there. There's opportunities for leadership. But overall, a good semester but a lot of room for these young guys to play better. What we hope is that at the end of January and into February these guys start hitting their full potential."

UP NEXT
• Millersville won its first three PSAC games but now sit at 3-2 in the standings with the Eastern Division portion of the schedule beginning Wedensday, Jan. 4. Millersville starts the slate with back-to-back road games against Bloomsburg and Shepherd.