Millersville men's basketball seeks 10th consecutive win over Huskies

2/9/2024 11:33:00 AM | Men's Basketball

By: Ethan Hulsey, Director of Athletic Communications

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Millersville Men's Basketball

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ABOUT THE GAME

Millersville men’s basketball is in a battle for the PSAC East title with seven games remaining. The Marauders sit just one game out of first place. Three of the next four games and four of the final seven games are on the road. Millersville is 4-1 on the road since its loss at Mercyhurst on Dec. 19 dropped it to 1-2 in road games. Millersville is the only team in the PSAC to rank in the top five in both scoring offense and scoring defense, and its 8.4 margin of victory ranks fourth. However, Millersville has outscored teams in road games by a slight 77.9-76.5 margin. Millersville has scored over 80 points 12 times but only three of those performances came on the road. The only three times this season that Millersville has allowed a team to shooter better than 50% from the field were also on the road. Four of the six highest scoring outputs allowed have come on the road as well.

MBB: Aryee with the steal and SLAM! pic.twitter.com/6joTL9o024
— Millersville Marauders (@VilleMarauders) February 8, 2024

Drew Stover’s .698 field goal percentage ranks third in all of Division II, and he continues to track toward a single-season program record. John Fox’s .642 has stood since 1985. No Marauder has shot over 60% from the field for a season since 2009. Stover made 13 of 16 shots in the last two games. In the first meeting of the season against Bloomsburg, he scored 19, making 11 of 11 free throws.
Matt Dade continues to be one of the most consistent performers in the PSAC, scoring at least 10 points in 25 consecutive games. While he ranks 12th in the PSAC in scoring average (17.7), he’s averaged 20.1 points per game while shooting 56.3% from the field, 45.8% from three and 72.9% from the line over Millersville’s last 12 games. He’s scored 20 or more points six times in that stretch. Dade is up to 1,219 career points.
Jaden moved up to 24th in career scoring Wednesday, now with 1,312 career points. His 15.1 points per game average is 13th all-time at Millersville. Faulkner’s 4.8 assists per game is the second-best rate in Millersville history, trailing only hall of famer Frank Oslislo ’67, who averaged 5.5 per game. Faulkner ranks ninth among active Division II players in career assist average. On Wednesday, Faulkner joined Mike Monroe ’91, Andrew Marshall ’87, and Charlie Parker ’08 as the only players with 1,300 points, 400 assists and 130 steals. He is seventh in career free throws made and three steals shy of 10th.

Bloomsburg is coming off an 82-78 win at home against Mansfield and have some narrow losses in recent weeks, including a 95-86 loss at home to East Stroudsburg on Jan. 24. While they are 5-17 overall, the Huskies are 4-6 at home. The Huskies are 18th in the PSAC in scoring margin (-13.4) and that’s largely because it allows at league-most 88.0 points per game. Bloomsburg can score, scoring 80 or more nine times, including the last two. But committing and generating turnovers have been an issue. The 16.2 turnovers per game are third-most in the PSAC and their -4.55 turnover margin is last.

Millersville has won its last nine games against Bloomsburg, scoring at least 80 points in eight of the last nine. The last two matchups were played at Millersville with Millersville winning the games by a combined total of 69 points. But games at Bloomsburg have been decidedly more competitive. Millersville has won its four road games in the winning streak by just 7.5 points per game. Prior to its 73-71 win on Jan. 16, 2019, Millersville had lost nine in a row at Bloomsburg. Faulkner scored 19 points with six assists in the season’s first meeting, and in five career games vs. Bloomsburg, Faulkner has averaged 17.2 points and 5.4 assists per game while shooting 56.1% from the floor.