IUP and Slippery Rock aren’t strangers in any sense of the word. They’ve played each other three times this season, including once in the championship game of the PSAC Tournament. IUP has won two of the three match-ups but they’ve all been close, with only 15 points separating the winner from the loser in the three games combined.
For IUP, they’ll look to continue to have strong play from guard Anthony Wells. Wells is averaging just over 15 points per game against The Rock this season. He scored 22 points yesterday in the first round of the NCAA Tournament against East Stroudsburg. All of his points from the floor came from three point field goals as he shot 6-8 from behind the arc. Forward Josh Wiegand has also had success this season against The Rock. He’s averaging just over 12 points and 5 rebounds per game against them this season. Yesterday Wiegand had 12 points and 3 boards in their victory.
Slippery Rock is coming off an emotional upset win over #16 Winston Salem yesterday, one in which they picked up their first ever NCAA Tournament victory. They’ll look to their top player, Devin Taylor, to stay hot against IUP. This season he’s averaging 19.0 points and just over 7 rebounds per game against the Crimson Hawks. Yesterday he scored 27 points and added 15 rebounds in their victory. For The Rock, anyone can step up at any time and they’ll look to guys like Sa’Quan Davis and Tabari Perry to step up again like they did yesterday. Davis hit Perry for the eventual game-winning layup with just seconds left on the clock to power them to victory.
Both teams outworked their opponents yesterday, beating the press and making hard shots. Both teams have similar play and will be squaring off for the fourth time this season, with a little more on the line for each team.
Tip-off is set for 5:00 from West Liberty. The winner will advance to play in the regional final on Tuesday.
Photo Credit: www.iupathletics.com
