KUTZTOWN, Pa. – The Kutztown University men's basketball team continues its stretch of games through the Western Division as it faces off against California (Pa.) and Indiana (Pa.) this weekend in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) play at Keystone Arena.
 
KU will face Cal on Friday, Dec. 9 beginning at 7:30 p.m.  Tipoff for Saturday's contest against IUP is set for 4 p.m.
 
This weekend marks the third weekend of crossover play for the Golden Bears (3-4 overall, 1-3 PSAC).  KU is coming off a pair of losses to Mercyhurst and Slippery Rock last weekend and currently sit fifth in the Eastern Division.  Cal (5-2, 3-1) and IUP (5-1, 3-1) are tied for second in the PSAC West, only behind undefeated Mercyhurst.
 
The winner of Friday's contest will take the overall series lead as each team has won six times.  Kutztown is coming off a 72-66 win over Cal on the road last year.  IUP leads the head-to-head matchup 13-6 and took last year's PSAC Championship rematch, 74-68, at home.  KU and IUP met in the conference championship in the 2009-10 season.
 
Kutztown has seen some strong leadership through its opening month of the season.  Its four upperclassmen have led the unit offensively and have accounted for some of the top scorers in the conference.  As a team, Kutztown is third in the conference in scoring (81.3).
 
Senior Devon McBride (Richmond, VA/Hill School) (Richmond, VA/Hill School) heads the Golden Bear attack at 21.4 points per game, good for second in the PSAC.  He has scored more than 20 points in five consecutive games and has shown his talents from beyond the arc in the early going.  He is tied for the conference lead with 21 made 3-pointers while averaging three per game.  McBride is 46-for-98 (.469) shooting from the floor and leads the team at the free-throw line.  He is 37-for-42 (.881) from the charity stripe while helping KU lead the conference in free-throw shooting as a team (.793).
 
Fellow senior Nate Edwards (Philadelphia, PA/North Catholic) (Philadelphia, PA/North Catholic) is coming off a 21-point outing against Slippery Rock, improving his average to 16.7 ppg.  He is 38-for-96 (.397) shooting from the floor and has made the most of his trips to the free-throw line with an 86.5 percentage.  Defensively, Edwards has given KU a defensive presence on the perimeter with a team-leading 15 steals.
 
Junior Micah Fraction (Macungie, PA/Montrose Christian) (Macungie, PA/Montrose Christian) and senior Eric Brennan (Chester, PA/West Catholic) (Chester, PA/West Catholic) each chip in over 14 ppg while embracing a different skillset on the floor.  Fraction uses his quickness to run the KU offense and drive his way to the basket.  He has made a team-leading 40 free-throws and is fifth in the PSAC with 4.7 assists per game. 
 
Brennan is one of the top rebounders in the conference at 7.7 per game.  He leads KU with over 35 minutes on the floor per game and his ability to control the boards against two of the top rebounding teams in the conference will be a significant factor in KU's success this weekend.
 
Cal is coming off back-to-back losses to Bloomsburg and 20th-ranked Bowie State.  It is fifth in the PSAC in scoring (79.4) and is led by senior Chad Tipton.  Tipton is averaging 14.4 points per clip and is tied with McBride for the conference lead with 21 3-pointers. 
 
Cal is second in the PSAC in rebounding margin (+9.9).  Redshirt junior Travon Vann is Cal's top rebounding at five per game.  He scored a team-high 14 points in Tuesday's loss to Bowie State. Making his first start of the year, Vann shot 4-of-11 from the field and made five-of-six from the free-throw line. He is second on the team in scoring, averaging 11 ppg.
 
Meanwhile, IUP is also coming off a decisive 76-51 win over Mansfield on Sunday and is ranked 14th in the National Association of Basketball Coaches/Division II Men's Basketball Poll.  The Crimson Hawks travel to East Stroudsburg on Friday before makes their trip to Keystone Arena on Saturday.  Julian Sanders and Ashton Smith are ranked fourth and seventh in the conference in scoring, respectively.  Sanders is averaging 20.2 ppg while Smith chips in 18 per game.
 
IUP has the largest scoring margin in the conference at +13.5 and holds the top scoring defense at 62.3 ppg.
 
This weekend will be Kutztown's final action before heading home for holiday break.  KU returns to the floor on Friday, Dec. 30 to host non-conference opponent University of the Sciences beginning at 8 p.m.