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KUTZTOWN, Pa. – The Kutztown University men's basketball team hosts Mansfield University on Feb. 6 in a Thursday evening Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division game at Keystone Arena. Tipoff for KUSSI Appreciation Night is set for 7:30 p.m.
 
The Golden Bears (6-13, 4-5 PSAC East) will look to sweep the Mountaineers (4-16, 2-8) after winning at Mansfield, 85-74, back on Dec. 4 in KU's first road PSAC East game. Recently, Kutztown is playing better, owning a 3-3 record over its six games. All three losses were close, including the 75-67 at East Stroudsburg, who is now ranked third in the National Association of Basketball Coaches Top 25 poll. Tracy Peal tied a career-high with 29 points in the defeat on Saturday.
 
LAST TIME OUT: Playing on the road at East Stroudsburg, the Golden Bears fought hard to try and earn the biggest upset in the PSAC East so far this season. Against the now third-ranked Warriors, Kutztown got as close as four points with five minutes to go, but ESU ultimately prevailed in a 75-67 game. The Golden Bears shot over 50 percent from the floor (25-of-48) to give the 20-0 Warriors only their third single-digit victory of the season. Tracy Peal tied a career-high with 29 points.
 
THE PEAL DEAL: After his second 29-point effort of the year, sophomore forward Tracy Peal improved his team-best scoring average to 16.1 points per game. His production is truly getting better as of late, as he surpassed the 20-point total four times in his last eight games. Also, he is shooting 41-of-51 (80.4 percent) from the free-throw line in those eight games. Peal currently is only one of 12 PSAC players with 16+ points per game.
 
DOUBLE J, DOUBLE DIGITS: Freshman forward Josh Johnson (Norristown, Pa./Norristown) scored 12 points against ESU. This marks his 15th game with 10+ points this season. Johnson owned a double-digit scoring streak of nine games to start the season, marking the longest streak by a KU freshman to start his career since Butch Hills, a KU Athletics Hall of Famer, did so in his first 10 games in 1985-86. A two-time PSAC East Freshman of the Week, Johnson averages 12.3 points and 6.7 rebounds per game. He's scored at least eight points in every game he finished.
 
LINE OF BAD LUCK: Both Kutztown and Mansfield rank in the bottom three in PSAC in free-throw shooting. KU shoots 66.9 percent from the line, while Mansfield shoots 64.8 percent. Unfortunately, opponents haven't given KU any mercy from the charity stripe this season. While the Mounties get much more luck. Kutztown's 73.5 opponent free throw percentage ranks third in the PSAC. Meanwhile, Mansfield's opponents shoot 70.2 percent from the line (ranks 13th).
 
NEED THE THREE: The Golden Bears are also looking for a boost shooting from beyond the arc, shooting a PSAC-worst 27.1 percent for the season from three-point range. So far this season, sophomore guard/forward Ryan Connolly (Harleysville, Pa./Souderton Area) converted 31 of the team's 58 three-point field goals. Redshirt freshman guard Elijah Jackson (Pottstown, PA/Pottstown) ranked seconds on the team with eight, doing so while 28.6 percent from three.
 
PSAC PLAYOFF PICTURE: Kutztown currently holds a 4-5 record in the PSAC East, ranking the team sixth in the division. East Stroudsburg leads the division at 10-0. Meanwhile, it's a close fight elsewhere in top six. Bloomsburg and West Chester rank second at 7-3. Lock Haven moved down to fourth after a loss dropped the team to 6-4. Millersville ranks closely behind at fifth with a 5-4 record. The top six teams in each division make the PSAC Championship Tournament.
 
Looking in the Other Corner: the Mansfield Mountaineers
 
RING HIS BELL: Junior forward Joe Bell poses the biggest threat to the Golden Bears. He averages 20.8 points and 7.6 rebounds per game. The former average ranks third in the PSAC. Bell shoots 52.1 percent from the floor, but he also gets to the free throw line on average 7.2 times per game. He shoots 75.7 percent from the charity stripe this season.
 
INSIDE EFFICIENCY: Junior forward Charles Pemberton is so far making quite the seamless transition from county college basketball. His 66.9 percent shooting from the field leads the PSAC among qualifying players. Pemberton averages 12.0 points and 7.1 rebounds per game. He and Bell help the Mountaineers to shoot 45.6 percent from the field overall.
 
HEY THERE, COACH: Mountaineers head coach Rich Miller is in his eighth season as head coach. Miller previously served as assistant coach at MU for six years. So far, he owns a 115-119 record leading the Mounties. In the 2010-11 season, he lead the school to its first NCAA Tourney appearance since 1997. He has two PSAC East regular season titles as head coach.