Live Stats | Live Video KUTZTOWN, Pa. - The Kutztown University men's basketball team will go for its sixth consecutive win on Wednesday, Feb. 10, at 5:30 p.m. in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) showdown with Bloomsburg University, featuring two of the top-four teams in the PSAC Eastern Division standings.
Kutztown (17-4, 14-3 PSAC East) currently is tied with West Chester University for first-place in the PSAC Eastern Division standings, while Bloomsburg (13-8, 11-6) sits in fourth, a half-game ahead of Shippensburg.
The Golden Bears have scored 80 or more points in each of their last five wins. They defeated Shippensburg on Saturday, 81-78, behind junior
Josh Johnson (Norristown, Pa./Norristown)'s 21 points and eight rebounds.
Ryan Connolly (Harleysville, Pa./Souderton Area) chipped in with 16 points and four rebounds.
The Huskies have won six of their last seven games since suffering a loss to KU earlier in the season, 99-76. They defeated Mansfield on Saturday, 79-71, and had five players in double-figures. Christian Mortellite had team-highs of 17 points and eight rebounds. Yahmir Greenlee had 14 points, while Tyriek Steward recorded 13 points and six rebounds.
In the first matchup between KU and Bloomsburg this season on Jan. 9, Johnson scored his 1,000th career-point and finished the game with 18 points and 10 rebounds. Redshirt-freshman
Anthony Lee (Willow Grove, Pa./Abington) recorded 18 points and
Dan Cuevas (Stroudsburg, Pa./Stroudsburg) chipped in with 12 off the bench.
KU has won five of the last six matchups with the Huskies, including 14 in a row at Keystone Arena.
Johnson has team-highs of 14.7 points per game (13th in PSAC) and 8.7 rebounds a game (fourth in PSAC) for Kutztown. He has scored in double-figures 17 times and has started in all 21 games this season. Johnson earned PSAC Eastern Division Athlete of the Week honors after leading KU to a 2-0 record last week. He posted two 20-point games and averaged 22.5 points per game.
Lee is second on KU with 13.7 points per game (22nd in PSAC) and leads the team with 33 steals (10th in PSAC). He has scored in double-figures in each of the last 10 games and in 14 of the 16 games since he was inserted into the starting lineup.
Junior point guard
Austin Beidelman (Schnecksville, Pa./Parkland) and sophomore
Ethan Ridgeway (West Chester, Pa./Bayard Rustin) have been KU's top two leaders in assists for most of the season. Beidelman has started all 21 games and is averaging 8.9 points a game to go with his 80 assists. Ridgeway has been Kutztown's top bench scorer with 8.3 points per game. He leads KU with 83 assists.
Connolly is third on KU with 12.2 points per game and leads the team with 46 3-pointers (eighth in PSAC). He has at least one 3-pointer in 19 of his 20 games played.
Senior forward
Anthony Selby (Jersey City, N.J./Williamstown (Burlington County CC)) continues to be the defensive catalyst for the Golden Bears. He leads KU with 29 blocks (fourth in PSAC) and is shooting 55 percent from the field.
Mortellite leads Bloomsburg in scoring with 18.8 points per game (fifth in PSAC) and 50 3-pointers (fifth in PSAC). Donell Diggs is second on the team with 9.6 points per game. Malik Garner is averaging 8.6 points per game and a team-high 5.8 rebounds a game.
Kutztown heads into the contest with the second highest scoring offense in the PSAC at 85.8 points per game, while Bloomsburg is eighth at 75.3. KU is fourth in field goal percentage at 48 percent and is holding teams to a 41 percent clip from the field.
The Golden Bears are second in the PSAC with 41.2 rebounds per game and rank third with 17.24 assists a game. The Huskies rank fourth with 100 blocked shots and are sixth in turnover margin at 1.81.
