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KUTZTOWN, Pa. – Fresh off the heels of a road triumph at No. 9 Shippensburg in its first-ever top-10 matchup on Wednesday, the No. 10 Kutztown University men's basketball team will look to carry the momentum into this Saturday, Feb. 3 when it hosts Lock Haven in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) matchup inside of Keystone Arena at 3:30 p.m.
KU will also be recognizing the Play4Kay initiative, which has donated millions of dollars for women's cancer research. Fans are encouraged to wear pink, and the first 150 students in attendance with ID at the 1 p.m. women's game will receive a free pink t-shirt.
Kutztown's (13-2 PSAC, 17-2) 81-75 win over Shippensburg not only brought the Golden Bears within a half-game of the Raiders (14-2, 17-2) in the PSAC East, it also clinched a postseason berth with seven games remaining on their schedule. The victory also extended KU's winning streak to nine straight games, its longest since winning 10 in a row in 2011-12.
Ethan Ridgeway (West Chester, Pa./Bayard Rustin) led the charge offensively with 20 points, eight rebounds and eight assists to move into second in KU single-season history with 157 assists and fourth all-time with 362. He is now just 13 assists shy of the school record with seven regular season games remaining. The junior is currently leading the PSAC with an average of 8.4 assists per game, which ranks fourth in the NCAA.
Also in the top-10 of the NCAA is
Josh Johnson (Norristown, Pa./Norristown), whose PSAC-leading 64.4 percent field goal percentage ranks ninth nationally. The senior scored 12 points at Shippensburg to move within one point of fourth place in KU history and ranks 17th in the league at 14.7 points per game. He is also in the top-10 in blocks per game (1.1) and steals per game (1.8).
Sophomore
Dan Cuevas (Stroudsburg, Pa./Stroudsburg) is also shooting extremely efficiently this season as he is third in the PSAC with a 61.2 percent field goal percentage. He kept that trend up on Wednesday as he shot 8-for-11 en route to 18 points - his eighth game of 15+ points in his last nine appearances.
Despite scoring 10 points at Shippensburg,
Anthony Lee (Willow Grove, Pa./Abington) is leading Kutztown with an average of 16.1 points per game, which ranks 13th in the PSAC. If not for his 2.4 three-pointers per game falling just .1 shy of qualifying, the redshirt-sophomore's 57.5 percent 3-point percentage would lead the NCAA and break both KU's (.443) and the PSAC's (.536) single-season record. He is seventh in the league in field goal percentage (.569), eighth in steals per game (1.9) and 10th in blocks per game (1.1).
Ryan Connolly (Harleysville, Pa./Souderton Area) has also been lethal from deep this season as he has made 43.6 percent of his attempts, good for fourth in the PSAC. The redshirt-senior made three more trifectas on Wednesday to move into eighth place in the conference with an average of 2.8 3-pointers per game. He is currently second in KU history with 203 for his career, just 11 shy of the school record.
Notably, senior
Austin Beidelman (Schnecksville, Pa./Parkland), who scored eight points at Shippensburg, is three assists shy of moving into seventh all-time in the program annals (329).
Ranking 25th in the PSAC at 2.8 assists per game, Beidelman is a main reason Kutztown is second in the PSAC with an average of 19.3 per contest as a team. The Maroon and Gold are also top-two in the league in points per game (87.9), field goal percentage (.503), 3-point percentage (.411), turnovers forced per game (18.8), turnover margin (+4.53) and steals per game (10.1).
KU is fifth in the NCAA in both turnovers forced per game and assists per game, and is sixth in steals per game.
If recent history is any indication, Saturday's matchup with Lock Haven will be a nail-biter. Two-of-the-last-three meetings have been decided by one point, four-of-the-last-five have been decided by two points or less and six-of-the-last-seven have been decided by six points or less. This includes earlier in the year on Jan. 6 when Lee's layup with 2.2 seconds remaining gave Kutztown an 83-82 triumph over the Bald Eagles.
Saturday's matchup will also showcase two of the top offenses in the PSAC, as Lock Haven joins KU in the top-four of the conference in both points per game (81.7) and field goal percentage (.477).
Lock Haven (6-9, 10-9) will enter Saturday holding a half-game lead over Mansfield and Millersville for the last playoff spot in the PSAC East. The Bald Eagles are coming off arguably their best victory of the season last Saturday as they defeated third-place East Stroudsburg 89-82 to move over .500.
Saturday marks the first of two consecutive home games for Kutztown, as the Golden Bears will welcome Mansfield to Keystone Arena on Wednesday, Feb. 8 for a 7:30 p.m. tip.
