KIAC MBB Game of the Week: IU East at Point Park, Saturday 2 pm

1/23/2016 12:00:00 AM

Pictured: Kelvin Goodwin (PPU), Parker Salinas (IUE)

PITTSBURGH -- A rematch of last year's KIAC Tournament Finals is the KIAC Men's Basketball Game of the Week -- Indiana East at Point Park on Saturday, Jan. 23 at 2 p.m.

Indiana East (13-8, 7-0 KIAC), which is receiving votes in the NAIA Division II Top 25, takes its unbeaten conference record on the road to Point Park (10-9, 3-6 KIAC), which is looking to make up ground in the standings and pull a KIAC upset.

It is the second installment this year of last year's KIAC finals. IU East beat Point Park earlier this season at home, 78-74, Jan. 11. The Red Wolves held off a late Pioneers' rally for the victory. The KIAC finals also went IU East's way, 84-67.

IU East has won four straight and is the hottest team in the KIAC. The last two wins both came on the road versus second and third place teams WVU Tech and then-No. 20 Rio Grande. Point Park is coming off a 102-71 win at Carlow, which snapped a three-game losing streak.

Full coverage of the KIAC Game of the Week includes live video on Point Park's Stretch Internet portal. Live Audio is available on the Red Wolves Live Network. Live Stats provided via PointPark.edu.

Follow the KIAC Game of the Week on Twitter @KIACSports with hashtags #KIACgotw and #KIAC. Twitter score updates available at @KIACScores.

The following is a game preview courtesy of IU East:

LAST TIME OUT

IU East rallied for a 66-65 win at No. 25 West Virginia University Institute of Technology on Jan. 19. Point Park won at Carlow, 102-71 that same night after getting out to a 21-4 lead.

The Red Wolves are 8-0 all-time against Point Park, but five of those games were decided by five points or less - including the most recent meeting, a 78-74 IU East victory in Richmond on Jan. 11.

IU EAST STORYLINES

* IU East has won four in a row.

* The Red Wolves are the lone KIAC team without a league loss.

* IU East is 6-3 in road games this season.

* The Red Wolves are 8-0 when they shoot .480 or better from the field and 6-0 if they score 80 points or more.

* IU East is 3-1 in KIAC Game of the Week matchups this season.

* Sophomore guard Lucas Huffman (Indianapolis, Ind./Franklin Central High School) leads IU East with 16.4 points per game. Huffman has scored in double digits in 19 consecutive games.

* Senior guard Vasha Davis (Hammond, Ind./Morton High School) had a team-best 21 points in the first IU East-Point Park game this season.

* IU East can clinch a spot in the KIAC postseason tournament with a victory.

RED WOLVES IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS

IU East is 10th in the nation with 4.4 blocks per game and 23rd in the nation with a .734 free throw percentage.

Vasha Davis is 24th in the nation with an .843 free throw percentage.

POINT PARK STORYLINES

The Pioneers continue to light up scoreboards. Point Park leads the KIAC and is third in the nation with 93.6 points per game. The Pioneers are also sixth in the nation with 10.7 3-point field goals per game and eighth in the nation with a .494 overall field goal percentage.

Kelvin Goodwin, a 6-0 senior guard, leads Point Park and is 12th in the nation with 22.7 points per game. Goodwin scored 30 points for the Pioneers in the first IU East-Point Park meeting this season. He teams with Jerah'me Williams at 19.7 ppg as the highest-scoring duo in the conference and one of the tops in the country.

T.J. Lanier, a 6-6 senior forward, contributes 13.4 points per game and is third in the nation with a .508 3-point field goal percentage. Sa'iid Allen provides scoring off the bench at 11.2 ppg and shoots 44 percent from long range.

Point Park is 1-4 in KIAC road games, which is a big reason why it is 3-6 in the conference. Now back on its home court, the Pioneers play four of their final seven games at home.