No. 2 #20 IU South Bend vs. No. 7 Judson Wednesday, Feb. 23 | 7:00 p.m. Student Activities Center | South Bend, Ind. Game Notes | Live Stats | Streaming Video

Tipoff

• No. 20 IU South Bend opens postseason play on Wednesday night, when they host Judson in the CCAC Tournament quarterfinals.
• The Titans have secured the No. 2 seed in the CCAC Tournament, finishing with a 19-3 record in league play.
• Dylan Allen leads the team with 14.4 points per game, while Donyell Meredith is averaging 13.7 points per game. Three Titans are averaging double figures this season, with Miles Tracy scoring 11.9 points per game.
• The Titans are averaging 83.2 points per game, good for 3rd-most in the CCAC. Judson has the 7th-ranked offense, averaging 74.6 points per game.
• The IUSB defense leads the CCAC, averaging 65.1 points allowed per game, their lowest average since 2012-13 (56.6 ppg). Judson ranks 9th, allowing 75.3 points per game.
• IU South Bend finished the first half of the season with an 11-3 record, the program's best-ever mark in the fall semester.
• Dylan Allen is the 20th player in IUSB history to score 1,000 career points, and after Saturday's win over St. Ambrose, has collected 1,602 points. Allen needs 5 points to match Tom Lantz (1986-89) and move into a tie for 2nd among career scorers for IUSB. 
• Allen is also the Titans' all-time winningest player, having played in 76 victories since his freshman season of 2017-18.
• With his appearance against St. Ambrose on Saturday, Allen broke the program's all-time record for games played, with 131.
• Donyell Meredith became the 21st Titan to reach 1,000 career points, on his first field goal in the win over St. Ambrose on Senior Day last Saturday. Meredith now has 1,011 career points, and is two points shy of former teammate Norell Smith to move into a tie for 20th on the all-time IUSB scoring list.
• The Titans are two-time defending CCAC Tournament champions, having qualified for the NAIA Tournament each of the past two years.
• Last season, IUSB won the CCAC Tournament title as the No. 15 seed, having played only two regular season games during the COVID pandemic.

Series History

• IU South Bend leads the series 11-7 over the Eagles since 2002-03, and have won four of the last five meetings with Judson.
• Judson is 2-1 all-time in overtime games with IU South Bend, incluidng a 112-104 win for the Eagles in 2018.
• The Titans have won three of the last four meetings at the Student Activities Center.

About Judson

• The Eagles enter play this week on a four-game win streak, to finish 7th in the CCAC standings and secure a spot in the postseason.
• Lorenzo Anderson is the team's scoring leader, with 22.3 points per game (2nd in CCAC). Anderson finished with a season-high 45 points at Saint Xavier on Nov. 23.
• Thomas Donati ranks 2nd in the conference with 12.2 rebounds per game, and leads the league with 122 offensive boards this season
• Head coach Bruce Fields is in his second season with Judson. Prior to leading the Eagles, Fields was an assistant coach at Trinity International and Olivet Harvey CC (Ill.).

Last Time Out

• Donyell Meredith II added his name to the IU South Bend record books, as the junior recorded his 1,000th career point in an 87-77 win for the No. 20-ranked Titans over St. Ambrose on a Senior Day Saturday afternoon.
• Sergio Diaz led the balanced attack with 14 points, while Meredith and Micah Poole each scored 13. Meredith also registered seven rebounds and a game-high six assists in the win. Dylan Allen tallied 12 points, Miles Tracy and Spencer Pettit each finished with 11, and Kenny Washington collected 10 points off the bench.
• St. Ambrose took their largest lead of the game late in the first half, going on an 8-0 run that saw the visitors pull away to a 46-35 lead at the 1:45 mark. Trailing by double digits in the final minute, three-pointers from Diaz and Allen helped close the gap for IUSB, and the Titans would go into the halftime break down five, 48-43.
• The first five points of the second half would come from Diaz, as the senior tied the game just over a minute into play after the break. The Titans would claim their first lead of the second half at the 13:20 mark, on Washington's layup, and Sam Snodgrass' three made it a 61-57 score in favor of IUSB a minute later. The Titans would lead the rest of the way, taking control of the game around the eight minute mark, with a 10-0 run that included threes from Pettit and Poole.
 

IUSB in the Polls

• The Titans were ranked No. 20 in the latest NAIA Coaches' Poll, released on Feb. 9, moving up two spots from their rank two weeks prior.
• The No. 20 spot in the NAIA is the highest national ranking in program history for IUSB.
• IUSB earned their first-ever national ranking earlier this season, when they debuted at the No. 25 spot in the Coaches' Preseason Poll on Oct. 27, but fell out of the rankings after a road loss to Bethel (Ind.) on Nov. 3.
• The Titans were picked first in the CCAC preseason poll on Oct. 25, ahead of Olivet Nazarene and Saint Xavier, who were ranked 2nd and 3rd, respectively.
• The next edition of the NAIA Coaches' Poll comes out Wednesday, Feb. 23.

 

Student Activities Center

• Home of IUSB basketball and volleyball, the Student Activities Center is celebrating its 20th season as the Titans' home court.
• The Titans hold an all-time record in the SAC of 132-132 (.500).
• In 2019-20, IU South Bend recorded a all-time high of 14 wins in the Student Activities Center, going 14-2 at home.
• This season, the Titans are 12-2 at the SAC.
 

Player Notes

• Senior guard Dylan Allen is averaging a team-high 14.4 points per game, and has led the team in scoring in seven games this season.
• Allen ranks 5th in the CCAC, with a total of 58 steals on the season.
• Against East-West on Dec. 1, Allen went a perfect 9-for-9 from the field, finishing with 22 points in the win.
• Allen has four 20-point games this season, including the most for IUSB in any road game this season (25, at Bethel).

• Junior guard Donyell Meredith is second on the team in scoring, with 13.7 points per game, and is averaging 5.7 rebounds per game, second-most on the team.
• Against No. 4 William Penn (Iowa) on Nov. 12, Meredith recorded 27 points, the most for any Titan in a single game this season.
• With 15 points and 10 rebounds in the win at St. Francis on Dec. 8, Meredith has one of the team's four double-doubles so far this year.
• Meredith has three games over 20 points this season - 27 against William Penn, 22 against Saint Mary-of-the-Woods (Ind.) on Nov. 13, and 21 in the win at Trinity Christian on Dec. 15.
• On Saturday's win over St. Ambrose, Meredith became the 21st player in IUSB history to reach 1,000 career points. Meredith needs two more points to move into 20th place on the Titans' all-time scoring list.

• Junior foward Miles Tracy is the third player to average double figures for the Titans, with 11.9 points per game.
• Tracy recorded his third career double-double in the win at Lincoln on Jan. 22, with a career-high 23 points and 10 rebounds.
• Tracy picked up another double-double on Wednesday, with a game-high 20 points with 12 rebounds in the win at Calumet.
• Tracy finished with a team-high 20 points against No. 19 Olivet Nazarene on Thursday, hitting a career-high three three-pointers in the 78-74 loss.
• Tracy ranks 8th in the CCAC, with a 56.9% shooting percentage.
• Tracy scored a 20 points in the overtime win at Saint Xavier on Nov. 17, going 8-for-12 from the floor with nine rebounds against the Cougars.
• Tracy is also nearing the 1,000-point threshold, with 975 career points.

• Sophomore guard Micah Poole has been pivotal off the bench for IUSB averaging 9.9 points per game.
• Poole leads the CCAC in three-point shooting, with a 47.6% percentage. His 59 three-point field goals sits 9th in the league.
• Poole set a new career high with 20 points in the win over Trinity Christian on  Jan. 24, going 6-for-10 from beyond the arc against the Trolls.
• In his first start this season, Poole matched his previous career high with 16 points in the win at Trinity Christian on Dec. 15.
• Poole scored the game-winning put-back at the buzzer in his second start of the year, a 71-70 win at Roosevelt on Jan. 5. 

• Senior guard Sergio Diaz is averaging 9.7 points per game, having 27 starts in 29 games this year. 
• Diaz has 20 blocked shots on the season, good for 11th in the CCAC.
• Diaz scored a career-high 19 points in the win over Judson on Jan. 26, on 7-of-10 shooting and a 5-for-7 performance from beyond the arc.
• Diaz pulled down a career-best nine rebounds in the win at Governors State on Feb. 14.

• Junior guard Kenny Washington is averaging 9.4 points per game, and ranks 7th in the CCAC with a 57.2% shooting percentage this season.
• Washington recorded his first career double-double in the win over Trinity Christian on Jan. 24, with ten points and ten assists.
• Washington's ten assists is the most for any IUSB player this year, and the most since Donyell Meredith's 10-assist game against Saint Xavier on Feb. 9, 2019.
• Washington scored a season-high 16 points against Roosevelt on Wednesday, in his third start of the season.

• Junior foward Spencer Pettit has started 27 of 29 games this season, and is averaging 7.9 points per game.
• Pettit scored double figures in the first four games of the season, with a career-high 19 points at Lawrence Tech (Mich.) on Oct. 30.
• Pettit recorded a career-best seven assists in the win over at Governors State on Feb. 14.

• Sophomore guard Sam Snodgrass has appeared in all 29 games this season, averaging 5.0 points per game.
• Snodgrass scored a career-best 14 points in the win over Trinity Christian on Jan. 24, hitting a career-high four three-pointers against the Trolls.
• Snodgrass matched his career high for the fourth time, with seven rebounds at IU Northwest last Wednesday.

• Freshman guard Da'Vion Davis has played in 17 of 29 games this season, averaging 3.6 points on 55.0% shooting this year (22-40).
• Davis is the team's scoring leader per 40 minutes (23.6 points/40 mins.), with an average of 8.0 minutes on the court per game. 
• Davis went a perfect 3-for-3 in five minutes of play, in the win at Governors State on Feb. 14.

• Junior forward Dane Simatovich has seen action in 17 games this year, averaging 2.4 points per game.
• In the win over East-West (Ill.) on Dec. 1, Simatovich scored a career-high 15 points, going 4-for-6 from three-point range.
• At Holy Cross on Jan. 17, Simatovich scored nine points, going 3-for-6 from beyond the arc.

• Freshman guard Alex Schmidt made his season debut during the win over Roosevelt on Jan. 5, pulling down one rebound in five minutes of action. Schmidt set a career-high with seven points in the win over Miami-Middletown (Ohio) on Jan. 29.

• Freshman guard Deshon Burnett has played in 17 games this year, and is averaging 0.9 points per game on 36.8% shooting.

• Freshman forward Ross Thompson has made five appearances in his first year at IUSB, recording three points, two rebounds, and two blocked shots in the win over East-West (Ill.) on Dec. 1.

• Freshman forward Ethan Williams made four appearance so far this season, recording three points and three rebounds in 11 minutes of action at Miami-Middletown (Ohio) on Jan. 29.

Up Next

• With a win, the Titans will host either No. 3-seed IU Northwest, or No. 6-seed Lincoln on Friday, Feb. 25.
• A loss will have the Titans preparing for the NAIA Men's Basketball Opening Round, set to begin on Friday, March 11.