If someone would have told Pittsburg State head men’s basketball coach Gene Iba would have his team standing at 5-1 heading into tonight’s MIAA opener against Missouri Western, he would have been very happy with that assessment.
Well, that is exactly where the Gorillas are and that is exactly the mood that Iba is in as Pitt State will open the conference slate tonight at John Lance Arena.
“I am fairly happy for it,” Iba said. “Obviously the one was a bad loss but we have some very tough competition.”
That one loss, a 68-46 setback at Newman University, may have been a reason for the Gorillas, that boast a lot of new faces this season, to really examine the rest of their season.
However, Pitt State was able to rebound and get a pair of wins — 78-67 over Southwestern and 72-55 over Mid-America Christian — at the Chris Tucker Memorial Classic last weekend in Joplin.
And they have done it with stout defense.
“We haven’t scored a many points as a lot of people and that does’t bother me,” Iba said. “But, our defense has gotten better over the course of the season.”
The Gorillas are currently outrebounding their opponents 247-189, an average of 41.2-31-5 per game.
They are also holding their opponents to .352 perent shooting from the field over their first six games.
“I think our containment has gotten better and our defensive rebounding has gotten better,” Iba said. “Our new guys are starting to buy into what we are trying to do defensively.”
Those new guys have had help buying in from seniors Spencer Magana — who leads the Gorillas with a 16.5 ppg average — Rodney Grace, who is averaging 14.2 ppg and is tied with Magana with 32 rebounds on the season.
Henry Rogers has also made the most of his time on the floor with an average of 1.7 ppg. in his 6.5 minutes per game on the floor.
“They have all contributed in one way or another and stabilized what may not have been working early,” Iba said. “I think they have gotten everyone on board.”
But, the new faces have also contributed.
Quincy Owens comes into tonight averaging 7.8 ppg. and 5.8 rebounds (team-high) and JaVon McGee has also stepped in with a 6 ppg. average.
“We kind of expected Quincy to do it and JaVon was a player that we were thinking about redshirting a couple of weeks ago and I am glad that we didn’t do that,” Iba said.
In addition, guard Zach Quick, who had a game-high five assists against Mid-America Christian and a game-high seven against Southwestern, has started to open the eyes of the Gorilla coaching staff.
“I think that the one thing that has impressed me the most has been the play of Zach Quick,” Iba said. “He has had some shortcomings and he has found ways to work around those.”
But, as the Gorillas open the conference schedule tonight against Missouri Western (4-1), there are still things that the Gorillas have to work on.
“If you polled all of the coaches they would all say that it is not about all games, but more practice time,” Iba said. “Since everyone has the same amount, it is okay but there are really no coaches that really feel they are ready.”
Matthew Clark can be reached at matthew.clark@morningsun.net or at 620-231-2600, Ext. 140. Follow Morning Sun sports at twitter.com/mssports
PITTSBURG —
