HORIZON LEAGUE Youngstown State teams complete season on the road
The men are at Detroit today; the women travel to Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
YOUNGSTOWN -- Both Youngstown State basketball teams conclude regular season play today.
The Penguin men visit Detroit at 4:05 p.m., while the women's team travels to Wisconsin-Milwaukee for a 3 p.m. tipoff.
The men's game will be broadcast on WNIO-AM (1390).
The men's team (5-21, 2-13 Horizon League) ended the home portion of their schedule with a 79-59 loss to Butler Wednesday night. Four YSU players scored in double figures, led by Brian Radakovich's 14. However, Butler shot 59.2 percent from the field and 68.8 percent from behind the 3-point arc.
Detroit (11-15, 8-7) won a big game at UW-Green Bay on Wednesday, 68-56. The win allowed the Titans to move into the third spot in the league standings. The third seed advances directly to the quarterfinals under the tournament format. Against the Phoenix, Brandon Cotton scored 18 points as Detroit shot 48 percent from the field.
The Horizon League tournament, sponsored by American Family Life, starts Tuesday. The Penguins will either be in Detroit or Chicago, against Detroit, Illinois-Chicago or Loyola.
The Penguins' John Barber scored a career-high 15 points in YSU's 59-55 victory over Detroit on Feb. 3. Barber sealed the victory by making two free throws with 4.1 seconds remaining in the contest.
Jon Mends scored a career-high 14 as well as Youngstown State beat Detroit for the first time since Jan. 4, 1988.
YSU trailed 23-15 late in the first half, but scored the final nine points of the opening frame to go ahead 24-23 at the break. With the game tied 25-25 in the second half, the Penguins went on an 11-3 run to build an eight-point advantage and never trailed again. The closest the Titans could get was 57-55 with eight seconds left before Barber drilled his two game-clinching free throws.
YSU hasn't won in Detroit
The Penguins have never won in Detroit in seven previous visits. In the three games at Calihan Hall since YSU has joined the Horizon League, the Penguins have lost 63-52, 86-52 and 64-43.
Youngstown State shot just 31.3 percent in last year's contest at Detroit, making 6-of-24 field-goal attempts in the second half.
The YSU women's team defeated Milwaukee 79-67 at the Beeghly Center Jan. 29, snapping the Panthers' eight-game winning streak in the series.
Milwaukee still holds the all-time series edge, 9-4.
The Penguins (11-15, 5-10) feature one of the more balanced attacks in the Horizon League. Senior Jen Perugini leads YSU in scoring (14-4) and rebounding (10.8), shooting 43.7 percent from the floor and 80.2 percent at the line.
Barb Fabianova leads YSU with 59 3-pointers while averaging 10.8 points per game, and Cathy Hanek averages 9.7 points per game with 47 3s. Freshman Lauren Branson is averaging a team-high 5.8 assists per game.
In the Jan. 29 game, Nichole Drummond led the Panthers with 18 points while Kimberly Becker added 13. Drummond leads Milwaukee in scoring, averaging 13.7 points per game. Three other players -- Teri Huff, Becker and Molly O'Brien -- are averaging at least 9.2 points per game.