Bad ‘D’ is common theme

It’s starting to get old listening to Youngstown State basketball coaches Jerry Slocum and Tisha Hill express their disappointment in their teams’ performances.

That disappointment isn’t getting any more wins out of either team and the Penguins lost two very disappointing — pardon the expression — basketball games Saturday.

The men’s loss to Buffalo was the worst of the two.

YSU gave up 95 points to the worst team in the Mid-American Conference, playing their worst defensive game of the season.

Offensively YSU played well enough to win most of their games, scoring 82 points.

They’ve done better only once this season and that came against Lock Haven in November.

Byron Davis set a career-high with 29 points and John Barber added 22, but those efforts went for naught because of the poor defense.

Buffalo, which had lost three straight games at home, scored any way it wanted to against the Penguins and that’s what upset Slocum the most.

20-loss season
almost a certainty

YSU is 9-19 and pretty much assured of the program’s sixth 20-loss season in the last seven.

Slocum’s top players are Davis and Barber, but both are seniors.

Vytas Sulskis and Vance Cooksey are talented freshmen, but obviously they’re going to need help next season.

Nobody knows how much help redshirt freshman Blair Rozenblad of Kennedy Catholic or junior transfer Kevin Draughon will be next year since neither has played this season.

Freshman Dan Boudler was some help off the bench until he broke his hand and missed the second half of the season.

Slocum has been courting some talented recruits this season and hopes they can help out immediately.

The Penguins were picked to finish last in the Horizon League’s preseason poll and so far the only team they’ve been able to pass is Detroit.

Cleveland State, which comes to Beeghly Center Saturday, was picked to finish ninth, yet the Vikings led the standings early in the year and currently sit in third place behind Butler and Wright State.

YSU, according to Slocum, depends on good shooting to win, but even good shooting without any defense just won’t cut it as the Penguins proved Saturday.

Saturday’s defeat
one to forget

Just when it looked like the women’s team things turned around it came up with one of those games to forget.

Early last week Hill was reminded about the Penguins’ 77-64 loss at Cleveland State on Jan. 26, a game in which the Vikings shot 55 percent in the second half and pulled away from a one-point halftime deficit.

“We’re a much better team than we were when we played them the last time,” Hill said.

That wasn’t evident Saturday in an 82-66 loss at Beeghly Center.

Cleveland State shot 60 percent in the first half and 54 percent for the game.

It wasn’t pretty to watch, although from the size of the crowd at Beeghly not many fans chose to even take in the contest.

It didn’t help that the Valley’s best high school girls teams were all playing at the same time in district championship games.

The Penguins have two more home games and then finish with two on the road.

If they want to play host to a first-round Horizon League tournament game they need to get to fourth place in the standings and that’s probably going to mean winning all four remaining games.

And since they don’t play anybody that is ahead of them, they’re still going to need some help along the way.

XPete Mollica covers YSU athletics for The Vindicator. Write to him at mollica@vindy.com.