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YSU looks for series split with Butler
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Youngstown State’s Nate Perry shoots past Butler’s Ronald Nored during a game last season at YSU’s Beeghly Center. The Penguins lost to the Bulldogs on the road in January at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, but they are looking to even the series tonight when Butler returns to Beeghly.
YSU looks for series split with Butler
By Joe Scalzo
YOUNGSTOWN
In mid-January, the Youngstown State men’s basketball team traveled to Indiana with a three-game winning streak and left with a pair of double-digit losses to Butler and Valparaiso.
What do the Penguins need to do better?
“Absolutely everything,” YSU coach Jerry Slocum said. “There’s not a phase of the game we don’t have to do better.
“We’ve got to take care of the ball better, we’ve got to rebound better, our shot selection’s gotta be better, we’ve got to handle the moment better.”
The Penguins (13-10, 8-5 Horizon League) play host to two-time national runner-up Butler (13-12, 7-6) tonight, then play Valparaiso on Saturday at Beeghly Center.
YSU famously beat the Bulldogs at home last season, 62-60; it was Butler’s final loss until falling to Connecticut in the national championship game.
“Everybody wants to say Butler’s not as good or whatever,” said Slocum. “The truth of the matter is Butler’s getting better shots this year. They just have a bunch of freshmen taking them rather than pros.”
YSU fell to Butler 71-55 on Jan. 15. The Penguins shot just 42 percent from the floor and committed 14 turnovers.
“Butler’s going to come into this game hungry, so we’ve just got to match their intensity if not be better than it,” said YSU sophomore guard Kendrick Perry. “They’re still dangerous. Defensively, they’re as good as anybody in the country.
“They’re a very well-coached team — coach [Brad] Stevens does a very good job with them. And [Ronald] Nored is really an efficient point guard. I think if we can take him out of the flow of the offense, we’ll do a good job on them defensively.”
Youngstown State has played just nine home games — tied with Cleveland State for fewest in the conference — and is averaging a league-low 2,696 fans. (Detroit is next-to-last with 3,030.)
But the Penguins drew more than 6,300 for their last home game, a loss to Cleveland State, and team officials are hoping to get at least 4,000 on Thursday.
“It’s always nice to have a good crowd, especially against a great Butler team that was runners up the past couple years,” said Perry. “Even if we don’t have a big crowd, the one thing we have to stay true to is ourselves. Just those 14 guys on the court.”