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YSU’s potential struggles to emerge
By STEVE WILAJ
YOUNGSTOWN
You can see the Youngstown State men’s basketball team’s potential in flashes.
High-scoring sophomore guard Cameron Morse (19.8 points per game) certainly shows it. Same goes for steady sophomore point guard Francisco Santiago, freshman guard Jordan Andrews and a few underclass big-men that still need to mature.
“This group has the ability to really be really special,” said 11th year Penguins coach Jerry Slocum, who’s in the last year of his contract. “That’s the thing that excites us all.”
However, even though that potential is imminent from YSU’s roster that features eight underclassmen and just one senior, it’s mixed with a lot of poor play from the youngsters — evident by the Penguins’ 9-17 overall and 4-9 Horizon League record.
“I think this group has paid a tremendous price for its youth,” said Slocum, whose team has lost four straight heading into today’s matchup with Illinois-Chicago at Beeghly Center at 7:05 p.m.
“In our last game [a 64-59 loss to Cleveland State on Saturday], it kind of hit me — I mean I know it, but when you’re home and the announcer say’s ‘freshman, freshman, sophomore, sophomore‘ — a chill went up my spine.
“So we’re paying a heavy price for a lot of lessons. I told a lot of those younger guys that. ... if we’re not learning from them, we’re not gonna be where we want be.”
The Flames (5-19, 3-10) come to town to cap a four-game homestand and are a team YSU defeated on Jan. 28.
The Penguins displayed plenty of potential in that contest, jumping to a 24-point lead in the first half before hanging on for the victory. Morse finished with 22 points and Matt Donlan and Andrews each scored 18.
UIC — which was winless in the conference at that point — is in a better place now, as it enters having won three of its past four games. Donlan said YSU is well aware of the Flames’ progress.
“Mentally, we’re in a state where we know we have to get one and just get back on track and keep chipping away,” he said. “This is all a progression leading into the conference tournament. That’s when you need to be playing your best and that’s what the whole season is really about.”
Donlan, a junior forward, is averaging 13 ppg. and shooting 48 percent from 3-point range. His long-range accuracy ranks second-best in the Horizon League and fourth-best in the entire country.
“We gotta take care of the ball and we gotta rebound better,” he said. “I think for us, our best offense is when everyone’s involved. But sometimes the ball gets a little stagnant. So we have to move the ball.”
For the first time in seven games, YSU should have Sidney Umude (seven points, 3.3 rebounds per game) back in the starting lineup.
The sophomore center has been sidelined with a knee injury since the Penguins’ Jan. 16 contest at Wright State, but he went through three straight practices with no problems and Slocum is expecting his return.
In all, YSU — which sits eighth out of 10 teams in the conference standings — has five more regular season games remaining. Basically, Slocum wants to see the Penguins’ potential show up more consistently.
“We’ve had one really bad effort against Oakland [on Feb. 4] and then played pretty good the next two games,” he said of the homestand. “But our margin for error is not very good. We just can’t have bad basketball IQ plays in big moments.”