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Penguins’ smaller, faster lineup performing well
By Steve wilaj
youngstown
What does Monday’s 100-98 buzzer-beating win at Oakland (possibly the Horizon League’s best team) do for a Youngstown State men’s team that knows it wasn’t even expected to be in the game, let alone win it?
“It just gives us that extra confidence and swagger,” said junior forward Matt Donlan, who scored 19 points. “We know how highly regarded Oakland is in the league, so that’s a win that’s gonna turn some heads. So for us, that puts it in our minds that we can beat anybody in the league when we come to play.”
Surprisingly enough, the head-turning victory came in just the second full game for the new-look Penguins (6-9, 1-1), who are still adjusting to life without senior forward Bobby Hain (foot injury).
While YSU is playing smaller and faster, there’s no denying the Penguins also are performing the best they have all season.
“We went into those first two [conference] games in a bit of an identity crisis — who are we now that we’re playing a different style?” head coach Jerry Slocum said. “I thought we played two great games.
“I thought we played great at Detroit [on Saturday] and then beat, arguably, probably the best team in our league [and] maybe one of the best mid-majors in the country. So give our kids a lot of credit. ... We had a lot of young guys step up in big moments.”
Ironically — despite the Penguins playing smaller and faster without Hain — the young guy who stepped up the most was seven-foot backup center Jorden Kaufman.
He tipped in the game-winning bucket off of a missed Cameron Morse layup with just one second left to cap his career-performance of 18 points and 13 rebounds in 22 minutes.
“It’s kind of a silly statement for me to come out and say, but he’s such a big guy,” Slocum said. “A lot of balls were up around the rim and his two big hands grabbed them. He had five defensive rebounds, I think, in the last three minutes that were huge for us. His offensive tip was because he played with energy.
“I give him credit, he’s down close to 50 pounds to where he was on Sept. 1. He has made a commitment to be in better shape and be a better basketball player and we don’t win that ballgame without him.”
Even with Kaufman’s big performance, when YSU plays Milwaukee (10-5, 1-1) at Beeghly Center on Thursday at 7:45 p.m., fans can expect to see more guard play than usual from the Penguins.
Against Oakland, YSU started three guards (Francisco Santiago, Jordan Andrews and Cameron Morse) and Donlan at the power forward (he made five 3’s), to go along with lone big man Sidney Umude. Then, guards Latin Davis and Brett Frantz were the top two players off the bench (in addition to Kaufman).
The results were obviously solid, as Morse led with 23 points, Andrews scored 18 and the Penguins shot 16 of 32 from behind the arc as they had 85 shot attempts.
“It’s clearly a team that’s different than what we’ve played with,” Slocum said. “The facts are that we’re stretching the floor and we’re gonna take a lot more 3’s.”
Added Donlan: “The good thing about our lineup right now is you can’t really focus on one person and say, ‘If we take this guy away, we can beat them.’ I think we kind of do it by committee and that’s something that’ll be good for us moving into league play.”
Hain’s absence hasn’t been kind to YSU’s defense, as the Penguins allowed 87 points to ND, 96 to Detroit and 98 to Oakland. Slocum said their defensive scheme is undergoing an adjustment and is a work in progress.
But the immediate offensive firepower can’t be denied, as the Hain-less Penguins also put up 78 points on the Fighting Irish and 87 on Detroit. The next challenge is maintaining the pace.
“That’s the million dollar question: How do we bring that intensity back home with us?” Slocum said. “We talked about not leaving it on the bus and coming out and playing hard. We need to take the opportunity now of two home games to come out and play with that kind of fire and intensity.”
After Thursday’s game, YSU hosts Green Bay (9-5, 2-0) on Saturday at 7 p.m.
Hain update
The injured big man who last played on Dec. 21 at Notre Dame still hasn’t rejoined the team.
Slocum anticipates he will be back with YSU this week, at which time he’ll be evaluated by team doctors before being given an official diagnosis.
“We’re gonna know a lot more this week,” Slocum said.