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YSU hopes third time charm against Detroit
Penguins, Titans
meet on Saturday
By STEVE WILAJ
YOUNGSTOWN
Youngstown State’s first loss to Detroit (Jan. 2) came by nine points. Its second loss to the Titans (Feb. 6) was by just two points.
As the No. 7 Penguins have prepared for their third matchup with no. 6 Detroit in the first round of the Little Caesar’s Horizon League Men’s Basketball Championship at 7:30 p.m. Saturday inside Detroit’s Joe Louis Arena, head coach Jerry Slocum has certainly analyzed the first couple near-misses.
“We’ve really had two terrific games with them and the differences in the games have been about a four-minute stretch,” Slocum said. “At home [on Feb. 6], we had a five-out-of-six possession turnover stretch from the five-minute mark to the three-minute mark in the second half. At their place [on Jan. 2], it was almost an identical spot. ... We’re excited about the game.”
It’s a game that may mark the end of Slocum’s 11-year tenure at YSU.
Slocum — who won the 700th game of his 41-year head-coaching career earlier this season — is in the final year of his contract. His record is 129-209 with the Penguins, who are 11-20 overall and 6-12 in the Horizon League this season.
YSU athletic director Ron Strollo has yet to have contract discussions with Slocum.
“We’ll look at it after the season,” Strollo said in a phone call on Thursday. “Anywhere between the end of this season and beginning of the next season.”
When asked if YSU’s showing in this weekend’s conference tournament holds any great significance in deciding Slocum’s fate, Strollo said: “I think you put the whole thing into perspective. It’s just part of the whole evaluation.”
The Penguins enter their matchup with Detroit (15-14, 9-9) having lost seven of their last nine games. However, YSU is coming off a solid 94-75 win against Northern Kentucky on Saturday to close the regular season.
“After beating NKU like we did, we feel like we can make a big run in the tournament,” said sophomore guard Cameron Morse, who averages 20.1 points per game and was named All-Horizon League second team on Tuesday. “The last game we played Detroit, we almost won that game. So we feel real confident.
“It’s hard to beat a team three times. So going in, I feel like we have nothing to lose.”
Morse scored 30 points at Beeghly Center on Feb. 6, as YSU led by one with just 4:15 remaining before falling. Morse also scored 24 points at Detroit on Jan. 2, while Matt Donlan added 22 points as YSU led by seven early in the second half before the Titans took command.
“Both teams like to play uptempo, both teams like to push it and go and both teams will take quick shots,” Slocum said. “It’ll be interesting to see — on a floor you’ve only been on for an hour — if that will have any effect on the shooting. I think both programs are probably sitting around the next couple days trying to figure ways to play better defensively.”
Guard Paris Bass leads Detroit with 18. 7 points oer game. He scored 20 at YSU, while guard Anton Wilson notched 34 points in the Titans’ first matchup with the Penguins.
“It’s about the effort,” Morse said. “We have to come out focused. We have to do what Coach says, play defense and hit open shots.”
YSU-Detroit will be the final contest of a four-game slate Saturday. This will be the inaugural year of the tournament being held at one, neutral location.
Should YSU defeat the Titans, the Penguins would advance to play the winner of a Wright State-UIC matchup on Sunday at 3:30 p.m.
“The bottom line to it is that it’s just fair,” Slocum said of the tournament’s new structure. “Obviously, the league is still heavily tilted to the No. 1 and 2 seeds with the double-byes. ... That being said, with everything that favors the top two seeds, it’s nice to have a neutral court to play on.”