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YSU men set to hit the road against Horizon foes
youngstown
After opening conference play splitting home games between Milwaukee and Green Bay, the Youngstown State men’s basketball team turns its attention to the first conference road trip this season.
YSU plays Northern Kentucky on Thursday and at Wright State on Saturday. YSU head coach Jerry Slocum called NKU this year’s surprise team in the Horizon League.
“Their defensive pressure has helped them and a lot of their younger guys have matured,” Slocum said.
The Norse (10-5) are averaging 76.4 points per game like to play up-tempo. It’s similar to the style Green Bay beat YSU with on New Year’s Eve.
“They push it,” Slocum said. “Our transition defense wasn’t very good against Green Bay. That was a disappointing loss in that I didn’t think our basketball IQ was very good in that game.
“Normally we do a pretty good job of making teams play to their B and C [game plans] and we do a pretty good job of taking away a team’s A stuff.”
Free-throw shooting has been a concern for the Penguins lately. YSU shot just 19 of 38 (50 percent) from the foul line against the Panthers and Phoenix.
“Things like turnovers, poor foul shooting, they’re like a virus that creeps up every once in a while in your program and we need some medicine to get rid of it,” Slocum said. “That medicine is hard work and fundamentals.”
Matt Donlan also has struggled. In conference play Donlan is shooting just 3 of 15 from the floor and 2 of 11 from 3-point range. With Cameron Morse and Francisco Santiago both averaging double figures, Slocum is looking for that consistent third scorer.
“Matt has struggled,” Slocum said. “Shooters are going to have slumps. It’s the nature of the game.
“But Cameron can’t be taking 20 shots a game. He’s got to be in that 14-16 range. Francisco has had a heck of year, but we need Matt.”
Donlan’s struggles have opened the door a bit for other players. Slocum believes he’s still getting solid production out of his forwards. Freshman Braun Hartfield is averaging 8.5 points per game and is shooting 53 percent from the floor.
“We’re still getting good production out of that four position with Braun playing really well,” Slocum said. “I’m really happy for him.”
After NKU comes WSU. The Raiders (10-5) have changed drastically from last year’s squad. Gone are former head coach Billy Donlon’s slow-paced style and now Scott Nagy’s up-tempo style has the Raiders running.
Nagy came in from South Dakota State, where his Jackrabbits made three NCAA Division I tournaments his final five seasons.
WSU’s most notable player is 5-foot-6 guard Mark Alstork, who’s averaging 19.7 points per game. The Raiders have three other players averaging double figures with Stephen Davis (15.6), Grant Benzinger (11.1) and Justin Mitchell (10.3) all capable of big games.
A new league coach and new style means lots of film study for Slocum and his team.
“Wright State is off to a really good start with a player of the year candidate,” Slocum said. “We spent a lot of time from after our game the other night through New Year’s trying to prepare as much as you can.”