YSU hoops teams peaking at right time

By DAN HINER

dhiner@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

Excitement is swirling around the Youngstown State men’s and women’s basketball programs. The teams have combined for a 9-1 record so far in February, but the toughest tests await both teams this weekend.

Both teams will go on the road with postseason hopes on the line. The men and women will travel to Northern Kentucky and finish the two-game road trip with Wright State.

The women have a chance to take the top spot in the Horizon League standings this weekend.

The Penguins play the Norse on Friday and take on the Raiders on Sunday. The Raiders are the top team in the conference standings and are one loss ahead of the Penguins.

YSU beat the Raiders 83-68 at home on Jan. 18 and followed three days later with a 77-66 victory over the Norse on Jan. 21.

But past success doesn’t mean the Penguins can look past the Norse.

“Northern Kentucky’s a very good team – lot of good players,” YSU women’s head coach John Barnes said. “They gave us everything we could handle here at home, so it’s a big challenge for us.”

With the 67-47 win over Milwaukee on Sunday, the Penguins clinched a home playoff game and a 20-win season.

It’s the first time the Penguins won a least 20 of their first 26 games since the 1997-98 season. That season, YSU made its second trip to the NCAA tournament and won its first NCAA game, upsetting fifth-seeded Memphis 91-80.

While the 20-win season is impressive to Barnes, he and the team have bigger plans. So the achievement takes a backseat for larger goals.

“You’re right, 20 wins is kind of a benchmark for lack of a better word,” Barnes said. “You try to get to that point. I think as a team, as a staff, we’re fighting for something more than that.

“If we had 15 wins and the league was a little more balanced, we’d care less about the 20 wins. We’re trying to win as many games as we can, always, but right now we’re in a position where we control our own destiny. We gotta focus and find a way to beat NKU, and if that happens, we can move forward from there.”

The men have won six straight games, but the Norse and the Raiders are the top teams in the conference standings. The Penguins lost to the Raiders and Norse in back-to-back game in January.

The Penguins have a chance to earn a home game in the Horizon League tournament if they can win both games this week and UIC and Oakland lose.

YSU is tied with Oakland in the conference standings and is one game behind UIC.

For YSU men’s head coach Jarrod Calhoun, the fact the Penguins’ recent success means the players are starting to develop and the program is moving in the right direction.

“I think it means we recruited a lot of good players,” Calhoun said. “I think our players have really grown up, they’ve gotten better. They’re approach is so much better than when we first put this group together in the start of the year.

“Just to see their smiles, to see their swagger right now, to see their work ethic take that next step ... that’s why you coach in college. You watch guys develop, you watch them mature on and off the court. That’s why I got into the business.”

The Penguins will take that new-found swagger and confidence on the road this week.

“It’s probably gonna be our toughest road trip of the year – going down to Dayton, Ohio, and Kentucky,” YSU guard Darius Quisenberry said. “I think we can do it if we believe in each other as a team and play the way we’re playing now. I think we can definitely get it done.”

Covington Questionable

YSU men’s guard Garrett Convington left Thursday’s 75-73 win over IUPUI with a concussion and didn’t play in the Penguins’ 81-73 win over Illinois at Chicago.

Calhoun said the sophomore could play but is still undergoing evaluation. Covington went through conditioning drills with assistant athletic trainer Todd Burkey and is on pace to play.

Covington is second on the team with 10.7 points and four rebounds per game.

“Garrett does a lot for us,” Calhoun said. “He’s one of our hardest workers. He’s probably our best on-ball defender. So to win a game against that type of team in UIC with really good guards, that’s a testament to all the guys chipping in.”

Another Week, Another Award

Quisenberry earned the Horizon League’s Freshman-of-the-Week Award for the third consecutive week.

Quisenberry scored a career-high 37 points in Saturday’s win over UIC. It was the most by a freshman in YSU’s Division I era (since 1981-82) and the most by a freshman since Jeff Covington scored 44 in 1975.

Quisenberry has averaged 20.5 points, three rebounds, 5.2 assists and 2.2 steals per game in the Penguins’ six game win streak.

“As I said these past couple weeks, it’s a great honor for me and my accomplishments here at YSU,” Quisenberry said. “I think, third time in a row, that’s pretty big for me and my spirits. But I can’t be satisfied. We’re still in the running, we’re still in fifth place now and I still want to host a game for our fans.

“I want to get to the fourth or third spot in the Horizon League as a team.”