YOUNGSTOWN
If you want to be happy in a million ways, for the holidays you can’t beat home sweet home.
And if you want to be unhappy? Play YSU’s men’s basketball schedule.
After breaking for finals week, the Penguins (6-3) will continue what seventh-year Jerry Slocum calls the “toughest stretch since I’ve been here” when they play back-to-back road games on Saturday against Toledo and Monday against Akron.
“It’s a challenge for us,” said Slocum, whose team plays just two of its December games at home. “Our kids are excited about it, though.”
The Penguins have played three home games so far, which is tied with Cleveland State (three of 11) for the second-fewest in the Horizon League. (Just two of Loyola’s first nine games have been at home).
The Penguins’ lone remaining home game this month is against Robert Morris, “which may be the best team out of the [next] three,” Slocum said.
“We’re growing and we’re getting better,” said Slocum. “It’s a tough road.”
YSU is coming off an 80-72 loss to Buffalo in which it tied the school record with 14 3-pointers but was overmatched inside by the Bulls’ Javon McCrea (29 points, 13 rebounds) and Mitchell Watt (20 points, 10 rebounds).
“To be honest, I think Buffalo is the best of all the teams I’ve seen from the MAC [Mid-American Conference],” said Slocum. “Buffalo has a couple of very special big kids. Nobody in our league has guys like that.
“I thought our guys for the most part battled pretty hard. We didn’t play a bad basketball game; we just didn’t guard very well.”
The Penguins rank last in the Horizon League in defensive field goal percentage (43.
, although they’re fifth in the 10-team conference in points given up per game (62.2). YSU ranks third in the Horizon League with 67.4 points per game and is first in the league in 3-point percentage at 39.3 — five points better than second-place UIC (34.2).
Most of those points have come from YSU’s starters, as the bench is combining to average just nine points per game. Although the Penguins got just six points off the bench against Buffalo — on two 3-pointers from sophomore guard Nate Perry — Slocum said he’s seen improvement in that unit over the past few games, particularly from Perry, redshirt freshman forward Fletcher Larson and redshirt freshman guard Shawn Amiker.
But Slocum wants more from sophomore forward Josh Chojnacki, who is the team’s biggest player (6-foot-9, 220 pounds) and also the reserve who averages the most minutes (12.2). But Chojnacki is averaging just 1.4 points per game and 1.3 rebounds per game.
“He’s been inconsistent at best,” said Slocum. “He’s a big body for us. He’s one of those guys that we have that can kind of bang a little bit and can kind of give us a little lift with his size.
“He needs to keep on working at it and getting better.”
