Basketball Hosts Akron in NE Ohio Coaches vs. Cancer Doubleheader Saturday

by YSU

Wednesday, Nov 9, 2016 3:12 pm

Game Preview

• The Youngstown State men's basketball team opens its 87th season when it hosts Mid-American Conference member Akron, Saturday, Nov. 12, at the Beeghly Center.

• Tipoff is slated for 7:45 p.m. ET and is on 570 AM WKBN, ESPN3 and the WatchESPN app.
 

NE Ohio Coaches vs. Cancer

• The game is part of the 2nd Annual Northeast Ohio Coaches vs. Cancer Basketball Doubleheader.

• Kent State and Cleveland State play 5 p.m. at Beeghly Center.

• Akron will host the event in 2017 and Cleveland State in 2018.
 

Up Next

• The Penguins play their first road game of the season against another Mid-American Conference foe Toledo, Tuesday, Nov. 15.

• Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m. and the game will on 570 AM WKBN.
 

PSU-Behrend Exhibition Recap

• Junior Cameron Morse scored a team-high 24 points and made six 3-pointers to lead the Youngstown State men's basketball team to a 100-61 exhibition win over Penn State-Behrend on Saturday afternoon at the Beeghly Center.

• Morse connected on 8-of-10 shooting from the field, including 6-of-8 from behind the arc, and grabbed four rebounds.

• Senior Matt Donlan also reached double figures with 11 points and three 3-pointers while sophomore Devin Haygood scored nine points with a team-high seven rebounds.

• Junior Rahim Williams also poured in nine points and senior Brett Frantz added eight points.

• The Penguins hit a total of 17 3-pointers and eight different players made at least one from distance.

• For the game, the Penguins connected on 50.7 percent from the field and 48.6 percent from 3-point range.
 

Morse Named Preseason All-Horizon League

• Junior Cameron Morse, a 2016 All-Horizon League selection, was named to the Preseason All-Horizon League First-Team.

• Morse led the Horizon League in scoring in league games with 23.3 points per game and ranked second overall with 20.3 points per game.

 

700 Club

• Head Coach Jerry Slocum has 710 career wins and became the 38th head coach in NCAA history to reach 700 wins.

• He ranks 37th with 710 career wins.

• Slocum currently ranks eighth among active NCAA Division I coaches with 710 wins.

 

Morse Improvement

• Junior Cameron Morse averaged 14.3 points more per game in his sophomore year from his freshman season.

• That scoring improvement ranks tied for the highest in Youngstown State's Division I era (since 1981-82).

• It matches the best increase in YSU's Division I history of 14.3 points per game by Tilman Bevely from 1985-86 to 1986-87.

• Bevely averaged 9.3 points per game in 1985-86 and 23.6 points per game in 1986-87.
 

About Akron

• Akron enters the 2016-17 season as the preseason favorite to win the Mid-American East Division and the MAC Tournament.

• The Zips return nine letterwinners and three starters from last year's 26-9 team.

• Senior Isaiah Johnson, who averaged 13.6 points and 7.6 rebounds per game last year, was a Preseason All-MAC First-Team pick.
 

The Akron Series

• This is the 89th meeting between Youngstown State and Akron in a series that dates back to 1937.

• The Zips own a 57-31 advantage in the all-time series and have won the last six meetings.

• The last Youngstown State win came in 1994 - a 69-53 victory at the Beeghly Center.
 

A Win Would

• Give Youngstown State its 32nd win over Akron.

• Mark YSU's first win over the Zips since 1994.

• Mark YSU's 23rd win over Akron at the Beeghly Center.

• Mark YSU's 41st season-opening win.

• Mark Jerry Slocum's 711th career win and his 130th at Youngstown State.

• Mark Jerry Slocum's first win over Akron.

• Mark the 1,064th victory in program history.

• Give the Penguins an 1-0 overall record.

• Mark YSU's first home win of the season.
 

Guins In Season Openers

• The Penguins own a 40-46 mark in season openers.

• The Penguins' last season-opening win at home was a 64-61 victory over Samford on Nov. 12, 2010.
 

Morse 1,000-Point Countdown

• Junior Cameron Morse has scored 710 points in just two seasons and needs 290 more to become the 37th player in school history to reach 1,000 career points.

• Morse's 608 points last season are the ninth most in school history and the third-most since YSU joined Division I in 1981-82.