Basketball Hosts North Carolina Central Tonight At Beeghly

[IAA Fan]

Opening Tip
• After two weeks away, the Youngstown State men's basketball team returns to the friendly confines of the Beeghly Center when it hosts North Carolina Central on Tuesday, Nov. 19.
• Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m. and the game will be broadcast on 570 WKBN, ESPN+, and  WatchESPN App.
• This is the second of four games as part of the Global Sports Shootout.

The Coaches
• Jerrod Calhoun is in his third year at Youngstown State and his eighth season overall as a head coach. The 13th head coach in program history, Calhoun owns a career mark of 145-84 overall and is 21-46 at Youngstown State. The Cleveland, Ohio, native came to YSU after spending five years at Fairmont State, where he led the Fighting Falcons to the 2017 NCAA Division II National Championship game and a 34-3 overall record. Calhoun was named the 2017 Mountain East Conference Coach of the Year and the Mountain East Conference Men's Sports Coach of the Year.
• LeVelle Moton is in his 11th season at North Carolina Central and owns a career record of 174-156. Moton has led the Eagles to four NCAA Tournaments in 2014, 2017, 2018 and 2019. Moton also guided the Eagles to the NIT in 2015. IN 2014, Moton led the NCCU to a school-record 28 wins.
 
Gameday Promotions
• Food Can Drive - Bring a canned good and receive a $5 GA ticket-Supporting Second Harvest Food Bank.
• Medical Mutual/Faculty Staff Appreciation Night.
 
Tipoff Tidbits
• This is the second meeting between Youngstown State and North Carolina Central.
• The Penguins won the last meeting, 70-57, on Jan. 27, 2010, in the Beeghly Center.
• The Penguins are coming off a 73-61 to Louisiana on Nov. 15.
• Sophomore Darius Quisenberry was the lone player to reach double figures with 18 points against the Ragin Cajuns.
• Against Louisville, junior Naz Bohannon led the Penguins with 14 points while Quisenberry scored 11 points and senior Devin Morgan added 10 points.
• Junior Jamir Thomas posted a career-high 11 rebounds against the Cardinals.
• YSU returns all five starters and 10 letterwinners from last season.
• The Penguins return 77.9 percent of their scoring, 82 percent of their rebounding, and 83.2 percent of made 3-pointers.
• Youngstown State's eight Horizon League wins tied for the second-most in school history.
• YSU had a six-game league winning streak for the first time in since 1997-98.
• YSU set the school record for most 3-pointers in a single-season with 303.
• Last year, Darius Quisenberry set YSU freshman records for most 3-pointers made (51), most free throws made (106) and most free throws attempted (133).
• Quisenberry became the first YSU freshman to earn All-Horizon League honors after being named to the all-league second-team.
• Quisenberry's 441 points were the most scored by a freshman since YSU joined the Division I ranks in 1981-82.
• Junior Naz Bohannon ranked second in the Horizon League with 8.3 rebounds per game.
• Bohannon's career average of 8.2 rebounds per game ranks second in YSU's Division I history and 10th overall.
• Sophomore Jelani Simmons set the YSU freshman record for highest 3-point field-goal percentage at .402 last season.
• Simmons also ranked fifth in the Horizon League with a .402 3-point field-goal percentage.
• Junior Garrett Covington was named to the Horizon League All-Defensive Team.
• Senior Devin Morgan led the team with 60 made 3-pointers.
 
About NC Central
North Carolina owns an overall record of 1-3 after dropping an 87-57 decision to Louisville on Nov. 17. The Eagles also lost to Akron, 57-47, on Nov. 15, and defeated USC-Upstate, 73-64.  Leading the Eagles is Randy Miller, Jr., with 15 points per game and Jibri Blount with 10.8 points and 10.3 rebounds per game.
 
The NC Central Series
This is the second meeting between Youngstown State and North Carolina Central. The Penguins won the last meeting, 70-57, on Jan. 27, 2010, in the Beeghly Center.

Last Time Out
The Penguins dropped a 73-61 decision at Louisiana on Nov. 15 in Lafayette, La. Sophomore Darius Quisenberry was the only player to reach double figures with 18 points.
 
Thomas Grabs Career High Rebounds
In just his second game with Youngstown State, junior Jamir Thomas posted the first double figure rebound game of his career. Thomas grabbed a career-high 11 boards to go along with eight points against Louisville on Nov. 10.
 
Bohannon on the Boards
Junior Naz Bohannon has picked up right where he left off on the glass. Bohannon is averaging 8.0 rebounds per game after two games. In his career, Bohannon has 521 rebounds for a career average of 8.2 rebounds per game.
 
Quisenberry Nearing 500 Career Points
Sophomore Darius Quisenberry is on his way to 500 career points. The Springfield, Ohio, native has 486 points through 35 career games for a career average of 13.8 points per game, and needs just 14 more to reach 500. Last season, Quisenberry scored 441 points as a freshman. The last sophomore to reach 500 points was Cameron Morse in his 35th game. Kendrick Perry reached his 500th career point as a sophomore in his 46th game.
 
Up Next
The Penguins visit Akron, Thursday, Nov. 21, at the James A. Rhoades Arena as part of the Global Sports Shootout. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m.
 
A Win Would
• Give YSU its second win over NC Central.
• Mark Jerrod Calhoun's 146th career win and his 22nd at YSU.
• Mark the 1,098th victory in program history.
• Give the Penguins an 2-2 overall record
• Mark YSU's second win of the season.

[ucfpengbuck]

Walk on Geoff Hamperian gets the start and responds making three 3 pointers and he won the jump ball.  We're up 38 -31 at half but guys like simmons,Akuchie,Morgan,and covington need to get out of their funk.   With Ola out and coach going small ball they need to start hitting 3s.  Not sure why Jamir Thomas isn't getting playing time.   

[ytownchief22]

Win is a win. Still can't believe how many shots around the rim this team misses... Cannot keep that up.

[guinpen]

I'll take it

[YsuPride]

Over the years we've always been pretty decent at three-point shooting. I cannot believe the same good shooters from last year cannot even hit the side of a barn this year. At least tonight we improved our free throw shooting immensely. Schedule gets tougher. If we can hit threes or doomed the rest of the year it will be hard to stay out of the basement again

[ucfpengbuck]

The college 3 point line is roughly about a foot and a half further than last year.  Not sure what the numbers are around the country.  At YSU we're at 23%.  Instead of jacking up the step back 3, can some of the guys that are struggling put the ball on the floor and get to a spot like a foul line jumper or all the way to the rim,or hit some one cutting off his penetration when a defender leaves his man ?

I know it's only four games but as a fan it's hard to watch the same madness of shots clanking off the rim.

[mudclods]

Strange game.  YSU seemed like the better team but really felt like we were going to lose in the 2nd half as it looked like a repeat of the Louisiana game down the stretch.  The difference in this game was making foul shots, which was good to see after struggling the first 3 games.  DQ is definitely the go to guy...it's hard to believe he's only a sophomore.   Was great to see Naz have the game he's capable of having...hopefully he can turn in more of these types of games down the road.  He played very confident.  We still struggle missing so many put backs, layups, etc. 

Obviously the story of the game was Geoff Hamperian.  Kind of reminded me of John Sally last year when he came off the bench and was key.  Was really nice to see him have success last night.   

The 3-PT shooting this year has been awful.  If you take Geoff's 3-4 last night away, YSU was just 2-18. 

Really hope Simmons, Cathcart, Morgan, and Akuchie can find their shooting touch soon.  It's been hard to watch.  Those 4 were 1-20 shooting last night...that's just hard to even imagine.  We got off 13 more shots then them last night including 9 more 3's.  Make a few of those shots and the game wouldn't even have been close. 

I thought maybe Covington was sick when he didn't get the start and didn't get many minutes.  He just didn't look like he had a lot of energy and wasn't his normal self, but Coach didn't say anything to allude he was sick or anything.  Seemed odd too Thomas only played 5 mins. 

At times it looks like YSU is jacking up 3's and other times it looks like guys are afraid to shoot when they're open.  At times I wish guys would take some mid-range jumpers. 

Akron is going to be a real challenge especially if we can't make shots.  Their only loss is to WVU and that was only by 10.  USC Upstate is definitely a winnable game and that's followed up by Westminster.  Wouldn't be terrible to go into Thanksgiving at 4-3.