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YOUNGSTOWN -- If Jerry Slocum could go back to the season opener against Akron and relive that throughout the rest of the season, the Youngstown State men's basketball coach would.
Instead, he's faced with the reality that the Penguins are 5-5 as they play today at 2 p.m. and junior shooting guard Cameron Morse and his 23.7 points per game will not be in the lineup.
Morse has been out the last three games with a severe sprain to his shooting (right) hand and will continue to be out until the foreseeable future. YSU hopes he will be back by Dec. 29 when YSU hosts Milwaukee in the start of Horizon League play.
"Structurally, it's OK. It's a wrist sprain," Slocum said. "We're holding him out as long as we have to. We feel conference play is more important than anything else. If we've got to hold him to the end of December in conference play, we're going to do what we've got to do."
Morse originally hurt the wrist during a mid-November overtime loss at Toledo.
"They cut his legs out at Toledo and he came down on it," Slocum said. "He tried to play through it, obviously. We went from Toledo to Mobile, Alabama. It was the onslaught of all those games. He never got a chance to take any rest.
"The further it went along, the more soreness he got. We got X-rays, MRIs. It was just a bad wrist sprain. All you can do is rest it."
Slocum has more to worry about than just Morse.
"To be honest with you, I'm coaching the guys we have," Slocum said. "I'm not saying we're not concerned. I ask for my daily report. Get it, and coach the guys we got."
Rahim Williams, a 6-6 guard/forward was out for a couple of games, but has been back for the past couple.
YSU has been led by 6-7 senior forward Matt Donlan. He averages more than 12 points, shoots 44 percent from 3-point range and 93 percent from the foul line.
"Coming out of last year, we knew we had something special with Matt," Slocum said. "I think the difference for Matt from last year to this year is he realized how hard he has to play all the time. Those first-year guys you get, I don't think they understand how important it is -- the next step.
"Matt is a really athletic kid. People look at him as a 3-point shooter. He is really athletic. As time goes on, we need him to play harder and play to his full potential. He's not just a 3-point shooter."
Francisco Santiago, a 6-1 junior, has moved from the point to the two while Latin Davis is at the point. Santiago averages 14 points per game.
Donlan and Santiago are the only two averaging in double figures, but Slocum hope some other players can step up in Morse's absence.
Slocum hopes 6-7 Devin Haygood and 7-0 Jorden Kaufman can be part of that solution as both average less than seven point a game.
"Devin and Jordan, between the two of them, the two of those guys, you'd like to think between the two of them they're going to give you 12 to 14 a night," Slocum said. "I'm not saying one guy gets 12 and the other guy gets two. When our numbers have been where I think they can be, which is mid-80s scoring, between the two of them you add together those two fives we're really getting good production from those guys."
Then, there's 6-3 senior guard Brett Frantz, who chips in around eight a night.
"Brett's got to play a little bit better," Slocum said. "Our five has to give you more. I think the encouraging thing about this stretch is Cisco's play. Latin has come in at the point. Cisco at the two. He's given us some good minutes at that spot."
That's what YSU has to do until it gets Morse back in the lineup.
"We're not playing him until he's 100 percent ready to go," Slocum said. "I don't know when that is. We're not playing him.
"We feel the league's doable. We're excited about league play."