YSU men prepared to take on Southern
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YOUNGSTOWN -- Sitting at 7-4, Youngstown State remains unsatisfied.
The Penguins have shown signs of what they can be, coach Jerrod Calhoun says, but YSU isn't where it wants to be by season's end, and is still learning things along the way.
"I think we've shown some really good signs," Calhoun said. "But expectations have been raised around here. We're 7-4, and I think a lot of people think that's a good record. We're not happy with that. ... So I think you just continue to try to improve. This is finals week, and once that ends and we finish up our studies, it'll be all basketball for a couple weeks. I think that will be good for this group, too, as well as getting in the gym and having really clear minds."
The Penguins begin that two-week stretch tonight against Southern (8 p.m., ESPN+, 570 AM WKBN).
The Jaguars enter at 4-6, but have been battled tested. Among Southern's six losses are games against Arizona, Saint Mary's and UNLV. The Jaguars boast a win over Cal, a 74-66 decision.
Beyond seeing a gauntlet in the early goings, Southern brings a style of play the Penguins don't typically see -- a near constant, all-out press.
"I tink they're one of the toughest teams on our schedule because of the way they play," Calhoun said. "They're going to press you from start to finish. They're going to play multiple presses. They play really, really hard."
As a result, Southern forces just under 20 turnovers per game and has kept opponents to an assist-to-turnover ratio of just 0.8.
And while dealing with a press in general can be a challenge, Southern goes so far as to press even after it misses shots, Calhoun noted.
"When that happens, there's tendencies for players to do things they can't do," Calhoun added. "They speed you up, they make you make decisions. These decisions are going to be made on every trap, so just making sure we have 10 eyes on the basketball, making sure we have three outlets when we see the basketball.
"The best way I can put it is this is West Virginia probably on steroids, because they're going to pressure on misses. Very few teams I've seen do that."
Offensively, Brion Whitley and Bryson Etienne pace Southern at 12.9 and 11.7 points per game, respectively.
"They're super tough," YSU guard Shemar Rathan-Mayes added. "They play with four guards, but (that's) nothing we haven't seen before. We just have to stay poised and be able to control the situations."
Meanwhile, the Penguins are coming off a tough loss to Ohio in which they rallied from a 16-point deficit in the second half only to fall at the buzzer.
"It's a 40-minute game. That's sports. You have to play through the final clock," Calhoun said. "And you have to have some attention to detail throughout the week and understand that days matter and practices matter. That would probably be my biggest takeaway (from the Ohio game)."
The games get increasingly more important, too. After hosting Southern, YSU concludes its nonconference slate with a road trip to Central Michigan on Wednesday. Then, Horizon League play resumes for good.
"Getting into conference play, we just need to consistently be good at the things we want to be good at," Rathan-Mayes said. "That starts with our preparation. Off-the-court stuff, it's as simple as going to bed on time so we have enough energy the next day to go into practice and have a productive practice, and preparing as far as film and just setting ourselves up to be in a good spot going into games.
"That's what's going to help us become successful and get over that hump and get to the top of the league."
jwhetzel@tribtoday.com