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YOUNGSTOWN -- What a difference some momentum can make.
Three weeks ago, Youngstown State had just gotten swept by Purdue Fort Wayne in a tough-to-stomach 82-71 defeat at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum. It was the Penguins' fifth loss in six games, and had sunk YSU to a 10-10 overall record and 4-6 mark in the Horizon League.
Now, 21 days later, the Penguins are winners of six straight, seeking their first seven-game win streak since the 1997-98 season and are in contention for a coveted top four position in the Horizon League Tournament. They stand at 16-10 overall and 10-6 in league play.
They'll look to achieve that seven-game mark noon today against Robert Morris (ESPN+, 570 AM WKBN).
"Really, really happy for (the players), because they stayed the course," YSU coach Jerrod Calhoun said after the Penguins' latest victory, an 82-69 win over Detroit Mercy on Friday.
And it's a course that's seen plenty of ups and downs.
In YSU's first home game and just the third game of the season, star senior Garrett Covington ruptured his Achilles and was sidelined for the rest of the year. The beleaguered Penguins dropped their next two contests in as many days. Those were games YSU certainly should have won under normal circumstances.
After the UDM game, Calhoun said of that situation, "We lost (Garrett), I'll continue to say that. (Detroit Mercy coach) Mike Davis said, 'Wow, if you had Garrett Covington, what this thing could look like,' because he was such a phenomenal player. But it's been next man up ever since that second game, and Garrett's been awesome throughout this year with our team."
Following that 58-53 loss to Niagara on Nov. 21, Youngstown State had 10 days off and was able to get some practice time in to address the situation.
With that rest and practice time, the Penguins got on a roll, ripping off five straight wins and taking six of their seven December contests. The lone loss was an 82-52 defeat at West Virginia on Dec. 22.
It was the exact sort of mojo needed as the Horizon League schedule went into full swing, but YSU stumbled in January, going 4-6. Among those six losses were three decided by a total of 10 points -- 86-80 to Cleveland State at home, 68-67 to Northern Kentucky and 64-61 up at CSU. The final of those was the aforementioned 11-point defeat at PFW.
Since then, though, the Penguins have rolled, and it starts with the defense. YSU has given up no more than 72 points in each of the past six victories.
Senior forward Michael Akuchie, who just scored a career-high 34 points against Detroit Mercy, said that's based largely on the team's communication and confidence in each other.
"We have phenomenal communication. We have phenomenal belief in whoever comes into the game that there's no slippage. We know exactly what we're all capable of," he said. "Elite communication and belief and loyalty -- faith in one another. We're really a team when we get in there."
That defense has, at times, buoyed an offense that hasn't always shot well, but has taken better shots overall, according to Calhoun.
It's also an offense that's taking better care of the ball. After PFW scored 29 points off 17 YSU turnovers in the Penguins' last loss, Youngstown State hasn't turned it over more than 12 times since. The height of that trend came Wednesday night against Oakland, as the Penguins racked up 20 assists to just nine giveaways.
Put it all together, and you have a team that's playing its best basketball as the regular season winds down and closing out wins it was otherwise not picking up in January.
"Just phenomenal," Akuchie said of the Penguins' confidence level. "Winning solves a lot of things, so it's nice to win six in a row. ... That feels good. Obviously, at the same time, we're not satisfied. We know our mission is much bigger than that, so we're ready to go. We're hungry each and every day."