Penguins capture Horizon opener
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INDIANAPOLIS -- Isaiah Williams drove the lane for a quick two with 4:23 left as Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis took a three-point lead.
Darius Quisenberry countered with a 3-point shot 15 seconds later, the start of a 10-0 Youngstown State run which resulted in an 83-73 win for the Penguins on Saturday in the Horizon League opener for both teams.
YSU (8-6, 1-0 Horizon League) has been here before with much different results.
"Last year we had a lot of close games we didn't close out," said Quisenberry, who had a game-high 23 points, six assists and four rebounds.
The Penguins had seven fouls to one for IUPUI to start the last 20 minutes. The Jaguars couldn't capitalize from the disparity in free throws as IUPUI (4-10, 0-1) shot 12 of 28 from the line.
"We left too many points off the board," IUPUI interim coach Byrom Rimm II said. "That's 16 free throws. That's not even counting the beginning of the one-and-ones. We missed almost 25 free throws. It wasn't so much of what they were doing. It was more of what we didn't do and that was knock down free throws."
YSU shot 16 of 28 from the floor in the second half and was 31 of 59 for the game. The Penguins were 12 of 14 from the charity stripe as YSU had 25 fouls to IUPUI's 16.
"We've been in these type of games before where you're not playing well," YSU coach Jerrod Calhoun said. "What won this game is our experience, eight returning guys that have been in games,"
Naz Bohannon had 18 points and 11 rebounds, while Michael Akuchie added 11 points and seven boards. Jelani Simmons added 10 points off the bench.
YSU edged the Jaguars on the boards, 35 to 34. The Penguins, one of the best offensive rebounding teams in the nation, had 15 of them Saturday.
"Right now, our identity is defense and rebounding," said Bohannon, whose team holds opponents to less than 70 points per game. "We've been rebounding since I've got here."
The Penguins need to improve on their center play as Olamide Pedersen is coming off a hand injury and junior-college transfer Jamir Thomas is trying do just that for YSU. The two combined for four points and three rebounds off the bench.
"Hopefully those two kids keep getting better," Calhoun said.
It comes down to YSU's defense, which is the reason the Penguins are one of the few teams in the league with a winning record. Wright State and Northern Kentucky are the two other teams in the Horizon with an above .500 mark.
"If we continue to guard at a high level, we'll be in every game," Calhoun said.
Depth played a big part in the Penguins' success Saturday as they went 10 deep, eventually wearing down an IUPUI down which struggled from the free-throw line and shot 52 percent in the first half on some difficult shots.
Now, YSU has to focus on its defensive rebounding. Calhoun said IUPUI has too many second opportunities.
"Earlier in the year we were struggling with defensive box-outs with the shot going up," Calhoun said. "We've got to continue to get better. That's one of our glaring weakness. We're so good going to the glass. We're one of the best teams in the country going to the offensive glass. We've got to be more disciplined at times when the shot goes up (for the opposition).
"You've got to be very focused on hitting your guy when the shot goes up."
YSU showed determination Saturday, overcoming 19 turnovers to 15 assists, a one-rebound edge and having 25 fouls to IUPUI's 16.
"You've got to face adversity if you want to get to where we want to get to," Bohannon said. "The journey is going to be hard. It was good for our guys to fight through."
Calhoun said his team has to clean up its sloppy play before facing UIC in Chicago on Monday at 7 p.m. The Penguins were off for a week prior to Saturday's game, last playing on Dec. 21 in a loss to West Virginia at the Covelli Centre.
"We can grow from that and have a good day of prep to face a talented UIC team," Calhoun said.