YSUsports.com - Penguins Try To Rebound Against Green Bay

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Jan. 28, 2003
Men's Basketball: Penguins Try To Rebound Against Green Bay
    The Youngstown State men’s basketball team closes out a three-game homestand with a crucial contest against UW-Green Bay on Wednesday night at 7 at the Beeghly Center. The Penguins have lost three straight entering the game while the Phoenix are winless on the road this year losing all seven contests.
    The Penguins (6-11 overall and 2-5 in the Horizon League) are coming off a disappointing 78-76 home loss to Illinois-Chicago on Saturday. Doug Underwood scored a career-high 26 points and TeJay Anderson had his first career double-double with career-high’s 22 points and 14 rebounds. But UIC’s Cedrick Banks had a game-high 29 points, including the game-winning 3-pointer with 33 seconds left in the game.
    UW-Green Bay (7-12 and 2-5) is coming off a four-game homestand where it was 2-2 with victories over UW-Milwaukee and Wright State and losses to Butler and Loyola. The Phoenix lost to league-leader Butler on Saturday 68-53. UWGB led 26-23 at halftime before being outscored 45-27 in the second half.
    This is the ninth all-time meeting between the two schools. The Penguins earned their first win against the Phoenix last year winning 69-55 at the Beeghly Center. UWGB beat YSU at home and in the opening round of the Horizon League Tournament.
    Youngstown State returns to the road for the first time in two weeks when it plays at Wright State on Saturday afternoon. Tipoff at the Nutter Center is set for 1 p.m.

Robic Tied For Fourth in All-Time YSU Victories
Coach John Robic is in his fourth season as the head basketball coach at Youngstown State. With a victory over Wright State, he has posted a 42-61 record as YSU’s head coach. His 42 wins tie him for the fourth most in school history. Robic and his staff -- Eric Skeeters (fourth year), Dolph Carroll (first year) and Ross Burns (first year) -- lead the Penguins into their second year in the Horizon League.

Scouting the UW-Green Bay Phoenix
    UW-Green Bay has won two of its last three games entering the contest with the Penguins. The Phoenix beat UW-Milwaukee and Wright State before losing to Butler on Saturday.
    Leading the way offensively for Green Bay is Matt Rohde. Rohde is averaging 12.9 points per game and 4.7 assists per contest. He is one of four players on the team to average in double figures. Senior center Greg Babcock is one of the best rebounds in the league, currently ranking second averaging 8.0 rebounds per contest.
    The Phoenix are tough on the boards altogether averaging 37.7 per game, and a rebounding margin of a plus 5.3, the second-best in the Horizon League.
    UWGB is coached by Tod Kowalczyk who is in his first season with the program.

Series Notes
UW-Green Bay owns a 7-1 advantage in the all-time series against the Penguins. Last year, YSU earned its first-ever win over the Phoenix 69-55 at the Beeghly Center on Feb. 21. However, 10 days later, UWGB beat the Penguins by 21 points in the opening round of the league tournament.

Last Time At Home vs. UW-Green Bay
    Ryan Patton scored his 1,000th career point as the Penguins beat UW-Green Bay 69-55 on Feb. 21, 2002. Patton, who entered the game 12 points shy of 1,000, scored a team-high 17 points.
    Youngstown State did not trail in the game on the way to beating the Phoenix for the first time ever. In the first half, YSU built a 26-14 lead with 5:51 remaining and held a 36-26 halftime advantage behind 10 points by Patton.
    Patton's 3-pointer on the first bucket just 37 seconds into the second half gave him more than 1,000 points in his career and put the Penguins ahead by 13. The closest the Phoenix could get in the second half was 10 at 47-37 with 14:08 remaining.

Last Time Against UW-Green Bay
    Youngstown State was eliminated from the Horizon League Tournament losing a first-round game 86-65 to UW-Green Bay on March 1.
    YSU hung tough for just over 12 minutes, but with the score tied at 12, the Phoenix went on an eight-point run and never were threatened again. UW-Green Bay closed the remainder of the first half on an 23-8 run to lead 35-20 at the break. In the second half, the closest the Penguins could get was within 14 points at 44-30 and 50-36.
    Williamson Eighth in Career Steals Marlon Williamson is one of eight players in YSU history to record 100-or-more steals in a career. Entering the game against UWGB, he has 103 steals in his YSU tenure. Currently, he is tied for seventh all-time on the career steals list with Matt McMurray. He is three short of sixth (Marc Vassar). The school mark is 182 set by Bruce Alexander. Williamson had a total of 58 career steals entering the year.

If Beeghly Is Rocking...
Youngstown State is 23-12 at the Beeghly Center since the beginning of the 2000-01 season. This year, the Penguins have posted a solid 6-3 mark at the Beeghly Center and are 2-2 in Horizon League play with wins over Cleveland State and Wright State. YSU won five games at home last year after winning 10 in 2000-01.

Defense Playing Solid
Through 17 games, the Penguins have allowed only three opponents to shoot better than 50 percent from the field and allowed only six to score 70-or-more points in a single game. No one has scored more than 80 points against the Penguins this year. Since the shot clock was introduced in 1985-86, this is the second-longest streak to start a year without allowing 80 points in a game. The school record is 18, which was set in 1996-97. YSU currently ranks second in the Horizon League in scoring defense (64.8).

Grzesk Returns to Stomping Grounds
UW-Green Bay Assistant Coach Gary Grzesk was a member of the Youngstown State coaching from 1996-97 through 2001-02. He was an assistant first under Coach Dan Peters and then was on John Robic’s staff for three years before moving onto to Green Bay in the offseason.

Anderson, Baumann Williamson Starting Regulars
TeJay Anderson, Adam Baumann and Marlon Williamson have started all 17 games this season for the Penguins. Doug Underwood has been in the starting 15 times this year, but was replaced once by Andy Jahnke and Derrick Harris. At the four-spot, three players have been starters led by Jamel Porter’s eight starts. Brian Radakovich has started seven games while Khari McQueen has started two.

Underwood, Anderson Have Career Best Days
Doug Underwood scored a career-high 26 points against UIC. In that game, TeJay Anderson also stepped up big posting his first career double-double with a career-high 22 points and career-best 14 rebounds.

Williamson Closing In On 100-50
No player in school history has had 100 assists and 50 steals in the same season. With that said, Marlon Williamson could soon make YSU history. Through 17 games, Williamson has 92 assists and 45 steals in his bid to become the school’s first individual over both marks in the same year. Anthony Hunt (twice) and Kevin Cherry are the only two players in school history to have a 100-40 season.
In eight of the last 10 games, Williamson has had at least six assists while he is the only player to have a steal in every game.

Close Games Not in YSU’s Favor
This year, YSU has played five games decided by five points or less. However, the Penguins are just 1-4 in those contests. YSU lost at Duquesne (five), at Oakland (five), at Butler (two) and against Illinois-Chicago (two) by that slim margin. YSU’s win came in a two-point decision over Cleveland State. Last year, YSU played just three games decided by five points or less.

Up Next: YSU at Wright State
The Penguins go for their first-ever Horizon League season sweep on Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. against Wright State. Earlier this year on Jan. 13, YSU beat the Raiders 66-60 at the Beeghly Center. WSU plays host to Illinois-Chicago on Wednesday.