Men's Basketball Hosts Thiel Wednesday Night
11/19/2013 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Game Notes
Head Coach Jerry Slocum Interview
The Youngstown State men's basketball team returns home to host Thiel, Wednesday, Nov. 20.
• Tipoff is set for 7:45 p.m. EST at the Beeghly Center and is part of a YSU women's and men's basketball doubleheader.
• The game can be heard on 570 WKBN-AM and iHeartRadio.
Last Time Out
• Youngstown State dropped a hard-fought 85-69 decision to Atlantic-10 power UMass on Sunday, Nov. 17.
• Freshman Marcus Keene came off the bench to score a career-high 20 points to lead the Penguins.
• Sophomore Bobby Hain recorded his second straight double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds.
• Senior Kendrick Perry also scored 14 points and collected four steals.
The Thiel Series
• This is the 15th meeting between Youngstown State and Thiel in a series that dates back to 1927, the inaugural season of YSU basketball, but the first since 1989.
• The Penguins own a 10-4 advantage in the all-time series and have won nine straight.
• This is just the second meeting between the schools since 1941.
• Thiel was also the very first opponent in YSU men's basketball history.
• Thiel won that game, 53-24, on Dec. 14, 1927.
Scouting Thiel
• Thiel enters the week with a 1-1 overall record after defeating Lynchburg, 72-69, on Nov. 15 and falling to Catholic, 83-73, on Nov. 16.
• Luke Kochka leads the Tomcats with 18 points and 6.5 rebounds per game, while Khari Bess is averaging 15.5 points per game.
A Win Will
• Improve YSU to 5-1 on the season.
• Mark YSU's first 5-1 start since 2011-12.
• Mark YSU's 11th win over Thiel.
• Mark YSU's second home win of the season.
• Mark Head Coach Jerry Slocum's 678th career victory and his 97th at Youngstown State.
• Mark YSU's 1,031st victory in the program's history.
KP Nets Steals Mark
• With four steals against UMass on Nov. 17, senior Kendrick Perry became Youngstown State's all-time steals leader with 185.
Keene Hits for High
• Freshman Marcus Keene has exploded on the scene of the Penguins through the first five games.
• Keene, who is averaging 10.8 points per game, scored a career-high 20 points in the 85-69 loss to UMass on Nov. 17.
Hot-Handed Hain
• Sophomore Bobby Hain is playing a hot hand right now.
• The 6-10 center has posted double-doubles in consecutive games and has made 56.8 percent of his field goals over the last four games.
Century Mark
• With the 104-58 win over Warren Wilson College on Nov. 14, YSU reached the 100-point mark for the first time since 2003.
• The last time the Penguins scored at least 100 points was a 106-69 win over Slippery Rock on Dec. 3, 2003.
KP Notches 22nd 20-Point Game
• With a game-high 31 points against Eastern Kentucky, senior Kendrick Perry notched his 22nd game with at least 20 points.
• It also marked the fourth 30-point effort of his career.
• Last season, Perry scored more than 20 points 10 times.
• He also scored at least 20 points in a game as a sophomore nine times and once as a freshman in 2010-11.
Weber Nets Career-High
• Sophomore Ryan Weber began his sophomore campaign on the right foot.
• Weber scored a career-high 18 points with four 3-pointers, five rebounds and five steals against Kennesaw State.
Perry Now 14th
• With 98 points this season, senior Kendrick Perry now ranks 14th all-time on the YSU scoring list with 1,407 points.
• He needs 24 more to move into 13th place on the all-time scoring list.
Keene Makes Impressive Debut
• Freshman Marcus Keene made an impressive debut at the Kennesaw State tournament. Keene averaged nine points, three rebounds and 2.3 assists per game.
• He also converted 55 percent (5-of-9) of his 3-point attemtps.
• He scored a then-career-high 10 points against Kennesaw State on Nov. 8.
Perry Moving Up Assists, 3's, FT Charts
• Not only is senior Kendrick Perry YSU's all-time steals leader and climbling the all-time scoring list, he is also moving up the career assists, career 3-pointers made, and free-throws made charts.
• Perry ranks fifth all-time with 386 career assists, sixth with 334 made free throws and seventh with 149 career 3-pointers made.
• Perry should also become the school's all-time leader in minutes played.
• Her currently ranks fourth with 3,184 minutes, and the school record is 3,689 held by Quin Humphrey from 2003-07.
Penguins Picked Fifth; Get First-Place Vote
• Youngstown State was picked to finish fifth in the Horizon League's Preseason Poll of head coaches, SIDs and selected media.
• The Penguins earned 219 points and received a first-place vote for the first time.
Perry Named Preseason POY
• Senior Kendrick Perry was named the Horizon League Preseason Player of the Year after averaging 17.3 points, 5.5 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game last season.
• Perry is the only returning player in the Horizon League that ranked in the top 10 in scoring, rebounding, assists and steals per game and free-throw percentage.
• Perry tied for the league lead with 1.9 steals per game, and ranked second in scoring, fifth with a .845 free-throw percentage, sixth with 4.1 assists per game and 10th with 5.5 rebounds per game.
Belin Named Preseason Second-Team
• Senior Kamren Belin was voted to the Preseason All-Horizon League Second-Team. Last season, Belin averaged 11.1 points per game, but posted a 12.3 points per game scoring average in league play. His .407 3-point percentage ranked fifth in the league.
Perry Preseason Accolades
• Senior Kendrick Perry collected a plethora of preseason honors this year.
• Besides the Horizon League Preseason Player of the Year, Perry also collected the following preseason laurels:
• 2014 Cousy Award Watch List
• 2014 Senior CLASS Award Candidate
• Named 2013-14 Horizon League Preseason Player of the Year by Midmajormadness.com
• Named 2013-14 Horizon League Preseason Player of the Year by Blue Ribbon Sports.
• Named Top Ten Mid-Major Point Guards to Watch in 2013-14 by MidMajorMadness.com
• Named 2013-14 Horizon League Preseason Top Player by TheHoopsReport.com
• Ranked #17 on Bleacher Reports Top 20 Mid-Major Stars in 2013-14
Most HL Wins In Consecutive Years
• Youngstown State's 17 Horizon League wins over the last two seasons marks a program high.
• The Penguins had just 16 league wins in the previous four years combined.
• The 10 wins in 2011-12 were the most since joining the league in 2001-02.
• Last year was the third time the Penguins have won at least seven league contests.
• The Penguins had 20 conference wins in their final two seasons in the Mid-Continent Conference - 11 in 2000-01 and nine in 1999-2000.
Penguins By The Numbers
677
• Number of career wins for Head Coach Jerry Slocum.
245
• The number of 3-pointers made by the 2012-13 Penguins. It's the second-most on the single season list.
34
• School-record for games played in a season in 2012-13.
115
• The number of assists junior DJ Cole posted last season. That total was a career best for Cole and ranked second on the team.
107
• The combined number of 3-pointers made by seniors Kamren Belin and Kendrick Perry last year. Belin was second on the team with 57 and Perry was third with 50.
17.3
• Kendrick Perry's scoring average in 2012-13. It's the highest single-season scoring average since Quin Humphrey's 18.8 points per game in 2006-07.
415
• The number of points Kendrick Perry needs to become YSU's all-time Division I leading scorer. Perry has 1,393 career points.
• The YSU D-I scoring mark is 1,821 set by Reggie Kemp from 1988-91, 92-93.
23
• The number of wins Head Coach Jerry Slocum needs to reach 700 for his career. Slocum ranks 34th all-time with 677 career victories.
237
The number of combined assists by senior Kendrick Perry (122) and junior DJ Cole (115) last year.
13
• Kendrick Perry has the chance to become just the 13th three-time All-Horizon League First-Team selection in league history.
