Youngstown State University
13-11,6-5Horizon
IUPUI
6-18,2-9Horizon
| Team | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
| IUPUI | 34 | 42 | 76 |
| Youngstown St. | 48 | 43 | 91 |
Penguins Lead for 39 Minutes in 91-76 Win Over IUPUI
2/1/2020 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
- PDF Boxscore
- Highlights
- Head Coach Jerrod Calhoun Postgame Comments
- Sophomore Darius Quisenberry Postgame Comments
- Junior Michael Akuchie Postgame Comments
The Youngstown State men's basketball led for more than 39 minutes and fought off IUPUI in the second half for a 91-76 victory on Saturday evening at Beeghly Center.
The Penguins built an 18-point lead 16 minutes into the game, but IUPUI got as close as five twice in the second half. Youngstown State's lead was 80-74 with 2:49 remaining before the Penguins went on an 11-2 run to close out the victory.
Youngstown State improved to 13-11 overall and 6-5 in Horizon League play with the victory, while IUPUI dropped to 6-18 and 2-9.
Darius Quisenberry scored 16 of his game-high-tying 22 points in the second half, and he added seven assists. Four other Penguins reached double figures as Michael Akuchie scored 15, Garrett Covington had 13, Naz Bohannon had 12 and Devin Morgan scored 11.
Marcus Burk led five Jaguars in double figures with 22 points.
Donel Cathcart III made YSU's first of five first-half 3-pointers on the second possession of the game, and the Penguins went on to lead for the final 39:21 of the game.
Youngstown State's lead reached double digits for the first time at 16-6 when Quisenberry made two free throws at the 13:34 mark, and the margin was at least 10 points for the final 11:43 of the first half. The lead's peak in the first half was 18 points at 41-23 on a putback by Geoff Hamperian at the 4:12 mark. IUPUI scored the next five points to get within 43-30, and YSU's lead at halftime was 48-34.
Covington had 11 points on 5-of-7 shooting in the first half, and Quisenberry had six points and six assists. Grant Weatherford had 11 points to lead the Jaguars.
IUPUI opened the second half on a 15-6 spurt to get the deficit down to 54-49 at the 14:19 mark. Akuchie hit a 3-pointer 16 seconds later to push the margin back to eight, and a Cathcart basket with 10:53 remaining put the Penguins back up by double digits at 66-55.
The Jaguars tried again to climb the mountain and got with five at 72-67 on a 3-pointer by Jaylen Minnett with 6:48 remaining. The deficit was five again at 75-70, and the score was 80-74 with 2:49 left after Burk went 3-for-3 at the line. Quisenberry followed with a wide-open 3, and a jumper by Burk on the next possession resulted in IUPUI's final points of the night. Morgan hit a 3 near the end of the shot clock, and Quisenberry had a steal and a fast-break layup to increase the lead to a dozen with 1:31 remaining. Quisenberry then hit a 3-pointer with 35 seconds on the clock for the final margin.
Youngstown State finished with a season-high 12 3-pointers on 27 attempts, and six different Penguins made at least one triple. Youngstown State shot better than 52 percent from the field in both halves and finished making a season-best 54.5 percent of its attempts. IUPUI shot 49.1 percent.
Youngstown State turned 12 offensive rebounds into a 21-6 edge in second-chance points, and the Penguins also outscored the Jaguars 44-28 in the paint.
YSU will finish its five-game homestand next Saturday as it hosts Cleveland State at 6 p.m.
