Tipoff Notes

• Youngstown State begins its  93rd season of competition when it opens the 2022-23 campaign at Canisius, Monday, Nov. 7, at the Koessler Athletic Center in Buffalo, N.Y. Tipoff is set for 7:30 will be broadcast live on 570 WKBN, iHeartRadio and ESPN3.
• This is the eighth meeting between Youngstown State and Canisius and the second straight season the two schools have played. Canisius owns a 6-1 advantage in the all-time series, but the Penguins won the last meeting, 71-43, in Youngstown last season.
• With a 19-15 overall record last season, Youngstown State posted a winning record for the third straight season. It marked the first time since 1982-85 that the Penguins posted three consecutive winning campaigns.
• Senior Dwayne Cohill was named Preseason All-Horizon League First-Team in 2022-23 after averaging 14.9 points and 4.2 rebounds per game last season. He was named to the 2021-22 All-Horizon League Third-Team after scoring 508 points.
• The Penguins set the school single-season record for best team free-throw percentage at 76.1 percent last season. Six players shot at least 70 percent from the free-throw line led by Cohill's 83.5 percent. Shemar Rathan-Mayes connected on 80 percent (76-95) of his charity tosses.
• Garrett Covington returns for his sixth season after suffering a season-ending injury after three games in 2021-22. Covington ranks fourth all-time with 122 games played and 107 games started. He also ranks 10th with 120 career steals and 24th with 1,203 career points.
• The Penguins return seven letterwinners and three starters from last year's 19-15 squad.
• The Penguins added four players from the transfer portal, including Malek Green (Canisius), Bryce McBride (Eastern Michigan), Adrian Nelson (Northern Kentucky), and Brandon Rush (Fairleigh Dickinson).

The Canisius Series
This is the eighth meeting between Youngstown State and Canisius in a series that dates back to 1941.
The Golden Griffins own a 6-1 advantage in the all-time series and won the first six contests against the Penguins.
Last season, the Penguins snapped a six-game losing streak to Canisius with an impressive 71-43 victory at the Beeghly Center on Dec. 11, 2021.
The last time these teams met in Buffalo, the Golden Griffins defeated the Penguins, 104-84, on Nov. 18, 2017, at the Koessler Athletic Center.

Last Time vs. Canisius
The Youngstown State men's basketball team allowed its fewest points in a game in more than a decade and earned its fourth straight victory by beating Canisius 71-43 at Beeghly Center.
Dwayne Cohill recorded the first double-double of his career with 18 points and 11 rebounds, and Michael Akuchie had 12 points and six rebounds in 19 minutes of action. 
YSU's bench contributed 35 of the 71 points, and Owen Long was the top scorer out of the starting five with 11 points. Luke Chicone added six points and a team-high eight assists.
The Penguins endured a physical battle that lasted more than two-and-a-half hours that saw 48 fouls called, and the teams combined to attempt 55 free throws.
YSU transfer Malek Green scored 19 points off the bench to lead the Golden Griffins.

Season Openers
Youngstown State has a 43-49 all-time mark in season openers. Last year, the Penguins lost to Penn State, 75-59,in the season opener. The Penguins have won seven of their last 12 season openers.

Master's Class
Youngstown State has four players on the 2022-23 roster that have already earned their bachelor's degrees. Garrett Covington, Malek Green, Adrian Nelson, and Chris Shelton have graduated and are all working toward a master's degree. Green earned a master's degree from Canisius and is working on a second master's degree. 

Calhoun Nearing Career Win 200
Head Coach Jerrod Calhoun has won 196 games in his career and needs four more to reach 200. He has won 72 at Youngstown State, including 52 over the last three seasons.

Up Next
Youngstown State hosts Tennessee-Martin in the 2022-23 home opener, Wednesday, Nov. 9. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. at the Beeghly Center.

Experience Factor
The players on the 2022-23 Youngstown State roster have played in a combined 790 career games. Garrett Covington has played in 122 games at Youngstown State while Adrian Nelson has played in 114, Malek Green has played in 103, and Dwayne Cohill has played in 97.

1,000-Point Trio
The Penguins have a trio of players nearing the career 1 ,000-point scoring plateau. Malek Green has scored 930 points in his career and needs just 70 more to reach to plateau. Brandon Rush has scored 821 points and needs just 179 to reach 1,000, while Dwayne Cohill has scored 699 career points and needs just 301 to reach the mark. Cohill has also scored 508 in one year at YSU and is 492 points shy of became the 42nd player in YSU history to score 1,000 points. 

High-Powered Offense
Last season, the members of the 2022-23 Youngstown State roster averaged a combined 90.1 points per game. That total would have led the NCAA Division I in scoring.

Covington on the Charts
Graduate Garrett Covington ranks highly in several YSU statistical categories. Covington fourth all-time with 122 career games played and 107 career games started, 10th with 120 career steals, and 24th with 1,203 career points.

2022-23 Horizon League Preseason Poll
The Penguins received one first-place vote and garnered 291 total points for their fifth-place selection. Ahead of YSU was Purdue Fort Wayne and Northern Kentucky, who were both predicted to win the league with 394 points. The Mastodons collected 17 first-place votes while the Norse tallied 15.Wright State was picked third with 329 points and three first-place votes while Oakland had 321 points and two first place votes. Detroit Mercy had two first-place votes and 268 points for sixth while Cleveland State (188 points) was seventh, Robert Morris (163) was eighth and Milwaukee (132) was picked ninth. Green Bay and IUPUI were picked 10th and 11th with 111 and 49 points, respectively.

Challenging Non-League Slate
The Youngstown State men's basketball team will play an 11-game non-Horizon League slate that includes games against teams from the ACC, the Ohio Valley Conference, and the Mid-American Conference. The Penguins will play five of the 11 games at home at the Beeghly Center. The Penguins open the 2022-23 campaign at Canisius before hosting Tennessee-Martin (Nov. 9) in the season home opener. YSU visits ACC member Notre Dame (Nov. 13) and takes on Grace Christian (Nov. 15) before heading to the Naval Academy to face UC-San Diego (Nov. 19) and Navy (Nov. 20) in a multi-team event in Annapolis, Md. The Penguins visit for Mid-Con nemesis Western Illinois (Nov. 26) before three straight non-league home games against Westminster (Dec. 8), Ohio (Dec. 11) and Southern (Dec. 16). The Penguins close out the non-league slate against Central Michigan on Dec. 21.