• This is the 19th meeting between YSU and UIC and the 10th contest at the Pavilion. The Guins have never won at UIC, but the 72 points scored last time were the second most ever for YSU at UIC.

• The Guins are one of two schools to win on the road in the first round of the league tournament. YSU won at Green Bay in 2003. The only other team to win on the road is Loyola at Wright State in 2004.

• Home teams have won every first round game the past three seasons.

• Freshman Vytas Sulskis scored 44 points in the two contests with UIC this year. John Barber had 33 points and 22 rebounds.

• Sulskis was named the Horizon League’s All-Newcomer squad on Monday. He is the third Penguin and first freshman to be selected.

• Byron Davis has a combined for 994 points (YSU and NMSU) in his collegiate career.

• YSU is 6-2 when making at least seven 3-pointers in a game.

• YSU has won 15 of its last 17 games when leading at halftime. However, of those 17 the last two have been losses (Valpo and at Green Bay).

• The Guins are 13-2 the last 15 games when shooting at least 50 percent and have won seven of eight when scoring 80 points.

• YSU has made at least 10 3-pointers on 12 occasions under Coach Slocum.

• Davis has scored double figures in a career-best 23 games. He scored in double figures in five straight and 15 of the last 16.

• Barber has scored in double figures 22 times this season. He leads the team with six double-doubles for the campaign and has 11 for his career. He became the 31st player in school history to score 1,000 points against Cleveland State.

• Sulskis has scored 263 points this year, which is the most by a Guins frosh since Doug Underwood in 290 in 2001-02. His 126 rebounds are also the most since ‘01-’02.

• Senior Dwight Holmes has set new career season highs with 134 points and 71 rebounds this year.

• Barber will be playing his school-record 120th career game on Tuesday while Holmes will appear in his 109th contest.

• Davis has played in 115 career contests - 57 at New Mexico State and 58 at YSU.

    The Flames have won 11 of their 13 home games this season dropping the two games by a total of six points. UIC lost to Wright State (76-75) and Butler (51-46) for its two home defeats. Josh Mayo leads the Flames averaging 17.6 points per contest.

    Vytas Sulskis scored a career-high 26 points and John Barber posted his sixth career double-double with a career-best 24 points and 15 rebounds as YSU knocked off UIC 80-68 on Jan. 3 at the Beeghly Center.

    The Penguins, who shot 50 percent from the field, converted 20-of-33 (60.6 percent) from the floor in the first half to take a 53-42 at halftime. YSU made seven 3-pointers in the first half, including four by Sulskis.

    The Guins led 42-40 with just over four minutes remaining in the first half before closing on an 11-2 run to own an 11-point advantage at the break.

    In the second half, the Flames pulled within eight midway through the stanza but would not get any closer.

    Youngstown State suffered an 86-72 loss to UIC on Feb. 2 at the UIC Pavilion. The Penguins cut a 14-point halftime deficit to six with just under 14 minutes remaining, but that was as close as they could get.

    Vytas Sulskis led the Penguins with 18 points, all in the second half. Jack Liles had 16 and Byron Davis scored 10. Leading the way for UIC was Josh Mayo who scored a game-high 21 points.

    The Flames shot 51.7 percent (31-of-60) for and were 8-of-19 (42.1 percent) from behind the 3-point arc. YSU shot 37.3 percent (25-of-67), but was 5-of-29 (17.2 percent) from behind the 3-point arc.

    Trailing 48-33 early in the second, the Guins scored 12 of the next 15 points to get within 51-45 with 13:53 left

    Youngstown State has never won at UIC in nine previous meetings. The Flames have scored 70-or-more points against the Guins in eight of those meetings. YSU has won two of the 18 all-time meetings.

    John Barber scored his 1,000th career point on Senior Night but the Youngstown State men’s basketball team lost to Cleveland State 65-58 at the Beeghly Center.

    Barber finished with his sixth double-double of year scoring 12 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. He was one of four Penguins to finish in double figures.

    YSU opened the game strong scoring seven of the first nine points. However, the Vikings used a 15-4 run to grab a 22-11 lead with 7:11 remaining in the first half and owned a 28-18 advantage at halftime.

    Trailing 61-52, the Penguins put together a late run to make things interesting.

    Vance Cooksey scored on two layups and Dwight Holmes’ rebound and putback pulled the Guins within 61-58 with 33 seconds remaining. That was a close as YSU could get as J’Nathan Bullock made three free throws to seal a hard-fought victory.

    Senior guard Byron Davis has scored in double figures 23 times while scoring 20-or-more points on seven occasions. He had nine double-figure games last year.

    Davis set a career high by finishing with 29 points at Buffalo. Davis was 13-of-18 from the field against the Bulls.

    In the past four contests, Davis is 43-of-71 (60.6 percent) from the field.

    He scored 23 points against Valparaiso on Jan. 17 at Green Bay on Feb. 20. On Jan. 24, he finished with 22 at Milwaukee. He had 21 points at Saint Francis (Nov. 28) and 20 against Robert Morris (Dec. 17). He had 20 points at Butler on Feb. 14.

In his career (New Mexico State and YSU) he has scored 994 points, making 126 3-pointers while dishing out 292 assists.

    Freshman guard Vance Cooksey leads the team with 81 assists and 38 steals. Cooksey has been in the starting lineup the previous three games. He had started 16 of the first 17 games of the season before coming off the bench for nine straight.

    Cooksey, who has scored in double figures eight times this year, had 10 points last Saturday against Cleveland State.

    Senior forward John Barber has scored double figures in 22 games. Barber has scored 53 points the past three games after finishing with 12 against CSU.

    Barber scored his 1,000th career point on Saturday against Cleveland State. This season he has scored a career-best 395 points while grabbing 202 rebounds. It marks the third straight year a Penguin has grabbed 200-or-more rebounds.

    He leads the team with six double-doubles and has 10 in his YSU career. He has grabbed at least five rebounds in 24 games this year and has 12 double-figure rebound performances.

    He is the only player in school history with more than 1,000 points (1,004), 500 rebounds (574) and 70 blocks (70).

    Junior guard Mikko Niemi had started nine straight games at the point guard spot for the Penguins before coming off the bench the previous three tilts.

    Niemi has made four of his seven 3-pointers in the last nine games. Of his eight field goals, seven are from behind the 3-point arc. YSU is 4-2 in games he makes a 3-pointer. He scored a career-high eight points at UIC earlier this year.

    Freshman guard Vytas Sulskis has set a freshman school records by making 45 3-pointers and attempting 115 this season. The previous most makes were 31 by Mike Alcorn in 1990-91. The previous high for attempts was established by Doug Underwood (104) during the 2001-02 slate.

    Sulskis is shooting a team-high 39.1 percent from 3-point range.

    Sulskis has scored in double figures 11 times this season, including a career-best 26 points against UIC on Jan. 3. His effort against the Flames tied for the third most by a Penguin freshman since 1980.

    He scored 20 - all in the first half during the 76-73 victory over Green Bay on Feb. 20. He made a career-high-tying four 3-pointers against the Phoenix.

    Junior forward Jack Liles continues to provide a strong presence in the post.

    Liles, who has started two of the last three games, is shooting 55.8 percent from the field. He has made 116-of-208 shots from the field.

    He has scored in double figures 17 times this season after having 14 double-figure scoring games in his previous two years.

    His 288 points are a season high as are his 115 made field goals.

    Liles leads the team with 24 blocked shots and ranks fourth in school history with 79 career swats.

    Senior forward Dwight Holmes has grabbed 15 rebounds the past three games, including a season-high six against Green Bay. It was his most since hauling in 11 at Duquesne last season and the second most of his career.

    On Jan. 31 at Loyola he scored a career-best 19 points at Loyola on Jan. 31. Holmes, whose previous career high was 12 at Duquesne on Nov. 13, 2007, was 7-of-9 from the field and 5-of-5 from the free-throw line. He also played a career-best 32 minutes.

    Holmes has scoring a career season-high 134 points this year. He had eight points and four boards against Cleveland State.

    YSU has shown spurts of playing well during different halves this season. In the past 13 games, the Penguins are a showing they are a strong second-half team.

    YSU has scored 360 points (27.7 per game) in the first half and 486 (37.4 per game) in the second stanza of the last 13 games. On Saturday, the Guins scored 40 in the second half after tallying 18 in the first half.

    The Guins are 4-0 when scoring at least 40 points in the first half, including a 60-point effort against Lock Haven and a 53-point half vs. UIC on Jan. 3. YSU has scored at least 36 points in the second half of the previous five contests, including 43 points at Buffalo. Eight times the Guins have had 40 points or more in the second half.

    Junior guard Mel Johnson is the Penguins’ version of Vinnie Johnson. Coming off the bench in every game this season, Johnson has scored 94 points, grabbed 63 rebounds, has 29 assists, 28 steals and 11 blocks. Against Green Bay on Feb. 20, Johnson’s 12th 3-pointer of the year gave the Guins a 72-68 lead with just over two minutes left to seal a much needed win.

    The Penguins have relied on seven players to handle the scoring duties this year. Of the 1,885 points scored, John Barber, Byron Davis, Jack Liles, Vance Cooksey, Vytas Sulskis, Mel Johnson and Dwight Holmes have contributed 1,795. Overall, 95.2 percent of YSU’s scoring goes through those seven.

    The Guins have had nine 30-point individual performances since Coach Slocum took over the program. In the previous 13 seasons, YSU had nine 30-point games. Last year, Quin Humphrey had three contests while Keston Roberts had two.