The Youngstown State men’s basketball team squares off against a new, but familiar foe on Thursday night when Valparaiso visits the Beeghly Center. Tipoff for the contest is 7:35 p.m. following the women’s game against Wright State. The contest against the Crusaders will be carried live on 570 WKBN and on tape delay on MyYTV and Fox 17/62.

    Youngstown State (7-9 overall and 3-3 in the Horizon League) enters the game following its first-ever win in Detroit last Saturday. The Penguins prevailed 70-66, but had to hold on after building an 11-point lead with just under three minutes left. John Barber scored a game-high 22 points while Vytas Sulskis had 18 and Byron Davis scored 17 in the win.

    Valparaiso (12-5 and 3-2) rebounded after suffering its first home loss of the season last Thursday to defeat Green Bay 82-73 on Saturday. The Crusaders scored 16 of the final 20 points against the Phoenix to earn the victory. Samuel Haanpää led Valpo with 24 points and was one of four players to reach double figures. Shawn Huff had 18 points, Urule Igbavboa added 14 and Jarryd Loyd contributed 11.

    The Penguins were the last team to join the Horizon League before Valpo began its membership this fall. Between 1989 and 2001, Valpo won 16 of the 23 meetings against the Guins, but at the Beeghly Center YSU had success winning six of 10 contests. The Crusaders won the final four meetings in the series, but once YSU left the Mid-Con, now Summit League, the team’s played just once - 80-50 on Nov. 29, 2001 in Valparaiso.

    Things do not get any easier for the Penguins on Saturday evening when 12th-ranked Butler visits Youngstown. Tipoff at the Beeghly Center is set for 7:05 p.m.

• This is the 24th all-time meeting between YSU and Valparaiso, but the first since December 2001. The Penguins have won seven times, including six of 10 decisions at the Beeghly Center.

• In the seven wins this year, YSU has averaged 76 points, shot 47.8 percent from the field, had 128 assists on 189 baskets and committed 87 turnovers.

• In the nine losses, YSU has averaged 56.3 points, shot 36.8 percent, had 104 assists on 183 baskets, 151 turnovers and shot 30.2 from 3-point range.

• The Penguins have attempted just 17 free throws the past two games, including a season-low six in the win at Detroit.

• The Guins are 6-0 this season when shooting better than 46 percent from the field.

• Senior guard Byron Davis has scored in double figures in a career-best 12 games this year. He finished with 17 points at Detroit on Saturday.

• Senior John Barber has scored in double figures in 11 of the last 13 games. He had a team-high 22 points at Detroit.

• Junior forward Jack Liles has scored in double figures in eights of last 11 games.

• Freshman guard Vytas Sulskis has scored in double figures in seven contests. YSU is 6-1 when he reaches double figures.

• Twice this year YSU has had five players score in double figures (Lock Haven, Robert Morris). Five times YSU has had at least four players reach double digits.

• YSU has made at least 10 3-pointers on 11 occasions since Coach Slocum took over. The Guins made 11-of-28 at Detroit.

• YSU has won 15 straight games when leading at halftime. The last time the Guins lost when leading at half was at Canisius on Feb. 18, 2006. YSU was 9-0 when leading at the half last year and is 7-0 this season when leading or tied.

• The Guins have won their last 12 games when shooting 50 percent and won their last seven when scoring 80 points.

• Barber will be playing his 103rd career game on Thursday while senior Dwight Holmes will appear in his 97th contest.

• Davis has played in 103 career contests - 57 at New Mexico State and 46 at YSU.

• A crowd of 6,213 filled Beeghly the last time YSU entertained Valpo.

    The Crusaders started the year winning 10 of their first 11 games, but have won just two of their last six contests. Four players average in double figures led by sixth-man Jarryd Loyd who is averaging 12.2 points per game. Shawn Huff (11.6 points), Samuel Haanpää (11.4) and Urule Igbavboa (10.5) also average in doubles.

    In a battle for first place at the top of the Mid-Continent standings, Valparaiso used a 16-5 run in the final five-and-a-half minutes to beat the Penguins 82-68 on Feb. 10, 2001 at the Beeghly Center.

    In a wild second half, YSU trailed by 11 points before cutting the deficit to 49-47 with 11:33 left. The Guins remained in striking distance at 57-54 with 5:30 left. But over the next 4:19, Valpo outscored YSU 16-5 to lead 73-59 with 1:11 remaining.

    Valparaiso made 11 3-pointers in the contest and drilled 28 free-throws. YSU made only three 3-pointers and 17 free throws.

    Rafael Cruz had 18 points, TeJay Anderson added 14, Desmond Harrison had 12 and Craig Haese finished with 10.

    Doug Underwood and Stephen Flores scored 12 points apiece as Youngstown State lost to Valparaiso 80-50 at the Athletic Recreation Center on Nov. 29, 2001.

    YSU cut a 17-point first-half deficit to 38-29 early in the second stanza before the Crusaders took control of the game. Two Rafael Cruz free throws cut the deficit to nine, but Valparaiso seized control of the game with a 15-4 run and was never threatened again.

    In the first half, Valpo used a 17-5 run to turn a 20-15 lead into a 37-20 bulge. The Guins were able to get within 11 at halftime scoring the final seven points.

    Of the previous 23 meetings between the Penguins and Crusaders, YSU has won seven times. The last Guin win over Valpo was Feb. 15, 2000 - a 55-49 triumph at the Beeghly Center. Valpo has won the past four meetings by a total of 61 points.

    Senior John Barber scored a game-high 22 points and senior Byron Davis added 17 as the Detroit natives helped lead Youngstown State to a 70-66 win over Detroit on Saturday at Calihan Hall.

    The Penguins won for the first time at Calihan Hall after dropping their previous 10 contests.

    YSU appeared to be cruising towards a victory owning a 11-point lead with just under three minutes remaining before the Titans made an inspired run.

    Leading 67-56 after a breakaway dunk by Barber with 2:48 remaining Detroit scored the next eight points to get within 67-64 with 27 seconds remaining. Two free throws by Vance Cooksey and one by Barber with 2.6 seconds left sealed the win.

    The Guins built a 40-33 halftime lead as Davis and Vytas Sulskis each scored 13 points in the opening frame. Sulskis finished with 18 points while Cooksey had eight points, including two 3-pointers.

    The Penguins are 6-0 this year when shooting 46 percent or better from the field. In wins over Weber State (55.8 percent), Lock Haven (52), Saint Francis (46.3), UIC (50.0), Loyola (46.5) and Detroit (46.6), YSU shot above 46 percent. The highest shooting percentage in a loss was 42.6 versus Robert Morris while the lowest in a win was 39.1 versus SRU.

    The Penguins have either been on from the line or way off.

In six games, YSU has shot 76.7 percent or better while in four others the Guins shot in the 60s. In six others, Youngstown State has shot 57.7 percent or below, including two in the 40s and one in the 30s.

    Guard Byron Davis has scored in double figures 12 times this year while scoring 20-of-more points on two occasions.

    Davis scored 20 points against Robert Morris (Dec. 17) and had a career-high 21 at Saint Francis (Nov. 28).

    He attempted a career-best 19 shots against RMU. For the year he has attempted double figures in shots on 13 occasions.

His 12 double-figure scoring games eclipsed his total of nine from last year.

    This year, Davis has been strong from the free-throw line making 49-of-64 attempts for a 76.6 percent clip. Last year, he made just 35-of-61 attempts, a 57.4 percentage. He was 6-of-6 against Loyola.

    In his career (New Mexico State and YSU) he has scored 816 points, making 104 3-pointers while dishing out 275 assists.

    Senior forward John Barber has scored in double figures in a career-best 13 games this season. Last week, he was named the HL Player of the Week for the first time in his career after scoring 42 points and grabbing 21 rebounds in wins over UIC and Loyola.

    Barber has double-figure scoring game streaks of six and four games this year. His previous career long streak was just two.

    In the past 14 games, he has scored 185 points (13.2 per game) while grabbing 92 rebounds (6.6 per contest). He has grabbed at least five rebounds in 13 games.

    For his career, Barber has scored 828 points while grabbing 478 rebounds. He had 22 points last Saturday Detroit. He also scored a career-high 24 points versus UIC on Jan. 3.

    Freshman guard Vytas Sulskis has made a big impact the past nine games.

    On Jan. 3, he scored a career-best 26 points against UIC. His effort tied for the third most by a Penguin freshman since 1980. Only Tim Jackson’s 32 and 31 point outings during the 1987-88 season were better than Sulskis’s effort.

    In the past nine games he is 20-of-42 (47.6 percent) from 3-point range. He made 4-of-9 3-point attempts in the win at Detroit last Saturday.

    For the year, he has made 27 3-pointers. The most by a freshman in school history is 31 by Mike Alcorn in 1990-91.

    YSU has shown spurts of playing well during different halves this season.

    In the first three games of the season, the Penguins had 126 first-half points compared to just 90 second-half points. Included in that total was a 60-point effort against Lock Haven, the Guins’ most since February 1992.

    Then in an eight-game stretch, the Guins totaled 216 points in the first half (27 points a half) and 292 in the first half (36.5 a half).

    Now in the past five games, YSU has scored 187 points in the first half and 128 in the second. The Guins had 53 against UIC and 42 vs. Loyola and 40 at Detroit in the first half.

    The Penguins have relied on seven players to handle the scoring duties this year. Of the 1,039 points scored, John Barber, Byron Davis, Jack Liles, Vance Cooksey, Vytas Sulskis, Mel Johnson and Dwight Holmes have contributed 973. Overall, 93.6 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. The five in a season was the most since 1986-87.

    Guard Vance Cooksey is second on the team with 50 assists and ranks first with 24 steals. Cooksey has had at least three assists in nine contests. He also has scored in double digits against UCLA, Weber State, Notre Dame and Robert Morris. In the final five minutes of games, Cooksey is 20-of-22 (90.9 percent) from the free-throw line.

    Last Saturday he drilled two 3-pointers in the win at Detroit.

    Senior forward Dwight Holmes has seen an increased role since the Robert Morris game.

    Entering that contest Holmes had played just 70 minutes and had 16 points and 17 rebounds. Since that time, Holmes has played 136 minutes in the last eight games. He has scored 35 points and grabbed 14 rebounds. He is 14-of-28 (50 percent) from the field in those contests. He played 25 minutes versus RMU and UIC.

    Junior guard Mel Johnson is the Penguins’ version of Vinnie Johnson. As the Guins’ sixth man, Johnson has scored 63 points, grabbed 38 rebounds, has 18 steals, 15 assists and five blocks. At Wright State last Thursday he had eight points, three boards, three assists, three steals and a blocked shot.

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

    Liles leads the team with a 52.3 field-goal percentage making 68-of-130 shots. For the year, he is averaging 10.4 points and 5.4 rebounds per contest. He has scored in double figures 10 times, including eight of the last 11 games.

    He leads the team with 14 blocks and is fifth in YSU history with 69 career swats.