The Youngstown State men’s basketball team visits Valparaiso for the first time since November 2001 when the Penguins take on the Crusaders on Saturday night. Tipoff at the Athletics-Recreation Center is set for 8 p.m. Eastern time and will be carried live in Youngstown on 570 WKBN and on the Horizon League Network

    Youngstown State (8-17 overall and 4-11 in the Horizon League) shot a season-high 58.3 percent in an 89-73 loss at ninth-ranked Butler on Thursday. Byron Davis had 20 points, Vance Cooksey had 15 and Jack Liles added 12. The Penguins were within eight points with four minutes left in the first half, but Butler closed on a 15-7 run to lead 50-34 at halftime.

    Valparaiso (14-11 and 5-8) suffered its fifth straight loss falling at the ARC to Cleveland State 71-58 on Thursday night. The Crusaders led 35-34 at halftime, but the Vikings outscored Valpo 37-23 in the second half. Urule Igbavboa had 14 points, Shawn Huff had 13 and Brandon McPherson added 11. Nine of the Crusaders’ 19 made field goals were from behind the 3-point arc.

    Almost a month ago at the Beeghly Center, Valpo beat the Penguins 67-61. In that contest, Davis scored 23 points, John Barber had 18 and Liles added 13. YSU led 22-20 at halftime, but 10 threes by the Crusaders was too much to overcome.

• This is the 25th all-time meeting and the 12th at the Athletics-Recreation Center between the Penguins and Crusaders. YSU has won once in its previous trips to the ARC.

• YSU shot a season-high 58.3 percent (28-of-48) against the Bulldogs. In two games against Butler this year, the Penguins shot 54.5 percent (54-of-99).

• YSU’s last road win in February was a 75-69 win at UMKC on Feb. 17, 2001. The Guins have lost 23 straight contests on the road in February since that time.

• The Guins’ last win in Indiana was a Jan. 6, 2001 win at IUPUI (73-71). YSU has lost 12 straight in the Hoosier State.

• Four times this year YSU has allowed 80-plus points. In the next game after surrendering 80 points, the Penguins are 3-0.

• YSU is 5-2 when making at least seven 3-pointers in a game.

• YSU had won 15 straight games when leading at halftime, but has now dropped its last two when leading at the break (Valpo and Green Bay).

• The Guins have won 12 of their last 14 games when shooting 50 percent and won their last seven when scoring 80 points.

• YSU has made at least 10 3-pointers on 11 occasions under Coach Slocum.

• Senior guard Byron Davis has scored double figures in a career-best 19 games. Davis scored 20 points at Butler on Thursday.

• Senior forward John Barber has scored in double figures 19 times this season. He had 23 career double-figure point games entering the year.

• Barber is 50 points shy of scoring 1,000 for his career.

• Barber has five double-doubles this year.

• Twice this year YSU has had five players score in double figures in the same game (Lock Haven, Robert Morris).

• Barber will be playing his 112th career game on Saturday while senior Dwight Holmes will appear in his 106th contest.

• Davis has played in 112 career contests - 57 at New Mexico State and 55 at YSU.

• YSU has had the same starting lineup the past six games (Mikko Niemi, Vytas Sulskis, Byron Davis, Dwight Holmes and John Barber).

• Holmes has made 21 of his last 24 free-throw attempts.

    Valparaiso has lost five straight and six of its last seven contests since beating the Penguins on Jan. 17. At the ARC, Valpo has lost three consecutive games losing to Loyola, Butler and Cleveland State. Shawn Huff leads the team averaging 11.8 points per contest. At home this season, Valpo is 8-4.

    Youngstown State had three players in double figures and held Valparaiso to just 36.7 percent shooting, but it wasn’t enough as the Penguins lost to the Crusaders 67-61 at the Beeghly Center on Jan. 21.

    Byron Davis had a game-high 23 points, John Barber added 18 points and Jack Liles contributed 13 in a losing effort. For Valpo, Brandon McPherson scored 20 points.

    Both teams struggled to find their shooting touches in the first half combining to make 16-of-59 field goal attempts and 4-20 from 3-point range.

    Valpo led 59-51 with 1:39 left before a 9-2 YSU run cut the deficit to 61-59. However, the Guins could get no closer.

    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 24 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. The only YSU win at the ARC was in January 1998. The Guins have scored 70 points in seven of the 24 meetings.

    Youngstown State shot a season-best 58.3 percent, but ninth-ranked Butler shot 62.3 percent to earn an 89-73 victory over the Penguins on Thursday night at Hinkle Fieldhouse.

    YSU made 28-of-48 attempts from the field, but the Bulldogs converted 33-of-53 opportunities playing their first home game in almost 20 days. Butler drilled 13-of-20 3-point attempts while the Guins settled for a 5-of-13 night from behind the 3-point arc.

    Byron Davis scored a game-high 20 points making 9-of-15 attempts. Vance Cooksey finished with 15 points and Jack Liles added 12 off the bench as well.

    For Butler, Mike Green scored 23 points in 17 minutes to lead the way. A.J. Graves had 15, Matt Howard added 12 and Avery Jukes contributed 11. Overall, 10 Bulldogs scored in the contest.

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

    Davis scored a career-high 23 points against Valparaiso on Jan. 17. 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). On Thursday night he scored 20 points at Butler.

    In the earlier meeting with Valpo, he set a career high by making 10 shots.

    In his career (New Mexico State and YSU) he has scored 954 points, making 119 3-pointers while dishing out 283 assists.

    Freshman guard Vance Cooksey leads the team with 68 assists and 33 steals.

    After starting 16 of the first 17 games, he has come off the bench the last eight games. He had 15 points at Butler on Thursday. He was 5-of-6 from the field and 3-of-3 from the free throw line.

    Cooksey has scored in double figures seven times this year after Thursday night’s effort.

    In the final five minutes, Cooksey is 26-of-31 (83.9 percent) from the free-throw line.

    Senior forward John Barber has scored in double figures in 19 games. Barber finished with a career-best 25 points against Wright State last Saturday.

    Against Detroit on Feb. 7, he picked up his ninth career double-double and fifth of the season with 10 points and 10 rebounds. He has a double-double in two of the last five contests (19-11 at Loyola).

    In the past 23 games, he has scored 307 points (13.3 per game) while grabbing 164 rebounds (7.1 per contest). He has grabbed at least five rebounds in 21 games.

    For his career, Barber has scored 950 points while grabbing 550 rebounds. He had 18 points and eight rebounds against Valpo earlier this year.

    Freshman guard Vytas Sulskis has set a freshman school record by making 36 3-pointers this season. The previous best was 31 held by Mike Alcorn in 1990-91. Sulskis is 36-of-100 from 3-point range for an impressive 36.0 percent conversion rate.

    Sulskis has scored in double figures 10 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.

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

    Liles, who has come off the bench the past four games, is shooting 54.7 percent from the field. He has made 105-of-192 shots from the field. For the year, he is averaging 10.3 points and 4.6 rebounds per contest. He has scored in double figures 15 times this season after having 14 in his career entering the season. He scored 13 points against the Crusaders earlier this season.

    Liles leads the team with 20 blocked shots and ranks fourth in school history with 75 career swats.

    Senior forward Dwight Holmes had 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 started the last six games for YSU after starting 23 times last year.

    He has seen an increased role since the Robert Morris game on Dec. 17. Entering that contest Holmes had played just 70 minutes and had 16 points and 17 rebounds.

    Since that time, Holmes has played 315 minutes in the last 17 games. He has scored 91 points in those games.

    Junior guard Mel Johnson is the Penguins’ version of Vinnie Johnson. As the sixth man, Johnson has scored 81 points, grabbed 56 rebounds, has 26 steals, 26 assists and 10 blocks. At Butler on Thursday he had eight points.

    Mikko Niemi has started the last eight games at the point guard spot for the Penguins after starting once in 17 games.

At UIC on Feb. 2, Niemi scored a career-high eight points. Against the Flames, he made three field goals, including two 3-pointers. He has played double figures in minutes in 13 of the last 15 games.

    The Penguins have been sharp at the free-throw line the last four games. YSU has made 81 of its last 113 attempts (71.7 percent) from the charity stripe. Nine times this year, the Guins have shot better than 76 percent, but on 11 other occasions, YSU has shot below 61 percent, including two 30-percent efforts.

    The Penguins will play at Buffalo on Feb. 23 in a matchup created by the O’Reilly ESPNU BracketBusters. Tipoff is set for 4 p.m. YSU owns a 13-10 all-time series lead over the Bulls. UB won the most recent meeting - 86-66 - at Alumni Arena on Dec. 6, 2003.

    As part of the contract, the Penguins are supposed to play host to the Bulls during the 2008-09 season.

    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, including a 60-point effort against Lock Haven, the most since February 1992.

    In an eight-game stretch (Nov. 24-Dec. 29), the Guins totaled 216 points in the first half and 292 in the second half.

    From Jan. 3-12 (five games) YSU had scored 187 points (37.4) in the first half and 128 (25.6) in the second. In the most recent nine games, YSU has scored 244 points (27.1 per game) in the first half and 328 (36.4 per game) in the second stanza.

    The Penguins have relied on seven players to handle the scoring duties this year. Of the 1,611 points scored, John Barber, Byron Davis, Jack Liles, Vance Cooksey, Vytas Sulskis, Mel Johnson and Dwight Holmes have contributed 1,529. Overall, 94.9 percent of YSU’s scoring goes through those seven.