11/10/2021 basketball Edit

Scouting Youngstown State Hoops: Penguins roster, rankings, stat comparison

Richie O'Leary • Happy Valley Insider

Publisher

Penn State Basketball is back and under a new regime as head coach Micah Shrewsberry's enters his first season as head coach. The Nittany Lions are looking to build on what was somewhat of a disappointing 2020-21 campaign where they finished 11-14. However the good news is that they open up against a lower level opponent in Youngstown State.

Below is a look at the Penguins projected starting lineup and where they're ranked in key metrics and statistics.

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RANKINGS COMPARISON - PENN STATE | YOUNGSTOWN STATE

ESPN BPI: No. 162 | No. 205

KENPOM: No. 70 | No. 290

SAGARIN: No. 52 | No. 263

2020-21 NET Rankings: No. 44 | No. 260

PROJECTED YOUNGSTOWN STATE STARTING LINEUP

NAME	HT/WT	YEAR	NOTES
Shemar Rathan-Mayes	5-11/175	So.	Coming off a pretty solid freshman year where he averaged double digits in points (10.4ppg).
Myles Hunter	6-5/210	So.	Scored 9+ points in eight different games last season as a freshman, shooting 38.4% from the field.
Garrett Covington	6-5/215	Sr.	One of the best on the team last year, averaged 10.3ppg (third on team) and 4.6rpg (third on team) last season.
William Dunn	6-8/220	So.	The Michigan native is the new face in the starting lineup. Dunn only started two games last season, but scored 21 points in one of them.
Michael Akuchie	6-8/220	Sr.	The team's leading rebounder last year (8.3rpg), was a threat on the glass on both ends as he also averaged 2.8 offensive rpg.

Penn State - Youngstown State Stat Comparison (2020-21 stats)

STAT	PENN STATE	YOUNGSTOWN ST
Points Per Game	72.6	74.4
Field Goal Percentage	40.8%	42.9%
Three-Point Percentage	33.8%	30.7%
'20-21 Rebound Margin	2.5	1.9
'20-21 Assist to Turnover Margin	1.18	1.13
Steals Per Game	7.9	6.0
Blocks Per Game	2.4	1.6
Opp. Points Per Game	73.0	72.2
Opp. Field Goal Percentage	46.4%	45.8%
Opp. Three-Point Percentage	34.5%	335.2%

YOUNGSTOWN STATE RECORD LAST SEASON: 15-12 (9-11) / Notable wins against Binghamton, Purdue-Fort Wayne (x2), Robert Morris (x2) and Wright State

SERIES HISTORY: This will be the second matchup between the two schools, with Penn State leading the series 1-0. The Nittany Lions have the only victory in the series, which came back in November of 2011 when the PSU won by a final score of 82-71.