It will be a battle between Horizon opponents when the Youngstown State Penguins (6-9) welcome the Milwaukee Panthers (10-5) to Beeghly Physical Education Center. Action gets underway at 7:45 pm ET on Thursday, Jan. 7 and will air on EFC and ES3.
The Penguins won a close one over Oakland 100-98 on Monday. With 18 points and 13 rebounds, Jorden Kaufman recorded his first double-double this season. The Panthers, meanwhile, are coming off a 76-67 win over Northern Kentucky on Monday. Jordan Johnson shot 7 for 12 and led in scoring with 23 points.
Matt Tiby has upped his play for the Panthers, averaging 17.0 points, 9.2 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 0.8 blocks, and 0.8 three-pointers over the past five games.
Second-chance points might be scarce for the Penguins in this matchup. They rank 319th in the nation in offensive rebounding (OR% of 25.1%), while Milwaukee is eighth-best in the nation on the defensive glass (DR% of 76.7%).
Youngstown State, a four-point underdog, will look to capitalize at home against Milwaukee. The matchup currently has a 154-point Over/Under (O/U). While the Penguins haven’t been very good Straight Up (SU) (6-9), they’ve been better Against The Spread (ATS) with a 7-4 record. The Penguins are one of the best in Division I in terms of three-point field goals, making 8.0 shots per game from beyond the arc. Youngstown State has the 46th-most assists in Division I, averaging 16.5 per game.
Across the court, the Panthers have records of 6-7 ATS and 10-5 SU. Offensively, they average 76.9 points per game on the road, which is 44th in the country. The Panthers are an excellent long-range shooting team with 131 three-point shots made (8.0 per game), ranking 41st in Division I. The Panthers are one of the top teams in the country at finding the open man with an average of 17.8 assists per game.
These conference foes meet for what will be their first head-to-head battle of the season. Milwaukee won the last game in the matchup, taking the head-to-head record to an even 5-5 SU over their most recent meetings. With a 6-3-1 record, the Panthers have the advantage ATS. Neither team held the edge in field goals, rebounds, or three-pointers in a single game during this span.
Predictions: SU Winner – UW-Mil, ATS Winner – UW-Mil, O/U – Over
Notes
Youngstown State is 2-5 SU in its last 7 games.
Youngstown State is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games at home.
Youngstown State is 5-10 SU in its last 15 games at home.
The total has gone OVER in 9 of Youngstown State’s last 10 games when playing Wisc-Milwaukee.
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Youngstown State’s last 5 games when playing at home against Wisc-Milwaukee.
Milwaukee averages 79.7 points per game (ranked 62nd). Youngstown State, on the other hand, allows 80.9 points per game (ranked 328th).
Ranked 73rd, the Milwaukee Panthers have an offensive rating of 111.4. The Youngstown State Penguins rank 283rd with a defensive rating of just 108.1.
Milwaukee has an average field goal percentage of 45.8%. Youngstown State is a poor 2-5 when opponents have a similar or higher field goal percentage.
The Youngstown State Penguins and the Milwaukee Panthers both rank higher in average effective field goal percentage when compared to their field goal percentages. Youngstown State is 212th and 181st in the nation for FG% and eFG% respectively, while Milwaukee is 97th and 70th in these categories.
Milwaukee ranks among the best in the nation in assists at 19th (17.8 assists per game). Youngstown State is ranked 46th with 16.5 assists per game.
Youngstown State ranks 254th in offensive rebounds, while Milwaukee ranks 60th in defensive rebounds.
On average, Youngstown State forces a turnover rate of 19.3%. When Milwaukee turns over the ball at a similar or higher rate, the team has a winning 4-1 record.
