Youngstown State freshman John Lovelace Jr. drives to the basket during the first half of YSU’s 105-74 demolition of IUPUI on Saturday. Lovelace scored a team-high 16 points.

YOUNGSTOWN — With his team off to an inauspicious start against IUPUI, Youngstown State coach Jerrod Calhoun called a timeout just 54 seconds into the game to wake up his charges.

Youngstown State responded by scoring the game’s next 24 points and never allowed IUPUI back to within single digits en route to a 105-74 shellacking of the Jaguars in Horizon League play Saturday at the Beeghly Center.

It was YSU’s fifth win in six games.

“I’m not a big timeout guy, but I thought we needed to get (our players’ attention),” Calhoun said. “I wasn’t happy. We gave them two easy looks to start the game, especially at home. Our crowds have been coming. … The more fans we get in here, the harder we’ll be to beat. So we wanted to get off to a good start, and that’s why I called it.”

IUPUI (3-13, 0-5) scored the game’s first four points in the post from Chris Osten, prompting Calhoun’s timeout, before the Penguins (12-5, 4-2) ripped off 24 unanswered to take a commanding 24-4 lead.

That was built through sharp ball movement and hot shooting. The Penguins began the game 7-for-9 from 3-point range and by halftime were 11-for-17. Meanwhile, the Penguins had 15 assists on 18 first-half field goals and just two turnovers.

In all, YSU sank 18 shots from 3-point range and racked up 33 assists. Each of those marks tied YSU program records. The 33 helpers came on 38 made field goals. YSU shot 38-for-64 (59.4 percent) and sank 18-of-34 shots from deep (52.9 percent). Both percentages were season highs for the Penguins.

“We knew they were going to run their little funky zone,” YSU guard Dwayne Cohill said. “So we knew cutting off ball screens was going to mess with their heads a little bit. So we just tried to do that and keep everybody moving consistently on offense and keep the ball moving, try not to get stagnant. I think it caused a lot of confusion for (IUPUI), which is why I think we had a lot of assists.”

Cohill racked up a double-double with 13 points and 10 assists. He was one of five Penguins in double figures. Bryce McBride added 12 points and six assists, while Malek Green tallied 12 points and six rebounds. Freshman John Lovelace Jr., who was getting up extra shots after Thursday’s win over Robert Morris, scored a team-high 16 points, while Chris Shelton came off the bench late and hit four 3-pointers for 12 points. All but one Penguin who entered Saturday’s game hit the scorebook.

Lovelace, who scored 14 points in the first half, was quick to point to his veteran teammates as his source of confidence.

“These guys pick me up every day,” Lovelace said. “They know the work I put in, so they have confidence in me to take those shots and stay with it even when I’m not shooting well. I just get back in the gym, to the drawing board, seeing what I can do better. These guys lift me up and have confidence in me, so I appreciate them for that.”

And while the offense certainly led the charge, YSU’s defense posted another good outing, too. The Penguins forced 19 turnovers, including 11 steals. That came after the Penguins recorded a season-high 12 steals against Robert Morris on Thursday in what Calhoun described as YSU’s best defensive performance since his arrival.

Calhoun credited two of his assistants, Ethan Faulkner and Mantoris Robinson, for that recent step forward the Penguin defense has taken.

“(They’ve) done a masterful job,” Calhoun said. “… I’ll make defensive adjustments throughout the game, but really, it’s kind of Manny’s and Ethan’s show. I think they’ve done a really good job of getting our guys’ attention and pointing certain things out that we needed to get better at.”

Specifically, Calhoun was pleased with the improvement on the glass.

“Defensive rebounding was a big key,” he said. “We’ve been able to do that the last two games, and you look at the results. We’re able to get out, (and) we’re able to run (in transition). Our offense is elite when we keep teams off the glass, so we have to keep doing that, but this week will present a different set of problems.”

Indeed, the Penguins hit the road this week to take on Detroit Mercy and Oakland, two teams with plenty of offensive firepower. That begins Thursday with Detroit Mercy and then continues Saturday at Oakland.

jwhetzel@tribtoday.com