After being slowed by injury and limited in minutes and production through a number of games this season, sophomore forward Sam Young bounced back in a big way against Dayton last Saturday, scoring a career-high 18 points in 19 minutes. The game was Young's third straight playing double-digit minutes, a welcome return after playing six or less in three of the previous four games due to tendonitis in his knee.

"I'm feeling a lot better," Young said Thursday. "Once you come off an injury like that, you feel better, your confidence gets higher, and you go on from there."

Young figured to be a significant contributor to the Panthers' 2006-07 production, coming off a freshman season that saw him average 7.9 points and four rebounds per game. But Young showed noticeable improvement in the post-season, when he was called upon to start in place of Levon Kendall, who was down with back issues.

In his first starting effort, against West Virginia in the second round of the Big East Tournament, Young produced his second career double-double, scoring 14 points and grabbing 11 rebounds to help the Panthers to a 68-57 win over the Mountaineers. Young started the final two games of the conference tournament as well, and also played significant minutes in the Panthers' two NCAA Tournament games.

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