St. Joseph’s young basketball team is more apt to put a smile on coach Phil Martelli’s face than leave him wanting to pull his hair out.

Not that Martelli has much left to pull.

The veteran coach, now in his 16th season at St. Joseph’s, doesn’t like the 3-6 record that his team will bring into Saturday night’s game against Creighton at Qwest Center Omaha.

But Martelli said there is plenty to like about a group that has five freshmen, including three starters, in the 10-man playing rotation.

“I see something every day in practice I didn’t see the day before that really gets me excited about the chance to play the next game,’’ Martelli said. “It gives you that adrenaline boost and rush.

“Now, the next day I might not see it, but the good thing is, I’ll see something different that gets me just as encouraged.’’

Like all young teams, the Hawks are experiencing their share of growing pains early this season. They lost two games to open the season, won three in a row and now have dropped four straight.

The most recent loss came Wednesday at home to Nos. 20 and 22 Minnesota. St. Joseph’s shot 23.1 percent in the first half in falling behind 36-26. The Hawks came back in the second half to shoot 53.3 percent and trim the deficit to one before falling 83-73.

Sophomore Carl Jones had a career-high 29 points, 23 in the second half. Langston Galloway, one of the three freshman starters, added 21.

“We are the epitome of a young team,’’ Martelli said. “At times, we can be real solid at all five positions. But we’ve yet to have a game where we’ve been able to put possession on top of possession on top of possession at all five spots on the floor.

“Our guys make plays that will wow you. They also make plays that confound you. We just need to continue to utilize efficient practice habits so that we can play at a high level for longer periods of time.’’

St. Joseph’s has just two seniors on its 12-man roster. Forward Idris Hilliard starts and is averaging 9.4 points and 4.8 rebounds. He is one of three Hawks averaging more than 30 minutes per game.

Guard Charoy Bentley is the other senior, and he’s playing about 10 minutes a game while averaging 2.1 points and 0.9 rebounds.

“We’re not a team that can ride the backs of our upperclassmen,’’ Martelli said. “We’re dependent upon production from our freshmen.’’

Freshmen Daryus Quarles and C.J. Aiken join Galloway in the starting lineup, while Ronald Roberts and Patrick Swilling are the other two playing backup roles.

Combined, the freshmen are accounting for 45.2 percent of St. Joseph’s scoring, 52.4 percent of its rebounding and 51.4 percent of its assists.

Jones, a 5-foot-11 sophomore, leads the Hawks in scoring with an 18.8 average. He leads the team in 3-point field goals with 17 and is shooting 37.8 percent from beyond the arc and 82.1 percent from the free-throw line.

Jones has scored 20 points or more in four of the last five games and 10 or more in 11 straight, dating to last season.

Saturday’s game will be St. Joseph’s fifth in 11 days. Two of the games were against ranked opponents — No. 12 Villanova (a 71-60 loss) and Minnesota.

Martelli is concerned about the mental toll that a rocky start can have on a team with so many young players. The Hawks play well, he said, when the ball is going in the basket.

“When it’s not going in, it becomes a challenge to keep them emotionally and mentally into things,’’ he said. “But this is not all woe is me. We’re on the climb back.

“I’m optimistic about what can happen with this group. At the same time, I have to be focused on what we need to do to keep getting better.’’

Contact the writer:

679-2298, steve.pivovar@owh.com

twitter.com/PivOWH

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