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Vikings Make Important Road Swing Through Wisconsin
Jan. 12, 2009
Contact: Brian McCann
• 2008-09 Men's Basketball Promotions Complete Release in PDF Format
Game 19 SETTING THE SCENE: Cleveland State makes its most important road swing of the regular season, playing two games against the front-runners in the Horizon League this week. The swing opens when the Vikings play at Green Bay on Thursday, Jan. 15 beginning at 7:30 p.m. CST in the Resch Center. CSU then faces Milwaukee on Saturday, Jan. 17 starting at 7:30 p.m. Both games will be televised live on SportsTime Ohio with Mike Cairns and Franklin Edwards providing the commentary. Cleveland State has won eight of its last nine games to enter the week with a 13-5 record and is in fourth place in the league with a 4-2 mark. Green Bay, which is coming off a road win at Milwaukee last week, is 11-5 overall and in third place in the league with a 4-1 record. PREVIEWING CLEVELAND STATE: After last year becoming one of at least 16 teams in NCAA history to go from losing 20 games in one season to winning 20 the next, the Vikings are quickly returning to the form that earned them their first post-season bid in 20 years. The lineup is centered around the group of seven returning players who keyed the success last year, including the duo of forward J'Nathan Bullock (15.2 ppg, 6.7 rpg) and point guard Cedric Jackson (8.8 ppg, 5.4 rpg, 5.5 apg), both of whom were named to the five-player Preseason All-Horizon League first team this year. Earning spots in the starting lineup are the sophomore duo of off-guard Norris Cole (11.4, 2.7, 2.4) and small forward D'Aundray Brown (7.8, 5.2). Senior Chris Moore (5.3, 3.1) has started each game at center with seniors George Tandy (5.3, 5.6) and Renard Fields (1.0, 0.9) each factoring significantly into the playing rotation. The final three spots in the rotation come from the group consisting of freshmen guards Jeremey Montgomery (3.8, 1.5 assists), Trevon Harmon (8.4, 2.0), who became eligible at the semester, and Josh McCoy (1.5, 1.1). TIME CHANGE FOR GREEN BAY GAME: Cleveland State's game at Green Bay this week has been moved to a 7:30 p.m. CST (8:30 p.m. EST) tip-off to accommodate a SportsTime Ohio broadcast that evening. With the Green Bay women playing at 5:00 p.m. CST that evening, it was not possible to guarantee a hard tip time for the men's game at 7:00 p.m. so the start was pushed back. HEAD COACH Gary Waters: The reigning Horizon League Co-Coach of the Year, Gary Waters has needed just three seasons to convert Cleveland State into one of the top programs in the Horizon League. A 34-year collegiate coaching veteran, he owns a 215-174 record in 13 seasons as a head coach and a 44-39 mark in his third season at CSU, taking seven of his first 12 squads to post-season play. He posted a 92-60 record in five seasons at Kent State, making NCAA appearances in both 1998-99 and 2000-01 and becoming the third coach in Mid-American Conference history to be named league coach of the year in successive years. Waters moved to Rutgers in 2001-02, compiling a 79-75 mark in five seasons, including three trips to the NIT. Waters, who led the Vikings to a 21-13 mark last year, earned his 200th career win on Feb. 23, 2008 when the Vikings defeated Marist. CSU IN THE NCAA STATS: Senior Cedric Jackson, the Horizon League leader in both assists (5.5) and steals (2.7), ranks 13th nationally in steals and 43rd in assists in the latest NCAA statistics, which were released on Monday (Jan. 12). As a team, CSU ranks in the top 50 nationally in seven categories, ranking 3rd in scoring defense (55.6), 16th in turnover margin (+4.8), 18th in three-point field goal defense (.287), 21st in field goal defense (.380), 23rd in steals (9.2), 30th in assist-turnover-ratio (1.24) and 47th in turnovers (12.4). BROWN OUT: Sophomore forward D'Aundray Brown, who has missed the last three games, remains out this week with a stress fracture in his rib cage. The injury was originally suffered during the win over Kent State on Dec. 23 and then flared up at Wright State on Dec. 30. TV TIMEOUT: Thursday's game will be televised regionally by SportsTime Ohio, making it one of at least nine being televised either nationally or regionally this year. CSU is 2-1 in televised games this year, winning road contests at Syracuse (STO) and Detroit (STO) and falling at home to Butler (ESPNU). STO will also televise the games at Milwaukee (Jan. 17), at UIC (Feb. 5) and at Loyola (Feb. 7) while ESPNU is slated to broadcast the Jan. 23 game at Youngstown State. Two other games could be televised this year as the ESPNU Bracketbusters game on Feb. 21 and the regular season ending game at Butler could each be televised by ESPN. SCHIELE LEAVES PROGRAM: Viking head coach Gary Waters announced after the Loyola game on Thursday that sophomore guard Eric Schiele has left the team and will transfer to a non-Division I team in the area. Schiele, a walk-on, averaged 3.9 points and 10.0 minutes while coming off the bench in 14 games this season. "Eric indicated that his decision was based upon being able to go to a school where he would get more playing time and a scholarship. He is a great kid who did nothing but work hard in his two years here. We wish him luck," Waters said. CSU DROPS TO 9TH IN MID-MAJOR POLL: The Vikings fell one place, from 8th to 9th, in the most recent Mid-Major Basketball Poll, which was released on Jan. 5. CSU, which ended the 2007-08 season unranked, received 523 points to be one of four Horizon League teams to make the poll (Butler 3rd, Green Bay 18th & Milwaukee 25th). Illinois State takes over the top spot this week with Gonzaga ranking second and Butler third. THE LAST TIME WE MET: Forgive J'Nathan Bullock if the basket looks like the size of a garbage can during the Green Bay game. After all, the last time the senior faced the Phoenix, he blew away his career high with 39 points, going 13-for-14 from the field and 11-for-14 from the line. Here are a couple of notes on Bullock's performance: COMING IN TANDY: No player seems to be as responsible for the Viking good fortunes this year than senior George Tandy. Over the last 12 games, Tandy has averaged 6.6 points and 7.3 rebounds a game, a considerable improvement over the 2.7 points and 2.0 boards that he averaged in the first six games or the 4.0 points and 3.9 rebounds over his first 39 games as a Viking. Tandy scored a season-high 13 points in the win over Loyola and had a career-high matching 13 rebounds vs. Kent State and 10 vs. Valparaiso. 10 WINS BEFORE THE NEW YEAR: The victory over Notre Dame College on Dec. 27 allowed the Vikings to accomplish another program first, that is, win 10 games before New Year's Day. In fact, with a 10-5 record heading into the new year, CSU easily bested the old record for wins in the months of November and December, which was eight accomplished three times (1985-86, 1986-87 & 2007-08). HARMON MAKES A BIG DEBUT: In the seven games since becoming eligible at the semester break, freshman guard Trevon Harmon has averaged 8.4 points and 2a game and supplied CSU with a much-needed scorer off the bench. His contributions were never more important than lately. On Jan. 8 vs. Loyola, he celebrated his first career start by scoring a career-high 17 points, 14 coming in the first half to help break open the game. On Jan. 3 at Detroit, he scored eight of his 10 points during a decisive 9-1 Viking run in the final five minutes that held off a late Detroit rally. Harmon, a 6-0 guard from Pasadena, Calif., was named the All-CIF Division II Player of the Year as a senior after averaging 28.0 points and 8.0 assists per game. EVERYTHING STARTS WITH THE D: Keeping to his word, Gary Waters has built the 2008-09 Vikings around defense and the results of late have really been spectacular. CSU has held 12 of its 18 opponents to under 40-percent shooting from the field, including in 11 of the last 13 games. During that stretch, CSU opponents are 243 for 658 from the field (.369). In 18 games, only Syracuse & Wright State shot better than 44-percent from the field. CSU was 21st in the nation in field goal defense (.380) in the latest NCAA stats. KEEPING IT IN THE 40'S: A better example of how strong the Viking defense has been this year is that CSU has held eight opponents to 50 points or less in a game this season, the most since the then Fenn Foxes accomplished it 10 times during the 1941-42 season, 66 seasons ago. The 40 points scored by Notre Dame College on Dec. 27 was the fewest allowed by CSU since Milwaukee scored just 34 points on Jan. 27, 2001. You'd have to go back to Jan. 11, 1967 (42 seasons) to see another game in which the Vikings allowed fewer points (24-22 win over Walsh). CSU's 55.6 scoring defense is third in the nation in the latest NCAA stats, trailing only Washington State (51.1) and Nebraskas (55.5). . . . AND KEEPING IT UNDER 20: Further proof of the success of the CSU defense is that the Vikings have held seven opponents to 20 points or less in the first half of games this season. Toledo was the first team kept under the mark when it scored just 16 points. Valparaiso scored a season-low 14 points on Dec. 2 with Butler tallying just 20 two days later. It has also happened in four of the last five games, La Roche (19), Notre Dame College (17), Kent State (17) and Detroit (20) have each been kept under the mark. CSU is 12-2 in games in which it has either led or been tied at half and is outscoring its opponents by 6.8 points in the first half (31.5-24.7). MONTGOMERY SHINES AS HOME COMES TO HIM: Freshman guard Jeremy Montgomery had a little extra motivation for turning in his best back-to-back games since joining the Vikings this season. A native of Chicago, Montgomery averaged 8.5 points and 3.0 rebounds in the wins over Chicago schools UIC and Loyola. He had eight points against Loyola and nine vs. UIC, combining to shoot .462 from the field (.462) and .500 from three-point (3-6). HANDING OUT ASSISTS AT A RECORD PACE: The Vikings enter the Green Bay game challenging the school record for assist percentage in a season. Through 18 games, CSU has an assist on 277 of its 440 baskets (62.95%), slightly ahead of the record of 61.64 set in 2004-05 (376 assists on 610 baskets). GOING FOR A RARE DOUBLE: Senior Cedric Jackson, who is the Horizon League leader in both assists (5.5) and steals (2.7), is attempting to become just the fifth player in league history to accomplish the feat. Jackson's 2.7 steals per game ranks 13th in the nation and is significantly ahead of Detroit's Woody Payne (2.1) in the league race while his 5.5 assists per contest, good for 43rd in the nation, is well ahead of UIC's Spencer Stewart (4.5). Jackson is attempting to join Loyola's Darius Clemens (1980-81) and Earl Brown (1997-98), Detroit's Roy Simms (1982-83) and LaSalle's Paul Burke (1993-94). J'NATHAN IS ON A ROLL: Senior J'Nathan Bullock is playing some of the best basketball of his Viking career of late. After averaging 12.5 points in the first 10 games, the senior has turned up his game, tossing in an average of 17.5 points over the last eight contests to raise his season average to 15.2 ppg. Named the Horizon League Player of the Week for the first time in his career on Dec. 1 after averaging 16.0 points in three wins in Florida, he received it again on Dec. 22 after scoring 18 points in wins over both Syracuse and La Roche. He came back on Dec. 23 to tally 24 points in the win over Kent State. A TURNOVER TALE: One area of continued improvement for the Vikings this year has been turnover margin where CSU leads the Horizon League with +4.8 turnovers a game. The improvement has come at both ends of the court. After averaging 14.0 turnovers a season ago, the Vikings have done a better job taking care of the ball, turning it over just 12.4 times a game, including 10 or fewer turnovers six times this year. Defensively, CSU has turned up the heat, forcing 17.2 turnovers a game, 2.3 more than last year's 14.9 turnovers a game. CSU is ranked 16th nationally in turnover margin the latest NCAA stats. COLE LIKES THE BCS: There is something about playing a big game that gets sophomore Norris Cole to elevate his game to a higher level. After all, in the four games this season against the high major -- or BCS schools -- Cole is averaging 16.3 points, 4.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 2.5 steals, shooting .458 from the field (27-59). He scored a career high 20 points with nine rebounds vs. Washington, tallied 17 points vs. Kansas State, 16 at Syracuse and 12 against West Virginia, giving him four of his top five scoring efforts against BCS schools. BULLOCK PASSES 1,500 POINT MARK: A 16-point effort against UIC on Saturday allowed J'Nathan Bullock to become the sixth player in CSU history to score 1,500 points in a career. With 1,512 career point, Bullock needs 61 points to pass Theo Dixon (1997-02), who is fifth on the career scoring list with 1,572 points. BUILDING A HOME COURT ADVANTAGE: When Gary Waters took over as head coach in the spring of 2006, he made note of the team's 5-10 home record the year before and indicated that for the program to succeed, the Wolstein Center would have to become a much more difficult place to play. The Vikings accomplished that goal in 2007-08 when CSU set a school record for wins in a season by going 12-2 in games played in the Wolstein Center. CSU was also 8-1 in league games, falling just short of the perfect 9-0 home league record in 1992-93. With a 7-2 home mark this year (3-1 in league play), CSU is now 19-4 on campus over the last two seasons, a considerable improvement over the 25-42 over the previous five seasons. BULLOCK CLAIMS STARTING RECORD: When J'Nathan Bullock took the court on Saturday to open the UIC game, he broke the school record with his 87th consecutive start. He surpassed the old mark of 86 set by Ken McFadden from 1985-89. . . . AND GAME 112 IS NEXT FOR BULLOCK: When J'Nathan Bullock takes the court for the Green Bay game, it will be the 112th game of his CSU career. With at least 13 games left in the season (counting at least one game in the Horizon League Championship), Bullock has a chance to at least tie the school record for games played in a career (and games started in a career) which is currently being held by both Eddie Bryant and Clinton Ransey with 125 games played from 1983-87. JACKSON IS A STEAL: With 88 steals during the 2007-08 season, Cedric Jackson not only ran away with the Horizon League steal title, but he also posted the third-highest single season steal total in school history. Jackson's 2.59 steals per game easily topped Green Bay's Terry Evans, who was second with 1.97 steals a contest. The 88 steals trailed only Kenny Robertson, who set the school record with 111 thefts in 1988-89 and had 90 steals in 1987-88. On a national basis, Jackson ranked ninth among Division I players in steals last year. . . . AND THIS YEAR HAS BEEN NO DIFFERENT: Cedric Jackson has been in perfect defensive form this year, making 49 steals to lead the Horizon League (and rank 13th nationally) with 2.7 steals a game and putting himself ahead of last year's 2.6 steals a game pace. Jackson has had multiple steals in all but two games this year, including a season-high five against both Washington and Toledo, giving him 42 multiple steal games in his CSU career (52 games). THE HEAVENLY HEAVE: When Cedric Jackson tossed in a 60-footer at the buzzer to give Cleveland State a 72-69 win at Syracuse on Dec. 15, it gave CSU its third ever win against a ranked opponent (3-27 overall). After snapping a 19-game losing streak to ranked opponents against Butler last year, the Vikings have now won two of their last three meetings against ranked teams. The victory also came against CSU's highest ranked opponent ever. Syracuse was ranked 11th with the previous wins coming over 14th-ranked Indiana in 1986 and 12th-ranked Butler last year. BULLOCK GOING FOR A 4TH SCORING CROWN: It took him six games, but senior J'Nathan Bullock is finally in a familiar position, taking over the team lead in scoring (he is averaging 15.2 ppg entering the UIC game). Bullock is attempting to become only the third player in CSU history to lead the team in scoring in four straight seasons. He started the streak as a freshman in 2005-06 when he was one of three Vikings in double figures for the year, averaging 11.3 points a game, the lowest average ever by a player who led the team. Bullock improved his average to 13.5 points in 2006-07 and trailed Cedric Jackson for most of last season until exploding for 39 points against Green Bay to take over the scoring lead for good. Bullock would join Franklin Edwards (1977-81) and Weldon Kytle (1961-65) as the only four-time scoring leaders. JACKSON MAKES A KING-LY FIGURE: As part of the pre-season opening Viking Madness event, Viking senior Cedric Jackson and women's basketball junior Angel Roque were selected CSU's 2008 Homecoming King and Queen, respectively. WATERS ON THE RADIO: CSU fans will be able to get the inside scoop on the Vikings this year by listening to The Gary Waters Show each week on WTAM, 1100 AM. The one-hour call-in show, which is hosted by Andre Knott, will air weekly through the end of the regular season. At least 14 episodes of the show are planned, most coming on Monday night's. The show will air every Monday night in January and February, moving to a 7:00 p.m. start. A complete schedule is available on CSUVikings.com. . . . AND ON TELEVISION: The Viking Basketball Report, with Head Coach Gary Waters returns for a third season on SportsTime Ohio. The half-hour weekly show includes game recaps, highlights and features on players and other elements of the program. The show will be hosted by Mike Cairns with commentary from Waters. It will air multiple times every week, usually debuting on Tuesday evening. NEXT UP: The Vikings head down the road to Milwaukee to take on the Panthers on Saturday (Jan. 17) at 7:00 p.m. CST in a game televised live on SportsTime Ohio.
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