GAME #29
Cleveland State (8-20, 4-12 HL) at Detroit Mercy (6-21, 4-11 HL)
Tuesday, February 21, 2017 | 7:00 pm ET
Detroit, Mich. | Calihan Hall
Live Stats | ESPN3 | AM 1420 WHK
PDF GAME NOTES
Cleveland State at Detroit Mercy
GAME PREVIEW:
• Cleveland State travels to Detroit Mercy for the regular season road finale on Tuesday (Feb. 21) at 7:00 pm to conclude a stretch of three games over six days.
• The Vikings are 8-20 overall (4-12 HL) after a 74-68 double overtime setback to Wright State on Saturday afternoon.
• Detroit Mercy is 6-21 overall (4-11 HL) and is coming off an 83-63 setback to League leading Valparaiso on Sunday.
• Tuesday's game will be broadcast live on the WatchESPN app.
• Al Pawlowski will have the call of the game on AM, 1420 WHK.
THE DETROIT MERCY SERIES:
• Detroit Mercy leads the all-time series with the Vikings, 40-23.
• The Vikings have won eight of the last 13 meetings since the 2012-13 season, including a 90-73 win in the Wolstein Center in this year's first meeting.
• CSU is 4-25 all-time in Detroit.
GAME 28 REVIEW: WRIGHT STATE 74, @CSU 68 (2OT) (2/18/17):
• Wright State outscored CSU, 14-8, in the second overtime period to claim a 74-68 win over the Vikings.
• Demonte Flannigan posted his second double-double of the year with 22 points and 11 rebounds. He hit 8-of-12 from the field, including all three of his three-pointers.
• Rob Edwards finished with 17 points and eight rebounds, while Bobby Word scored 16 points and had five rebounds.
• CSU had four players on the floor for at least 40 minutes, including Bobby Word who played 49 of a possible 50 minutes. The 49 minutes were the fifth most in a game in program history.
FOR THREE:
• CSU has hit a three-pointer in a school-record 594 straightgames.
• The last time CSU failed to make a three-pointer was Feb. 21, 1998, when the Vikings were 0-for-8 in a 60-57 win over Detroit.
• The Vikings have hit at least three three-pointers in 143 straight games, dating to Jan. 4, 2013, when CSU was 1-of-18 from three-point at Valparaiso.
40 MINUTE MEN:
• The Vikings had four players on the floor for at least 40 minutes in Saturday's double overtime loss to Wright State.
• Bobby Word played 49 minutes, the fifth most for a player in a game in program history, while Demonte Flannigan (44), Rob Edwards (41) and Kasheem Thomas (40) also played at least 40 minutes.
• It was a career-high in minutes played for all four players.
• Saturday was the first time CSU had four players play at least 40 minutes since a Dec. 4, 2013, 85-82 double OT loss at Drexel.
• In that game, Trey Lewis played 53 minutes, while Bryn Forbes (46), Jon Harris (44) and Marlin Mason (41) all topped 40 minutes.
WORKING OVERTIME:
• The Vikings played the 87th overtime game in school history - and third this year - on Saturday against Wright State.
• CSU also played OT games against Kent State in the season opener (Nov. 11) and in the League opener vs. Green Bay (Dec. 29).
• The Vikings are now 44-43 all-time in overtime games and has dropped five straight overtime contests.
• CSU's last OT win was a 66-61 win at Green Bay on Feb. 20, 2015.
FLANNIGAN DOUBLES UP:
• Demonte Flannigan posted his seventh career double-double and second of the season with 22 points and 11 rebounds against Wright State on Saturday (Feb. 18).
• Flannigan's first double-double of the year with a 17-point, 10-rebound effort at Wright State on Jan. 5.
• Since missin the first four games of the year due to a medical issue, Flannigan has come back to average 11.5 points and 5.7 rebounds.
• He ranks 21st in the League in scoring and 13th in rebounding, while shooting .477 from the field (13th in HL).
• He has seven career 20-point games and 7 career double-doubles.
• He grabbed a CSU season-high 13 rebounds in the Dec. 29 setback to Green Bay, his sixth career double-digit rebound game.
KASH DROPS DIMES:
• Kasheem Thomas dished out a career-high 10 assists at Youngstown State on Jan. 28.
• Thomas became the first CSU player with double-digit assists in a game since Charlie Lee had 10 helpers vs. UIC (2/2/2013).
• Thomas ranks ninth in the Horizon League with 3.2 assists per game and is third in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.9).
• He has recorded at least six assists in six games this year, including nine in his first collegiate game vs. Kent State (Nov. 11).
• Thomas has started all 28 games this year and became the first CSU freshman to start a season opener since 2003-04 (Walt Waters).
• His 28 starts are the third most by a freshman in program history and two shy of equaling the record held by Shawn Hood (1983-84) and Rob Edwards (2015-16).
• He is averaging 7.7 points, 2.8 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game.
EDWARDS PROVING WORTHY OF PRESEASON HONOR:
• Rob Edwards was named to the preseason All-Horizon League second team.
• He ranks fifth in the Horizon League in scoring (16.0), second in steals (1.4) and ninth in three-pointers (2.0).
• Edwards has 12 career 20-point games, including eight times this year.
• He scored a career-high 32 points in the win at Oakland (Jan. 16), bettering his old career-high of 28 points at No. 1 ranked Kentucky (Nov. 28) when he set career-highs in field goals made (12) and attempted (21).
• Edwards had a career-best seven steals at Milwaukee (Jan. 20), the second most by a Horizon League player in a game this year.
• The seven steals were the most by a CSU player since Craig Caldwell made eight at Wright State (2/19/95).
• Edwards has amassed 845 career points.
• Last year, he averaged 12.4 points, 3.9 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.2 steals, earning a spot on the Horizon League All-Freshman team.
• He started 30 games last year, the most for a freshman in CSU history, and also logged a CSU freshman record 994 minutes.
WORD UP:
• Bobby Word is seventh in the Horizon League with 2.1 three-pointers per game. His 60 total three's are seventh most in the League.
• He has nine games this year with at least four three-pointers.
• Word hit four three-pointers in four straight games from Jan. 20-Feb. 2.
• Word scored a career-high 25 points vs. Western Michigan (Dec. 7), hitting 9-of-12 from the field (5-8 3FG).
• Word ranks 24th in the League in scoring (11.2) in his first season at CSU after sitting out last year when he transferred from Oral Roberts.
QUICK HITTERS:
• Derek Sloan set career highs in points (10) and rebounds (7) vs. Canisius (Nov. 15). A former walk-on, he has started 21 games this year.
• Gavin Peppers has not played this season after injuring his foot the day before CSU's exhibition game (Nov. 6).
• Anthony Wright tallied a career high 14 points with seven rebounds at Belmont (Dec. 23), hitting 5-of-7 from field and both three-point attempts. He missed his first career double-double with 11 points and nine rebounds at Youngstown State (Jan. 28).
• Jibri Blount tied his career-high with 11 rebounds vs. UT-Martin (Nov. 18).
• Blount is the son of former Pittsburgh Steeler great and NFL Hall of Famer, Mel Blount.
• Kasheem Thomas tied his career-high with 16 points at Oakland (Jan. 16), a total he also had at Duquesne (Nov. 27).
• Nelson Maxwell tied his career-high with eight points (3-6 FG), adding three rebounds, one steal and one assist vs. Valparaiso (1/14).
• Evan Clayborne is shooting 14-of-22 (.636) from the floor this year.
• Jamarcus Hairston scored 13 points (3-6 3FG) vs. Kent State (Nov. 12) in his CSU debut, hitting a three-pointer with 2.6 seconds left to send game into overtime.
• Head coach Gary Waters coached in his school record 361st career game at CSU on Feb. 11 at UIC, breaking Ray Dieringer's old record of 360 games coached.
• The Vikings scored a season-high 90 points vs. Detroit Mercy on Feb. 2. It was the first time CSU scored 90 points since a 92-85 win at Oakland (2/2/14)
• CSU's game at Kentucky on Nov. 23 marked the second time in program history that the Vikings played the No. 1 team in the country (Cincinnati, 1999).
UP NEXT:
• The Vikings return home to host Youngstown State on Saturday (Feb. 25) at 3:30 pm in the regular season finale.
