GAME #27
Cleveland State (6-20, 3-10 HL) at UIC (15-11, 10-3 HL)

Saturday, February 10, 2018 | 8:00 pm ET
Chicago, Ill. | UIC Pavilion
Live Stats | ESPN3 | AM 1420

PDF GAME NOTES
Cleveland State at UIC

GAME PREVIEW:
    •     Cleveland State concludes its road swing on Saturday (Feb. 10) when the Vikings play at UIC at 8:00 pm ET at UIC Pavilion.
    •    The Vikings are 6-20 overall and 3-10 in the Horizon League following Thursday's 78-73 setback at IUPUI.
    •    UIC is 15-11 overall and is in second place in the Horizon League at 10-3, just one game behind Northern Kentucky and Wright State for first place.
    •    The Flames have won seven straight games, including a 100-75 win over Youngstown State on Thursday.
    •    Saturday's game will be broadcast on AM 1220, AM 1420 and AM 1440 with Al Pawlowski providing the call.
    •    Ed Daugherty will have the pre-game show on the radio beginning at 7:30 pm ET.
    •    The game will also be shown live on ESPN3 and the WatchESPN app.
   
THE UIC SERIES:
    •     CSU leads the all-time series with UIC, 47-36.
    •    The 83 games are the second most against any opponent in school history (YSU: 87).
    •    UIC won the first meeting between the teams this year, 87-80, on Jan. 20 in Cleveland.
    • Since the 2005-06 season, CSU has won 21 of the last 28 meetings against UIC.
    •    The teams split two meetings last year with each winning on the others home court.

GAME 26: @IUPUI 78, CSU 73 (2/8/18):
    •     CSU rallied from a 20-point second half deficit to make it a one possession game late, but IUPUI held on to win.
    •    Stefan Kenic led three players in double figures with a career-high 16 points with three rebounds.
    •    Tyree Appleby scored 15 points and Kenny Carpenter finished with 13 points, six rebounds and two assists.

IMPROVING AT THE LINE:
    •    CSU has shown continued improvement at the free throw line since going 13-of-37 (.351) over the first two games.
    •    Since those two games, CSU is shooting 235-of-318 (.739) at the charity stripe.
    •    In Horizon League play, the Vikings have hit 164-of-211 at the free throw line, ranking first in League play in free throw percentage (.777).
    •    CSU is shooting .705 (284-403) at the line this year.

APPLEBY EARNS FOURTH LEAGUE HONOR:
    •     Tyree Appleby was named the Horizon League Freshman of the Week on Monday for the fourth time this season.
    •    His four League awards are second most among all freshmen this year.
    •    In two games last week, Appleby averaged 15.0 points, 2.0 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 1.0 steal and 1.0 block.
    •    In Thursday's 77-74 win over first place Wright State, he posted 17 points, four assists and two steals. He came back to score 13 points with three rebounds, three assists and two blocks in Saturday's setback to first place Northern Kentucky.

APPLEBY APPEALING:
    •     Tyree Appleby is averaging 11.2 points, 2.2 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.5 steals in his first season of college basketball.
    •    He ranks third in the League in steals, fifth in assists and is 21st in scoring.
    •    He is a four-time Horizon League Freshman of the Week, earning the award in back-to-back weeks (Dec. 4, Dec. 10) and again on Jan. 15 and Feb. 5.
    •    Appleby earned the first award after averaging 10.0 points, 2.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.5 steals vs. Arkansas State and at Kent State, shooting .562 (9-16) from the floor.
    •    Appleby picked up his second straight honor after averaging 18.0 points, 3.5 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 3.5 steals, shooting .800 (12-15) from the field and 5-of-6 (.833) from three-point at Western Michigan and vs. Notre Dame College.
    •    He won his third award after averaging 16.5 points, 7.0 assists, 3.5 rebounds, and 2.5 steals in games at Detroit Mercy and Oakland.
    •    Appleby has dished out a career-best seven assists in five games this season.
    •    Appleby scored a career-high 24 points at Western Michigan (Dec. 6), hitting 8-of-10 from the field, including 4-of-5 from three-point and all four free throws, while adding three rebounds, three assists and three steals.
    •    It was the most points by a CSU freshman since Rob Edwards scored 26 points at Detroit Mercy on Jan. 4, 2016.

CARDIAC VIKINGS:
    •    The Vikings have played in nine one possession games this year, posting a 4-5 mark in those games.
    •    Five of CSU's League games have come down to the final possession as the Vikings fell to Youngstown State (80-77), defeated Green Bay (80-79), lost at Detroit Mercy (85-84) and defeated IUPUI (70-67) and Wright State (77-74).
    •    CSU played in three straight one poessession games from Nov. 20 through Nov. 29, falling at ECU, 72-69 (Nov. 20), losing to Central Conn., 74-73, (Nov. 24), and topping Arkansas State, 75-72 (Nov. 29).
    •    It was the first time CSU played three straight one poessession games since the 1999-2000 season when CSU fell at St. Bonaventure, 71-69, (12/30/99), and won at Loyola, 70-68 (1/6/00) and at UIC, 91-89 (1/8/00).
    •    CSU also played a one possession game at Niagara (L, 79-77 on Dec. 19).

CARPENTER GOING TO WORK:
    •     Senior Kenny Carpenter is enjoying his best season to date. He ranks 17th in the Horizon League in scoring (12.8) and 13th in rebounding (5.2), while adding 2.2 assists.
    •    Carpenter is also 10th in the League in field goal percentage (.478).
    •    He has three, 20-point games this year and has 19 double figure scoring games.
    •    Carpenter also has three double-digit rebounding games.
    •    He had 23 points in a win over IUPUI (Jan. 18) and scored 20 (10-14 FG) in a victory over Green Bay (Jan. 4).
    •    Carpenter scored a career-high 26 points against Coppin State (Nov. 17), bettering his old career-high of 24 points set at UIC as a sophomore.
    •    He scored 24 points in the first half vs. Coppin State and finished the game 10-of-17 from the field, including 6-of-11 from three-point.
    •    The six three-pointers are tied for the fourth most in a game in program history and the 17th time a CSU player made six three's.
    •    He became the first CSU player to make six threes since Charlie Lee hit six at Oakland on Feb. 6, 2014.
    •    Carpenter has posted two double-doubles this year, the first two of his career.
    •    Carpenter recorded his first career double-double with 11 points and a career-high 12 boards in the season opener at Akron (Nov. 11).
    •    He had a career-high 26 points and 11 boards against Coppin State (Nov. 17).

WORD UP!:
    •     Senior Bobby Word has started all 58 games during his CSU career.
    •    He is 23rd in the League in scoring this year (10.4), while ranking fifth in the League in three pointers (2.3)
    •    Word has hit five or more threes in five games this year.
    •    Word scored a career-high 26 points - hitting a career-best seven threes - at No. 2 Michigan State (Dec. 29).
    •    He followed that up with a 24 point effort vs. Youngstown State (Jan. 1), which included nine points in the final 49 seconds. His three-pointer with nine seconds left tied the game at 77-77 before the Penguins won it with a buzzer beater.
    •    Word is the top returning scorer from last year's team (11.1).

WORD HITS 1,000 CAREER POINTS WITH DOUBLE DOUBLE:
    •    With his 11 point effort vs. Green Bay on Jan. 4, Bobby Word reached 1,000 career points.
    •     Word scored 487 points during his two seasons at Oral Roberts and has 610 points during his CSU career for 1,097 career points.
    •    Word also notched his first career double-double vs. Green Bay.
    •     He scored 14 points and added a career-high 10 rebounds. His old career-high was seven rebounds.

WRIGHT RETURNS:
    •     Anthony Wright returned from injury on Thursday (Feb. 8) night at IUPUI, playing 17 minutes off the bench and scoring eight points.
    •    Wright had missed the previous seven games.
    •    Earlier this year, he recorded his first career double-double at Kent State (Dec. 2).
    •    Wright scored a career-high 21 points, hitting 8-of-11 from the field, including a career-best four three's (in six attempts). He also had a career-high tying 11 rebounds.
    •    Wright is shooting .806 (25-31) at free throw line and has made his last 11 free throws.

KENIC SCORES CAREER-HIGH:
    •    Stefan Kenic scored a career-high 16 points on Thursday (Feb. 8) at IUPUI, betting his old career high of 15 points at Detroit Mercy (Jan. 10).
    •    In the game at Detroit Mercy, Kenic was 6-of-10 from the floor and his three-pointer from the top of the arc with 3.9 seconds left gave the Vikings an 84-83 lead before UDM won the game at the buzzer.
    •    Kenic is averaging 8.8 points and 3.3 rebounds this year, playing in all 26 games with 23 starts.

VIKINGS TIE THREE POINT MARK WITH 14 MAKES:
    •     The Vikings have tied the single game school record with 14 made three-pointers four times this year.
    •    CSU was 14-of-32 from three-point in wins over Coppin State (Nov. 17) and Wright State (Feb. 1) and went 14-of-39 from long distance against Notre Dame College (Dec. 10).
    •    The Vikings were 14-of-31 from three at Detroit Mercy (Jan. 10).
    •    CSU has hit 14 threes in a game eight times in school history.

HAIRSTON EARNS FIRST CAREER START:
    •     Jamarcus Hariston earned his first career start at CSU vs. Green Bay (Jan. 4). He totaled two points, four rebounds and two steals in 26 minutes.
    •    In 13 League games (12 starts), Hairston is averaging 6.0 points and 4.8 rebounds, while shooting .484 (31-64) from the floor.
    •    He scored 16 points - hitting 4-of-7 from three-point - with seven rebounds vs. UIC (Jan. 20).
    •    Hairston posted six points and set career-highs in rebounds (8) and steals (4) in a win over IUPUI, playing a career-high 32 minutes. His tip-in with 22 seconds left gave CSU the lead for good (68-67).
    •    He had 14 points (5-6 FG) with six boards at Detroit (Jan. 10).
    •    Hairston scored a career-high 17 points at Niagara (Dec. 19), hitting 7-of-9 from the field, adding five boards and two assists.

KASH IS MONEY:
    •     Kasheem Thomas has been one of the top sixth men in the Horizon League, averaging 7.3 points and 2.8 assists in League play.
    •    Thomas scored a season-high 11 points with six assists against Youngstown State (Jan. 1).
    •    He had eight points with six assists at Detroit Mercy (Jan. 10) and posted 10 points and six assists at NKU (Jan. 15).
    •    Thomas scored 13 points against UIC (Jan. 20), setting career highs in free throws made (11) and attempted (12).
    •    Thomas started 39 consecutive games to open his career, including all 31 last year, the most by a freshman in program history.
    •    Thomas has a career assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.8 (158 assists to 87 turnovers).

CLAYBORNE'S BIG NIGHT:
    •    Evan Clayborne scored a career-high 10 points and tied his career-high with seven rebounds in a win over IUPUI (Jan. 18).
    •    He added two steals and a block in 24 minutes off the bench.
    •    Clayborne has worked his way back from a knee injury suffered at Kent State (Dec. 2), which forced him to miss seven games.
   
FOR THREE:
    •    CSU has hit a three-pointer in a school record 623 straight games.
    •    The Vikings have hit at least three three's in 172 straight contests, extending the streak with eight threes at IUPUI on Thursday.
    •    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 FELTON FILE:
    •     First-year head coach Dennis Felton earned his first victory at CSU with an 80-56 win over Coppin State (Nov. 17).
    •     Felton, who made his CSU regular season debut on Nov. 11 at Akron, was named the 15th head coach in CSU history on March 24.
    •    Felton, a coaching veteran with more than 30 years of experience, is in his 12th season as a head coach, having spent five years at Western Kentucky (1998-03) and five-plus seasons at Georgia (2003-09).
    •    During his time on the sidelines Felton has amassed 190 victories, won seven conference championships and led six of his teams to the postseason, including four NCAA berths.

UP NEXT:
    •    CSU returns home for the final time next week, hosting Detroit Mercy on Wednesday (Feb. 14) at 7:00 pm and Oakland on Friday (Feb. 16) at 7:00 pm.