NCAA Tournament Bid On Line for Vikings in Horizon League Championship

GAME PREVIEW: 

• Eighth-seeded Cleveland State continues its magical March run when the Vikings play second-seeded Wright State in the Horizon League Championship on Tuesday (March 6) at 7:00 pm at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit.

• CSU is 12-22 overall and advanced to the championship game with wins over ninth-seeded Youngstown State (72-71), top-seeded Northern Kentucky (89-80) and fourth-seeded Oakland (44-43).

• The Vikings have won four straight games for the first time since Jan. 31-Feb. 13, 2014.

• Wright State enters the championship game with a 24-9 record.

• The Raiders advanced to the title game with wins over seventh-seeded Green Bay (87-72) and sixth-seeded Milwaukee (59-53).

• Tueday's game will be broadcast live on AM 1420 and AM 1440 with Al Pawlowski (play-by-play) and Pat Vuyancih (analyst) providing the call.

• Ed Daugherty will have the pre-game show on the radio beginning at 6:30 pm.

• The game will be on ESPN, ESPN3 and the WatchESPN app with Rich Hollinger and Fran Fraschilla on the call.

 

THE WRIGHT STATE SERIES: 

• Wright State leads the all-time series with CSU, 36-34.

• The Vikings won this years first meeting, 70-67, in Cleveland on Feb. 1, while the Raiders won at home, 72-63, on Feb. 19.

• The Raiders have won nine of the last 14 in the series.

• Tuesday will be the third all-time meeting between the schools in the League tournament. CSU won, 73-59, in the 2011 second round, while WSU won, 68-63, in the 2014 semifinals.

CSU IN THE HORIZON LEAGUE TOURNAMENT:

• The Vikings are 12-15 all-time in the Horizon League tournament and 26-28 all-time in conference tournaments.

• CSU will be playing in the Horizon League Championship for the third time in program history. The Vikings fell at Butler, 70-55, in 2008 and won at Butler, 57-54, in 2009.

• The Vikings will be the first No. 8 seed to play in the championship game and the second lowest seed to ever play behind No. 10 Milwaukee which was in the title game last year.

• The lowest seed to ever win a League title was No. 6 seed UIC which defeated No. 5 seed Loyola (Ill.), 76-75, in double overtime in Cleveland.

 

LET'S TALK ABOUT 20:

• With a win on Tuesday night, Cleveland State would become just the third team to advance to the NCAA tournament with 20 losses.

• The other two teams to make the tournament with 20 losses were Coppin State (16-20) in 2008 and Liberty (15-20) in 2013.

 

GAME #35

• Tuesday will be CSU's 35th game of the season, which will be the third most games in a season in program history.

• The school record for games played in a season is 37 in 2008-09, while the 2010-11 squad played 36 games.

 

ON THE DEFENSIVE:

• The Vikings put together their best defensive effort of the season in Monday's 44-43 win over Oakland.

• CSU held Oakland to season lows for an opponent in points (43), field goals (14) and field goal percentage (.250).

• The 43 points allowed were the fewest against the Vikings by a Division I team since a 70-42 win at UIC on Feb. 5, 2012.

 

BIG SECOND HALF:

• The Vikings erupted for 61 second half points in Saturday's 89-80 win over top-seeded Northern Kentucky in the quarterfinals.

• CSU was 17-of-30 from the field in the second half, including 7-of-13 from three-point.

• The 61 points were the most in a half for the Vikings since CSU scored 70 first half points against Navy on Dec. 1, 1990.

• CSU also scored 61 second half points in a win over Cedarville on Dec. 13, 2009.

 

ONE SHY OF THE CENTURY MARK:

• CSU's 99 points in a win at Youngstown State on Feb. 24 were the most by a Viking squad since since a 113-61 win over Cedarville on Dec. 12, 2009

• It marked the most by a Viking team against a Division I opponent since a 109-105 victory over Milwaukee on Jan. 20, 2000.

• In addition to setting a season-high for points, the Vikings also set season-highs for field goal percentage (.567), field goals made (34), rebounds (43) and free throw attempts (30), despite not taking a free throw in the first 23 minutes of the game.

 

CARDIAC VIKINGS:

• CSU has played in 12 one possession games this year, posting a 7-5 mark in those games.

• Two of CSU's three games at the Horizon League tournament have come down to the final possession with the Vikings knocking off Youngstown State (72-71) and Oakland (72-71).

• Six of CSU's League games came 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), Wright State (77-74) and Detroit Mercy (75-72).

• 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).

 

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).

• CSU was 14-of-31 from three-point at Detroit Mercy (Jan. 10).

• CSU has hit 14 threes in a game eight times in school history.

 

FOR THREE:

• CSU has hit a three-pointer in a school record 631 straight games.

• The Vikings have hit at least three three's in 180 straight contests, extending the streak with five threes against Oakland on Monday.

• 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.

 

APPLEBY EARNS LEAGUE HONORS: 

• Tyree Appleby was selected to the five member Horizon League All-Freshman team after ranking among the League leaders in points, assists and steals.

• Appleby was also named the Horizon League Freshman of the Week four times this year, earning the award in back-to-back weeks (Dec. 4, Dec. 10) and on Jan. 15 and Feb. 4.

• He 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 captured his fourth award on Feb. 4 after averaging 15.0 points, 2.0 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 1.0 steal and 1.0 block vs. Wright State and Northern Kentucky.

 

A DEEPER LOOK AT THE FRESHMAN:

• Tyree Appleby's 385 points this year are the seventh most by a freshman in school history. He is 15 points shy of becoming the fifth freshman in progam history to reach 400 points in a season.

• Appleby is also just the fifth freshman in program history to reach 100 assists in a season, ranking third among CSU freshmen all-time for a season with 130.

• His 42 steals are tied for seventh for a freshman in a season in CSU history, just two shy of moving up to fourth place on the list.

• Appleby is 104-of-146 at the free throw line this year with both numbers the most by a freshman for a season in CSU history.

 

CARPENTER GOING TO WORK: 

• Senior Kenny Carpenter is enjoying his best season to date. He ranks 16th in the Horizon League in scoring (13.2) and 15th in rebounding (5.1), while adding 2.4 assists.

• Carpenter has logged 1,107 minutes this year, the ninth most in a season in school history.

• Carpenter is 11th in the League in field goal percentage (.470).

• He has three, 20-point games this year and has 26 double figure scoring games, as well as a pair of double-doubles.

    • Carpenter also has three double-digit rebounding games.

• In his first three seasons, Carpenter scored 409 points. He has surpassed that this year with 434 points.

 

THE WRIGHT STUFF: 

• Anthony Wright recorded his third career double-double in Monday's win over Oakland with 12 points and 11 rebounds, while adding three steals.

• Wright returned from injury at IUPUI (Feb. 8), playing 17 minutes off the bench and scoring eight points. He was back in the starting lineup at UIC on Feb. 10. He missed the previous seven games.

• Earlier this year, Wright 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.

• He notched his second career double-double in a win over Detroit Mercy on Feb. 14 with 15 points and a career-high 12 rebounds. He also had a career-best four steals.

• Wright is averaging 8.2 points and is 11th in the League in rebounding (5.8) and eighth in field goal percentage (.500).

 

WORD UP!: 

• Bobby Word has started all 66 games during his CSU career.

• He is 22nd in the League in scoring this year (10.4), while ranking third in the League in three pointers (2.3)

• Word has hit five or more threes in seven games this year.

• He poured in 25 points at Youngstown State (Feb. 24), tying a career-high with seven three-pointers in nine attempts.

• 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 reached 1,000 career points in a win against Green Bay on Jan. 4.

• Word scored 487 points during his two seasons at Oral Roberts and has 700 points during his CSU career for 1,187 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.

 

KENIC SCORES CAREER-HIGH:

• Stefan Kenic scored a career-high 19 points in a win over Detroit (Feb. 14), hitting 6-of-9 from the floor and all five of his free throws.

• It bettered his old career-high of 16 points at IUPUI on Feb. 8.

• In a game at Detroit Mercy (Jan. 10) earlier this year, Kenic scored 15 points and was 6-of-10 from the floor. 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 9.6 points and 3.3 rebounds this year, playing in all 34 games with 30 starts.

 

THEY'RE FREE!!:

• 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 346-of-479 (.722) at the charity stripe.

• In Horizon League play, the Vikings finished 229-of-300 (.763) at the free throw line, ranking second in the League behind Oakland (.768).

• CSU is shooting .700 (395-564) at the line this year.

 

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 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 196 victories, won seven conference championships and led six of his teams to the postseason, including four NCAA berths.

 

UP NEXT: 

• The winner of Tuesday's game will earn the Horizon League's automatic bid to the NCAA Championship.

• The 2018 NCAA March Madness Selection Show will be televised on TBS on Sunday, March 11, at 6:00 pm.