GAME #11
Notre Dame (Ohio) (7-2) at Cleveland State (3-7)
Sunday, Dec. 9, 2018 | 1:00 p.m.
Cleveland, Ohio | Wolstein Center
Live Stats | Watch: ESPN+ | Listen: 1420 AM
PDF Game Notes
Notre Dame (Ohio) at Cleveland State
GAME PREVIEW:
• Cleveland State remains at home for the second straight game, hosting Notre Dame (Ohio) Sunday, Dec. 9, at 1:00 p.m.
• The Vikings are coming off an 82-64 win over Bowling Green, their second straight game against a Mid-American Conference foe.
• Notre Dame is 7-2 on the season and will play Saturday at the University of Charleston.
• The Falcons, who are 4-0 in road games entering the weekend, have already exceeded their win total from last season.
• Notre Dame is averaging nearly 85 points/game entering the weekend and is shooting 79.9% from the free-throw line.
• The game will be broadcast live on AM 1420 with Al Pawlowski and Pat Vuyancih on the call.
• The game will also be streamed on ESPN+ and the ESPN app.
THE NOTRE DAME (OHIO) SERIES:
• This will be the second all-time meeting between these teams.
• The Vikings claimed a wire-to-wire 89-56 win at home in the inaugural meeting last year as CSU forced 30 Falcon turnovers.
• Tyree Appleby made his first-career start against NDC last season and had 12 points, four rebounds, three assists and four steals.
TOUGH OPPOSITION
• The teams CSU has lost to are a combined 49-12 entering the weekend.
• Five CSU opponents have just one loss entering this weekend.
• Six CSU opponents are ranked among the top 100 in the NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET), the new metric which has replaced the RPI this year.
GAME 10: CSU 82, BOWLING GREEN 64 (12/5/18):
• CSU fell behind by 11 points early in the game but used a 26-4 run late in the period to take a 37-26 lead at the half.
• The Viking lead was cut to three early in the second half, but Tyree Appleby spearheaded a 9-0 run to put the game out of reach.
• CSU led for double digits for the final 11 minutes of the game, leading by as many as 20 points.
• Tyree Appleby led CSU in points (career-high 37) and assists (8) while Jaalam Hill had a season-high 11 rebounds.
VIKINGS FOR THREEEEEEEEEEEEEEE:
• Cleveland State set a single-game school record with 15 made three-pointers last time out vs. Bowling Green.
• The Vikings had tied the previous record of 14 in four games last season but surpassed that standard against the Falcons.
• The large magnitude of three's did not come at the expense of efficiency as CSU shot 50% from distance in the game (15-for-30).
• Six Vikings contributed to the record with Tyree Appleby's seven treys and Stefan Kenic's four triples leading the way.
TYREE'S CAREER NIGHT:
• Tyree Appleby had a memorable effort last time out as he flirted with a triple double.
• He finished with career highs in points (37) and rebounds (8) while also adding eight assists against just two turnovers.
• Appleby's large output came on just 19 field goal attempts as he went 13-for-19 from the floor, including 7-of-9 from deep.
• Appleby's 37 points are the most by a Viking since Norris Cole had 41 vs. Youngstown State in February 2011.
COOLING DOWN ROCKETS...
• Toledo is averaging 49.6% from the field in all other games, but the Vikings held the Rockets to a 38.7% mark from the floor.
• At the time, it marked the lowest field goal percentage by a CSU opponent in the Vikings' last 35 regular-season games vs. DI foes.
AND THEN FOLLOWING IT UP VS. FALCONS:
• CSU then bettered that effort last time out, holding Bowling Green to 32.9% shooting from the floor.
• The Vikings held Bowling Green to 64 points and 23 made field goals, both of which are seasons lows for CSU opponents.
TYREE TOPS THE TEAM
• After scoring a career-high 37 points vs. BG, Tyree Appleby has four straight games with 15+ points and six such efforts on the year.
• Appleby had 19 points & a then season-high six boards at Toledo.
• Appleby had 15 points and seven assists at DePaul after having 20 points and a team season high eight assists vs. Purdue FW.
• He has at least six assists in five of the past eight games and has at least one steal in nine straight games.
• He leads the team in points (16.9), assists (4.8) and steals (1.5).
THAT'S FOUL:
• Toledo is the only one of 10 opponents to commit fewer fouls than CSU this season, being charged with 18 compared to 22 on the Vikings.
• A player on the opposing team has fouled out in five games while a Viking has yet to foul out in 2018-19.
UPPING THE WORKLOAD:
• Through the first six games of the season, no Viking had played more than 30 minutes in a game and no player had reached 30 minutes more than once.
• Tyree Appleby has played over 30 minutes in each of the past four games, twice hitting 35 minutes.
• Stefan Kenic and Seth Millner have both surpassed 30 minutes twice in the past four games.
• Five Vikings played 27+ minutes at DePaul, marking the first time this season that five players all played 25+ minutes in a game.
NOT OVER THE HILL:
• Junior college transfer Jaalam Hill is shooting 59.1 percent from the floor in the early going (39-for-66).
• Hill had 15 points on 6-of-7 shooting at DePaul, including hitting a pair of threes, when he made his first start of the season (11/28).
• Hill had a season-high 11 rebounds last time out vs. BG (12/5).
• After having three blocks combined in the first six games, Hill has eight blocks over the past four games.
• Hill is averaging 9.0 points and 6.6 rebounds, tops on the team, in 24.2 minutes. He has five double-figuring scoring games.
KASH IS MONEY:
• Junior Kasheem Thomas has shown improvement in a number of areas in his third collegiate season.
• Thomas entered the season shooting 28% from three in his career but is shooting 44% from distance this season.
• He shot 71.2% from the line in his career entering this season but is shooting 78.3% in 2018-19.
• Thomas is also averaging career bests in rebounds (3.1) and assist-to-turnover ratio (2.5).
LOCKING DOWN THE PERIMETER:
• Cleveland State held Toledo to an 8-for-34 mark on three-pointers in its last road game.
• The Rockets' 23.5% mark from deep is their lowest in their past 37 regular-season games.
• CSU then held Bowling Green to a 5-for-23 mark from distance last time out.
• It marked the fourth consecutive game in which CSU held its opponent to below 30% shooting from behind the arc.
• It is the first time CSU has had such a four-game stretch since the 2013-14 season.
• CSU's first six opponents shot a combined 34% from beyond the arc while the last four have combined to shoot 25% from distance.
WE'LL TAKE 'EM, THEY'RE FREE:
• Cleveland State has taken 224 free throws through 10 games, a mark that ranks among the top 40 in Division I and second in the Horizon League.
• Tyree Appleby leads the team with 48 attempts while Algevon Eichelberger has 39.
BOOST OFF THE BENCH:
• The Vikings' bench outscored its opponents in seven of 10 games this season.
• CSU has a 243-169 advantage in bench points on the year, an average of 7.4 points better per game.
• Jaalam Hill leads the team with 69 bench points while Rashad Williams has 65.
• CSU's bench outscored its opponent in just 14 of 35 games last season.
FELTON ON VERGE OF MILESTONE:
• Head coach Dennis Felton is one win shy of 200 for his career entering Sunday's game.
• The season opener at Davidson saw Felton begin his second season at the helm for CSU.
• Felton's first Viking squad featured six seniors he inherited that completed their final season of eligibility last year.
• Felton was named the 15th head coach in program history on March 24, 2017.
CLOSE AND LATE:
• After going 2-5 in its first seven one-possession games last season, Cleveland State won its final six games of the season that were decided by one possession or went to overtime, including two in the Horizon League Tournament.
• CSU's only one-possession game of the season was Nov. 25, when it dropped an 82-79 decision to Purdue Fort Wayne, ending its six-game winning streak in such contests.
• CSU had four one-possession games among its first 10 last year.
TYREE'S TERRIFIC HALF
• Tyree Appleby scored a then career-high 28 points in the home opener against Kent State.
• All 28 of his points came in the second half as he shot 5-of-8 from three in the frame with the five three's being a then career high.
• It was the first of six games this season in which he had double digits points in the second half alone and one of two where he scored 25+ in the second half.
STEF STEPPING UP:
• After scoring a combined six points in the first two games, Stefan Kenic has stepped up his scoring output.
• Kenic has scored 10+ in seven of the past eight games.
• He tied his career high with 19 points against SCSU (11/16).
• He added 15 points and six rebounds vs. Samford, including making a career-high eight free throws (11/18).
• Kenic had a team-high 13 points at Ohio State (11/23) and then had 11 points & a career-high tying eight rebounds at DePaul (11/28).
• Kenic made a career-high four three's vs. BG (12/5).
• Kenic has taken 76 field goal attempts in the last seven games after having only 11 in the opening three games.
DETERMINED ON DEFENSE:
• In their first 30 games under head coach Dennis Felton, the Vikings allowed their opponent to shoot 45% or higher on 17 occasions, including 50% or higher on 12 occasions.
• In the last 15 games dating back to last season, CSU has held 11 opponents under 45% from the field and 13 of 15 foes under 50% from the floor.
• CSU's opponents have shot a combined 41.9% in this stretch (404-for-965).
FOR THREE:
• CSU enters Wednesday's game with a school record streak of 642 straight games with a three-pointer.
• The Vikings have hit at least three three's in 191 straight games.
• 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.
FOR THREE, PART TWO
• The Vikings set a single-season school record for three-pointers made (294) and threes attempted (863) in 2017-18, breaking the old records of 247 makes and 709 attempts.
• CSU tied the previous single-game school record of 14 three pointers made in four different games last year.
• CSU is on pace to finish the regular season with 298 three's.
UP NEXT:
• CSU takes a week off for final exams before heading to Illinois State Sunday, Dc. 16, for its road non-conference finale.
