GAME #13
Niagara (5-4) at Cleveland State (4-8)
Wednesday, Dec. 19, 2018 | 7:30 p.m.
Cleveland, Ohio | Wolstein Center
Live Stats | Watch: ESPN3 | Listen: 1420 AM
PDF Game Notes
Niagara at Cleveland State
GAME PREVIEW:
• Cleveland State opens a three-game homestand with its non-conference finale as it hosts Niagara Wednesday, Dec. 19, at 7:30 p.m.
• The Vikings are coming off an overtime loss at Illinois State (88-77) in which they held a late lead but were unable to hold on.
• Niagara is 5-4 and enters Wednesday's game on a three-game winning streak with wins over Pitt, New Hampshire and Cornell.
• The Purple Eagles are among the top 25 in Division I in fewest turnovers along with free throw percentage.
• Senior forward Marvin Prochet is the reigning MAAC Player of the Week after notching his fifth double-double.
• 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 ESPN3 and the ESPN app.
THE NIAGARA SERIES:
• This will be the ninth all-time meeting between these teams.
• The Purple Eagles held off a late CSU rally to claim a 79-77 win last year. CSU shot 50% from the floor compared to 41% for NU, but the Purple Eagles had a 15-4 advantage in second chance points.
• CSU is 3-0 against Niagara at home, but this will be the first meeting between the teams in the Wolstein Center.
TOUGH OPPOSITION
• The teams CSU has lost to are a combined 65-23.
• Two CSU opponents had just one loss and four opponents had only two losses entering the week.
• Six CSU opponents are ranked among the top 110 in the NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET), the new metric which has replaced the RPI.
GAME 12: ISU 88, CSU 77 (OT) (12/16/18):
• Tyree Appleby hit a pair of free throws with 3.3 seconds left to give CSU a 75-73 lead, but host ISU tied it with a pair of free throws with 1.6 seconds left and went on to claim the win in overtime.
• The Vikings forced a season-high 19 turnovers and had eight steals, their most vs. a DI opponent this season.
• Rashad Williams led CSU with 25 points, Jaalam Hill had a game-high 12 boards & Tyree Appleby led CSU with seven assists.
• CSU made a season-high 20 free throws on 25 attempts.
SEVENTH HEAVEN:
• Rashad Williams had a breakout performance last time out, scoring a season-high 25 points.
• He was 8-of-12 from the floor and 7-of-11 from three, with his seven made three-pointers breaking the CSU freshman record.
• Williams' effort against the Redbirds was his fifth double-figure scoring game and the third time he led the team in points.
WEEKLY HONORS BACK TO BACK:
• Tyree Appleby earned HL Player of the Week honors Dec. 10.
• He became the first Viking to earn that honor since 2014-15.
• Rashad Williams earned HL Freshman of the Week Dec. 17.
• Williams joined Appleby as active Vikings to win that honor.
HE SHOOTS, HE SCORES
• Tyree Appleby has reached double figures in scoring in six straight games, a career long streak.
• Appleby has 15+ points in five of the past six games and has seven such efforts on the year.
• Appleby had a career-high 37 points Dec. 5 vs. Bowling Green.
• Appleby had 21 points last time out, making a career-high tying 12 free throws, en route to his fourth 20-point effort this season.
HE PASSES, THEY SCORE
• Tyree Appleby had a career-high 10 assists Dec. 9 to notch his first double-double as a collegian as he finished with 12 points.
• He has at least six assists in seven of the past 10 games and at least eight assists in three of the past six.
• Appleby is third in the HL with 5.4 assists/game.
• He also has at least one steal in 11 straight games, a career long.
VIKINGS FOR THREEEEEEEEEEEEEEE:
• Cleveland State set a single-game school record with 15 made three-pointers Dec. 5 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.
• CSU followed up the record-breaking effort with 13 threes and has hit at least 10 threes in four of the past five games.
THAT'S FOUL:
• Toledo is the only one of 12 foes 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 five of the past six games, hitting 35 minutes three times, including a career-high 38 last time out.
• Stefan Kenic has played 30+ minutes in four of the past six games, playing a career-high 37 last time out, while Seth Millner has done it twice.
• Five Vikings played 27+ minutes at DePaul, marking the first time this season that five players all played 25+ minutes in a game.
• Six Vikings played 25+ minutes last time out in the overtime loss at Illinois State.
NOT OVER THE HILL:
• Junior college transfer Jaalam Hill is shooting 55.7% from the floor (44-for-79).
• Hill tied his season high of 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 team season-high 12 rebounds last time out, two games after he collected 11 boards vs. Bowling Green (12/5).
• He is averaging 7.9 rebounds over his past eight games and 9.0 over the past four.
• Hill is averaging 8.3 points and 6.9 rebounds, tops on the team and sixth in the HL.
• Hill has five double-figuring scoring games and three double-figure rebounding efforts this season.
KASH IS MONEY:
• Kasheem Thomas has shown improvement in a number of areas in his third season.
• Thomas entered the season shooting 28% from three in his career but is shooting 48.4% from distance this season.
• He tied his career high of three triples Dec. 9 vs. Notre Dame (Ohio).
• He shot 71.2% from the line in his career entering this season but is shooting 76.0% in 2018-19.
• Thomas is also averaging career bests in rebounds (3.3) & assist-to-turnover ratio (2.6).
• Thomas is averaging 4.8 assists in the month of December.
LOCKING DOWN THE PERIMETER:
• Cleveland State held Toledo to an 8-for-34 mark on three-pointers in its Dec. 1 game.
• The Rockets' 23.5% mark from deep is their lowest in their past 39 regular-season games.
• That effort against the Rockets is part of a stretch that has seen CSU hold its opponent below 30% shooting from three in six straight games.
• CSU's first six opponents shot a combined 34% from beyond the arc while the last six have combined to shoot 25% from distance.
• No CSU opponent has made double-digit three-pointers since the season opener at Davidson while the Vikings have hit 10+ threes themselves six times in the same span.
WE'LL TAKE 'EM, THEY'RE FREE:
• Cleveland State has taken 267 free throws through 12 games, a mark that ranks among the top 40 in Division I and third in the Horizon League.
• Tyree Appleby leads the team with 61 attempts while Algevon Eichelberger has 39.
STEF STEPPING UP:
• After scoring a combined six points in the first two games, Stefan Kenic stepped up his scoring output.
• Kenic has scored 10+ in nine of the past 10 games.
• Kenic made a career-high four three's in each of the last two home games, scoring 15 points vs. BG (12/5) and 18 vs. NDC (12/9).
• 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 has taken 96 field goal attempts in the last nine games after having only 11 in the opening three games.
CALL IT A CSU COMEBACK:
• CSU rallied from an 11-point deficit in its Dec. 5 win over BG.
• It marked the first double-digit comeback for CSU under Dennis Felton in a regular-season game. However, the Vikings did have two such comebacks in the Horizon League Tournament last year.
• It was the largest comeback in a regular-season game for CSU since Jan. 16, 2016.
FOR THREE:
• CSU enters Wednesday's game with a school record streak of 644 straight games with a three-pointer.
• The Vikings have hit at least three three's in 193 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.
FOR THREE, PART THREE
• CSU is on pace to finish the regular season with 310 three's, which would break last season's school record.
• CSU is second in the Horizon League and is among the top 15 in Division I with its 120 made three-pointers this season.
BETTER ON THE (DEFENSIVE) BOARDS:
• CSU did not get more than 70% of potential defensive rebounds in any of its first four games, twice falling short of the 60% mark.
• The Vikings have grabbed at least 76% of potential defensive rebounds in six of the past eight games.
• CSU got a season-high 82.4% of potential defensive rebounds last time out at Illinois State, holding ISU to just six offensive boards.
BETTER ON THE (OFFENSIVE) BOARDS:
• Cleveland State grabbed just eight offensive rebounds combined in its opening two games this season.
• In the past 10 games, the Vikings have combined for 116 offensive rebounds, grabbing at least 12 on six occasions.
BOOST OFF THE BENCH:
• The Vikings' bench outscored its opponents in nine of 12 games.
• CSU has a 298-198 advantage in bench points on the year, an average of 8.3 points better per game.
• Rashad Williams leads the team with 102 bench points while Jaalam Hill has 71.
• CSU's bench outscored its opponent in just 14 of 35 games last season.
ODDS & ENDS:
• CSU is 4-0 this season when leading at the half.
• CSU is 4-0 when holding their opponent under 70 points.
UP NEXT:
• CSU continues a three-game homestand by welcoming Oakland for its Horizon League opener Friday, Dec. 28.
