GAME #15
Detroit Mercy (4-9, 1-0) at Cleveland State (5-9, 0-1)
Sunday, Dec. 30, 2018 | 7:00 p.m.
Cleveland, Ohio | Wolstein Center
CW 43 Cleveland
Live Stats | Watch: ESPN+ | Listen: 1420 AM
PDF Game Notes
Detroit Mercy at Cleveland State
GAME PREVIEW:
• Cleveland State will continue Horizon League play by hosting Detroit Mercy on Sunday, December 30.
• Detroit is 4-9 entering Sunday's contest, most recently picking up a 78-66 victory at Youngstown State in their Horizon League opener.
• Sunday's game will be the second of six aired on the CW 43 Cleveland with Al Pawlowski and Pat Vuyancih on the call.
• The game will be broadcast live on AM 1420 with Ed Daugherty calling the action.
• The game will also be streamed on ESPN+ and the ESPN app.
THE DETROIT MERCY SERIES:
• This will be the 67th all-time meeting between these teams.
• The Vikings shot 49.1% from the field in the last meeting and held on for a 75-72 win. Each team hit 28 field goals and eight free throws, but CSU made three more three-pointers.
• Stefan Kenic had a career-high 19 points last time vs. Detroit.
GAME 14: OAK 89, CSU 77 (12/28/18):
• CSU opened its Horizon League slate against Oakland last time out, dropping an 89-77 contest to the Golden Grizzlies.
• Friday's loss snapped a three-game home winstreak for the Vikings.
• Tyree Appleby led the team in points (21) and assists (6), while Jaalam Hill led the Vikings in rebounds (9).
• The Vikings shot 43-percent from the floor, while they posted a .458 clip from three-point range and a .909 clip from the free throw line.
HE SHOOTS, HE SCORES
• Tyree Appleby has reached double figures in scoring in eight straight games entering Sunday's game, a career long streak.
• Appleby had 15+ points in six of the final seven non-conference games and has nine such efforts so far this season.
• Appleby had a career-high 37 points Dec. 5 vs. Bowling Green.
• Appleby had 21 points against Oakland in the Horizon League opener last time out.
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 eight of the past 12 games.
• Appleby is averaging 5.3 assists after averaging 4.0 over the course of his freshman season.
• He has also had at least one steal in the last 13 games.
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 10+ threes in five of the last seven games - including 11 against Oakland last time out.
NOT OVER THE HILL:
• Junior college transfer Jaalam Hill is shooting 54.0% from the floor (54-for-100).
• 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 Dec. 16 at Illinois State, two games after he collected 11 boards vs. Bowling Green (12/5).
• He is averaging 7.9 rebounds over his past nine games and 8.8 over the past five.
• Hill is averaging 8.9 points and a team-leading 7.1 rebounds for the season.
• Hill has seven double-figure 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 has shot 47.2% so far this season.
• He tied his career high of six made field goals Dec. 19 vs. Niagara.
• He tied his career high of three triples Dec. 9 vs. Notre Dame (Ohio).
• Thomas is also averaging career bests in rebounds (3.5) & assist-to-turnover ratio (2.2).
• Thomas hit double figures in scoring in three of the final six non-conference games.
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 40 regular-season games.
• That effort against the Rockets was part of a stretch that saw CSU hold its final seven non-conference opponents below 30% shooting from three-point range.
• CSU's first six non-conference opponents shot a combined 34% from beyond the arc while the last seven have combined to shoot 24% from distance.
TYREE'S CAREER NIGHT:
• Tyree Appleby had a memorable effort Dec. 5 vs. Bowling Green 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.
WE'LL TAKE 'EM, THEY'RE FREE:
• Cleveland State has taken 302 free throws through the first 14 games, a mark that ranks among the top 30 in Division I.
• Tyree Appleby leads the team with 74 attempts, having taken nearly a quarter of the team's attempts.
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 19 games dating back to last season, CSU has held 13 opponents under 45% from the field and 15 of 18 foes under 50% from the floor.
• CSU's opponents have shot a combined 42.1% in this stretch (514-for-1,220).
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 11 of the last 12 games.
• Kenic made a career-high four three's twice in December, 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 117 field goal attempts in the last 11 games after having only 11 in the opening three games.
SEVENTH HEAVEN:
• Rashad Williams had a breakout performance Dec. 16 at Illinois State, 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 followed that up with 14 points in the non-conference finale, his third straight double-figure scoring game and sixth overall.
FOR THREE:
• CSU enters Sunday's game with a school record streak of 646 straight games with a three-pointer.
• The Vikings have hit at least three three's in 195 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 305 three's, which would break last season's school record.
• CSU is third in the Horizon League and is among the top 15 in Division I with its 139 made three-pointers this season.
BOOST OFF THE BENCH:
• CSU's bench has outscored its opponents in 11 of 14 games.
• CSU has a 344-223 advantage in bench points on the year, an average of 8.6 points better per game.
• Rashad Williams leads the team with 125 bench points while Jaalam Hill has 71.
• CSU's bench outscored its opponent in just 14 of 35 games last season.
UP NEXT:
• CSU opens a season-long four-game road trip by heading to Milwaukee and Green Bay Jan. 3 and Jan. 5.
