Feb. 13, 2004
GAME 25
Illinois-Chicago (17-7, 8-4) at Cleveland State (4-20, 0-13)
Date: Saturday, Feb. 14, 2004
Time: 5:30 p.m. EST
Site: Goodman Arena (13,610) CSU Convocation Center
TV: None
Radio: WKNR, 850 AM (Frank DeMarco)
Series: CSU Leads, 26-25
Last UIC 83, CSU 68 Meeting: Jan. 17, 2004 in Chicago
Sponsor: Pepsi
Promo: Hall of Fame Night (Hall of Fame Class honored at halftime)
Take A Date To Cleveland State (Discounts on entertainment & dinner for all in attendance, grand prize of a night on the town awarded in second half.)
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SETTING THE SCENE: Cleveland State (4-20, 0-13) continues a three-game homestand that will close the 2003-04 home slate when it hosts Illinois-Chicago (17-7, 8-4) on Saturday, Feb. 14 beginning at 5:30 p.m. EST in the Convocation Center. The Vikings then close the home schedule the following Saturday (Feb. 21) vs. Eastern Michigan in the Bracket Buster. The game will serve as the annual Hall of Fame Night with the 29th class being inducted into the CSU Athletics Hall of Fame in a ceremony before the game and then honored at halftime of the contest. In honor of Valentine's Day, the game also serves as Take A Date To Cleveland State Night with everyone in attendance being given a package that includes discount coupons for dinner and entertainment in downtown Cleveland with one lucky couple winning a free dinner at FatFish Blue and an overnight stay at the Airport Marriott.
CLEVELAND STATE PROBABLE STARTERS 2003-04 Statistics F 5 Omari Westley, 6-7, 205, Jr., Cleveland, Ohio 15.5 pts, 8.7 reb, 2.1 ast F 42 Pape Badiane, 6-11, 220, Sr., Les Ulis, France. 5.9 pts, 5.5 reb, 2.5 blk C 33 Pete Ritzema, 7-2, 300, Jr., Clarkston, Mich. 2.1 pts, 1.8 reb, 0.2 blk G 1 Jermaine Robinson, 6-2, 180, Sr., Philadelphia, Pa. 19.6 pts, 4.9 reb, 2.7 ast G 3 Victor Morris, 6-0, 175, Fr., Inkster, Mich. 6.1 pts, 2.2 reb, 1.9 ast
PREVIEWING UIC: The preseason favorite to win the Horizon League crown this year, the Flames have had a good year, but not quite at the level it expected. UIC (17-7, 8-4), which has won five straight games, is fourth in the league. Horizon League Preseason Player of the Year Cedrick Banks has lived up to his advance billing, averaging 19.2 points a game and shooting .446 (70-157) from three-point. Armond Williams, a second team preseason all-league choice, is chipping in with 12.3 points and 5.7 rebounds while guard Martell Bailey, a first team preseason all-league pick this year, leads the conference with 8.7 assists per game. Although the UIC starting lineup is as good as any in the conference, the Flames have gotten little production off the bench this year as only two reserves average in double figures in minutes played and none have played in every game.
PREVIEWING THE VIKINGS: The Vikings find themselves in a precarious position, owning a 4-20 record. CSU has lost 18 straight games going back to mid-December and injuries and other problems have left first-year head coach Mike Garland with just seven relatively healthy and eligible scholarship players. CSU has gotten steady play from senior guard Jermaine Robinson, who has led the team in scoring in 15 games and averages 19.6 points a game, the second highest total in the league. Omari Westley, a junior college transfer who has shaken off the rust from a year off to average 15.5 points and leads the league with 8.7 rebounds a game, has been even better in league play, averaging 17.1 points and 8.5 rebounds.
CSU IN THE NCAA STATS: The Vikings received a single mention in the latest NCAA statistics, which were released on Feb. 10. Senior Jermaine Robinson was 29th in the nation in scoring (19.9 ppg). The statistics will be released by the NCAA every Tuesday through the end of the season.
A POSSESSION HERE, A POSSESSION THERE: In his comments to the media following the Butler game, Mike Garland indicated that his team could not give possessions away. No words could be truer. Ten of the games during CSU's current 18-game losing streak have been decided by a total of 29 points including six by two points or less.
Margin (# of Games) Opponents 1-point (2): at UW-Green Bay, Butler 2-points (4): at Akron, at Boston University, YSU, UW-Green Bay 3-points (1): vs. Drake 4-points (1): at Youngstown State 5-points (1): Wright State 7-points (1): Loyola
. . . AND THE BUZZER-BEATERS HAVE BEEN KILLERS: Losing close games is one thing. How CSU has lost the close games has been especially painful as seven games have been decided by three-points or less with the Vikings having a chance to tie or win the game in the last 10 seconds of each contest. A blow-by-blow look at the buzzer heartbreakers follows:
Akron 59-61 Zips score winning basket with five seconds left at Boston Univ. 62-64 Ryan Butt makes two-of-three free throws with 2.7 seconds left. vs. Drake 80-83 CSU rallies from 11 down with 3 minutes left but last-second shot doesn't fall. at UWGB 69-70 Robinson's last-second shot rims out from 20 feet. Youngstown St. 59-61 Two Penguin offensive rebounds in last 43 seconds deny CSU of last-second shot. UW-Green Bay 58-60 Rohde breaks tie with basket with 4.1 seconds left. Butler 56-57 Mike Monserez hits winning 12-footer with :00.1 left.
HALL OF FAME TO GROW BY FIVE: Saturday night's game serves as the annual Hall of Fame night with a class of five former Viking student-athletes being inducted into the CSU Athletics Hall of Fame during an early afternoon session and then being honored at halftime. The induction ceremony, which is free and open to the public, begins at 2:30 p.m. in the CSU Convocation Center. The 29th class of inductees include wrestlers Dan Foldesy (1980-84) and David Zahoransky (1984-88), men's track and cross country standout Corey Frost (1980-84), men's swimmer Joe Stockwell (1978-81) and women's swimming pioneer Kathy McKitrick-Lawson (1973-74). In addition, the 1977 men's soccer team will be recognized and Craig Peer will receive the Varsity "C" Club Honorary Achievement Award.
VIKINGS DRAW EASTERN MICHIGAN IN THE BRACKET BUSTER: Cleveland State has drawn Eastern Michigan University of the Mid-American Conference as its opponent in the second annual Bracket Buster Saturday. The Vikings will host the Eagles on Saturday, Feb. 21 beginning at 5:30 p.m. in the CSU Convocation Center. The contest will serve as Fan Appreciation Night with fans in attendance being eligible to receive over $20,000 in prizes that will be given away. Bracket Buster Saturday, which was started in 2003 as a way for mid-major schools to showcase themselves to the NCAA selection committee against similarly matched teams from around the country, will feature 23 games this year. The 46 participating schools come from 11 different conferences.
RITZEMA CELEBRATES A START: With Patrick Tatham out with a knee injury, Mike Garland inserted Pete Ritzema into the starting lineup against Butler, allowing the junior to start for the second time in his career and the first time this year. Ritzema responded by scoring a career-high 13 points, on six-for-eight shooting, while adding a career-high-equalling five rebounds. He scored seven of CSU's first nine points of the game. He surpassed his previous best of nine points set against Detroit last year.
BADIANE'S BACK: Senior center Pape Badiane returned to the lineup on Feb. 5 after missing 11 games with a broken right hand that he suffered in the opening moments of the Dec. 29 game against Georgia Southern at the Islander Classic. Badiane, who had surgery on Jan. 2, returned to practice on Feb. 2 for limited participation and played 22 minutes against UW-Green Bay. He scored two points with seven rebounds and four blocks. He moved into the starting lineup against Detroit, scoring eight points in 30 minutes.
. . . BUT TATHAM IS OUT: The return of Pape Badiane to the lineup afforded freshman center Patrick Tatham the opportunity to take himself out of the lineup in order to get a painful knee injury corrected. Tatham has been playing with considerable pain since the condition flared up just before Christmas but has battled to play no less than 20 minutes in each of his last 20 games. Tatham had surgery on the knee on Friday (Feb. 13) and will miss the remainder of the season. He started 14 of the 23 games he played in, averaging 3.8 points and 4.7 rebounds a game.
BADIANE IS BACK AFTER THE BLOCKED SHOT LEAD: It is almost like the story of the tortoise and the hare. Pape Badiane blocks 27 shots in the first 10 games to open a huge lead on the Horizon League blocked shots chart, only to sit out 11 games with a broken hand. The rest of the league finally caught up with Badiane last weekend when Loyola's Louis Smith and Demetrius Williams passed his early season total. With the blocked shot lead out of his hands for the first time in over a year, Badiane returned to the lineup on Feb. 5 and blocked four shots to regain the lead. Smith regained the lead with a three-block effort on Saturday, giving him 33 on the year. In 13 games, Badiane is averaging 2.46 blocks per game, well ahead of Smith (33 blocks in 23 games, 1.43) and Williams (29, 21, 1.38).
A BAD BREAK: When senior center Pape Badiane broke his right hand in the opening minutes of the Georgia Southern game on Dec. 29, it not only caused the Vikings to lose one of the top defensive players in the conference, but it gave CSU a totally different look on the court. In the nine games leading up to the injury, CSU used its interior defense to lead the Horizon League with 55 blocked shots, a +7.8 rebounding margin and a .390 field goal defense (223-572) while allowing 71.9 points a game. In the 12 games without him following the injury, the Vikings were outrebounded, 409-395 (-1.2) and blocked just 26 shots. An even more significant stat was that CSU's opponents shot .486 from the field (319-657) and averaged 76.3 points a game. Only one of CSU's first nine opponents shot above .431 from the field, a figure that was achieved in all but two games with Badiane out of the lineup.
. . . AND THE SURVEY SAYS: With Pape Badiane playing over 20 minutes in each of the last three games, it is pertinent to see which set of statistics held true from the note above. In the three games, the Vikings blocked nine shots and were out-rebounded, 92-79. The three opponents shot .470 from the field (71-151).
ROBINSON THREE-POINT STREAKS COME TO AN END: An 0-for-7 shooting performance from three-point against Youngstown State on Jan. 24 brought to an end a pair of record-setting shooting streaks for senior Jermaine Robinson. By failing to make a three-pointer for the first time, Robinson now holds a share of two records for consecutive games making a three-pointer. He shares the record of 18 consecutive games with a trey in one season with Greg Allen (1991-92) and his 19 straight games going back to last year equals William Stanley's mark originally set from Feb. of 1989 through Jan. of 1990. Robinson has started a new streak, making treys in each of the last five games, giving him at least one three-pointer in 23 of the 24 games this year.
VIKING MASH UNIT: When the Vikings opened the season on Nov. 22nd, they featured one of the biggest and deepest front lines in the country. That depth has suddenly disappeared somewhere in the training room as just about every Viking player on the front line has missed time with some ailment. They are:
Pete Ritzema: Missed eight games with three different injuries this year, the latest being a bad back that has kept him out of six games and slowed him in three others. In the first 24 games, he played in just 15 contests, totalling 93 minutes.
Pape Badiane: The Vikings' starting center missed 11 games with a broken right hand suffered vs. Georgia Southern on Dec. 29. He returned to the court and played over 20 minutes in the last three games.
Patrick Tatham: The freshman, who has started 14 games at center, will miss the rest of the season after surgery on Feb. 13. He played for over six weeks with considerable pain caused by tendonitis in his knee.
Amadou Koundoul: Hasn't fully come back from off-season surgery to alleviate tendonitis in his knee and the condition continues to limit him this year. He has played just 89 minutes in the last 11 games, missing the UW-Green Bay because of the problem.
Walt Waters: Missed both games at the Islander Classic following a death in his family and is sidelined for the remainder of the year because he did not meet institutional academic eligibility standards.
Walt Chavis: Okay, he's not a post-player but the starter for the Vikings at point guard in the first 18 games has sat out the last five contests with a broken hand.
WESTLEY RESOLVES TO BE MORE PRODUCTIVE: It is almost as if junior Omari Westley sat down on New Year's Eve and decided that one of his resolutions for the new year would be to be more aggressive on the basketball court in 2004. Already one of the leaders in the Horizon League in most statistical categories, Westley has raised his game to a new level in the 12 games in January and February. He scored a then-league season best 30 points against Loyola on Jan. 5 and is averaging 17.1 points and 8.5 rebounds a game since the new year. That is a considerable improvement from the 13.7 points and 8.8 rebounds in the 11 games in 2003.
HERE'S TO YOU, MR. ROBINSON: No player has benefitted more from the change in offensive philosophy this year than senior Jermaine Robinson. Robinson has led the team in scoring 15 times, posting a league-best 13 games of 20 points or more. He is second in the Horizon League with a 19.6 scoring average, quite a jump from the 10.5 points he averaged a year ago. He has scored in double figures in every game, tallying 19 points or more 18 times. His ability to penetrate and score has led to him attempting a league-leading 7.8 free throws a game (186 total). His 23 points against Youngstown State on Jan. 24 was his 23rd career game of 20 points or more.
VIKINGS REBOUND TO REBOUND: The Vikings have done a complete 180 degree turnaround on the glass this season. Last year, CSU was out-rebounded by an average of 3.8 boards a game to rank eighth in the Horizon League. Through 24 games this year, CSU ranks second in the Horizon League with a +2.1 rebounding margin, including a rebounding edge in 13 games. Included in that total are six games of +10 or more, including a dominating 56-31 rebounding advantage at Norfolk State. Rebounding has been a critical statistic in games this year. In the Vikings' four wins this year, CSU has outrebounded its opponents 202-134, a margin of +17.0 rebounds a game. In the 20 losses, the Vikings have been outboarded, 701-683 (-0.9).
ROBINSON READY CONTINUES CLIMB UP SCORING CHART: A 12-point effort against Butler allowed senior Jermaine Robinson to move into ninth place on the CSU career scoring chart. He enters the UIC game with 1,310 points. Robinson passed Jamaal Harris (1998-02), who totalled 1,304 points in his career and ninth-place Dave Youdath (1980-84), who has 1,306 points. Robinson is one of 16 players in CSU history to score 1,000 career points.
40-MINUTE MAN: Senior Jermaine Robinson loves media timeouts. He has to because they are pretty much the only breaks that he gets during a game. Over the last 19 games, Robinson is averaging 38.3 minutes a game (it would be higher except he missed eight minutes because of injury vs. Youngstown State), including 40-minute efforts against Boston University (12/22), Wright State (1/8), Detroit (1/19), Youngstown State (1/24), UW-Green Bay (2/5) and Detroit (2/7). He was the first Viking to play 40 minutes in a game that wasn't decided in overtime since Jamaal Harris went wire-to-wire against Detroit in the final game of the 2001-02 season. He has now played 35 minutes or more 38 times during his career, including in 15 of the last 16 games and 19 times in 24 contests this year. He has played 40 minutes or more in a game (counting OT) eight times in his career. Robinson played a career-high 43 minutes in an OT game against California last year and 41 minutes in an OT contest against Florida State as a freshman in 2000-01.
. . . ROBINSON ISN'T THE ONLY VIKING TO GO THE DISTANCE: The depth problems that CSU has had during the second half of the season has led four different Vikings to play all 40 minutes in a game this year. Robinson leads the way with six 40-minute games this year. Walt Chavis played 40 minutes at UIC while Omari Westley and Victor Morris joined the group with 40-minute efforts at Butler on Jan. 29.
. . . THE MINUTES FOR MORRIS INCREASE: The loss of Percell Coles and Walt Chavis has led to an increase in the playing time for Victor Morris as well. Morris has played 30 minutes or more in eight of the last nine games, averaging 35.8 minutes over that span. He played a full 40 minutes at Butler on Jan. 29.
BLEDSOE GAINS NATIONAL NOTICE: It is the goal of every young assistant coach to gain national acclaim for his performance and first year Viking assistant Sean Bledsoe has done just that. In the latest Fashion Power Index, which is compiled by Angela Lento for CollegeInsiders.com, Bledsoe is ranked as the ninth-best dressed assistant in the country. Lento writes, "This sharp-young understudy is in his first season at Cleveland State, but he brings a wealth of coaching AND clothier experience to CSU. Bledsoe, who had success as a head coach at Wilberforce University, is smooth." Bledsoe disputes the ranking. "Ninth? The blue jacket and slacks combo that I wore for the Butler game is definitely worthy of being ranked much higher but mid-major assistants never get their proper due," Bledsoe said. "I'll have to turn my wardrobe up for the rest of the season."
GIVING CHARITY: Although the Vikings have been to the free throw line 548 times this year, CSU is being outscored by its opponents at the stripe. In 24 games, Vikings opponents have attempted 560 charity tosses and own a 399-359 scoring edge from the line. CSU opponents are converting at a .713 clip, which is well ahead of the Vikings' .655 percentage. The difference has come recently as CSU has shot more free throws then its opponents only five times in the 15 games since Christmas, being outscored 253-176 over that span.
ACCEPTING CHARITY: Along with the outrageous team free throw shooting numbers come some pretty hefty individual free throw totals as well. The tandem of Jermaine Robinson (186 attempts) and Omari Westley (157) rank first and second in the Horizon League in free throw attempts with Wright State's Vernard Hollins ranking third with 151 attempts. Five different CSU players have combined to attempt at least eight free throws in a game 26 times for CSU this year. Westley made 14-of-18 free throws against Florida A&M, the sixth-highest single game total for attempts while ranking fourth for makes. Robinson opened the year by making 14 free throws in 17 attempts against Central State.
ROBINSON PLAYS IN HIS 100TH CAREER CONTEST: Jermaine Robinson reached a career milestone against Wright State on Jan. 8, playing in his 100th career game as a Viking. He enters the weekend having started 93 of the 110 games during his career, totalling 3,116 minutes. His 39-minute effort against Butler allowed him to move into seventh place on the career minutes played list, passing both Craig Caldwell (3,102 minutes) and Dave Youdath (3,111). Next up is sixth-place Eric Mudd, who played 3,175 minutes.
THE O-SHOW IS A SMASH HIT: The first 24 games of the collegiate career of Omari Westley have been nothing short of outstanding. He has scored in double figures 20 times with nine double-figure rebounding efforts. He leads the Horizon League in rebounding (8.7) and double-doubles (7) while leading the team in field goal percentage (.498) and is second in free throw percentage (116-157, .739) and scoring (15.5). His accomplishments include: * Records third straight double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds in season-opening win over Central State. * Leads comeback from 11-point deficit at Florida A&M, scoring 15 of his 18 points after the break - including 13 straight free throws. * Scored a career-high 20 points against North Carolina, adding 11 rebounds and six assists. * Had 11 points and a 12 rebounds at Norfolk State. * Scores 19 points with a career-high 14 rebounds (10 offensive) and three blocks against Akron. * Explodes for a career-high 30 points vs. Loyola on Jan. 5. He makes 12-of-18 field goal attempts with 13 rebounds. * Comes back against Wright State on Jan. 8 to post his second straight 20-point game, tallying 21 points with nine rebounds, shooting 7-of-9 from the field and 7-of-8 from the line. * 20 points, on eight-for-11 shooting from the field, his fourth career 20-point game. * Scored 14 points with 11 rebounds vs. Youngstown State. * Tallies 19 points with 12 rebounds against Butler, his league-leading seventh double-double of the year.
TAKING ATTENDANCE: The crowd of 11,534 that attended the North Carolina game was the second-largest crowd to see a Viking game in the Convocation Center. It trails the record 13,055 who saw CSU open the building against Michigan on Dec. 7, 1991. The crowd ranks as the fourth-largest crowd to see a Viking game in Cleveland. Crowds of 15,314 (vs. Rhode Island in 1998-99) and 12,617 (vs. Ohio State in 1994-95) saw CSU play games in the Gatorade Rock-N-Roll Shootout at Gund Arena.
LOOKING AHEAD: The Vikings close out the 2003-04 home schedule next Saturday night (Feb. 21) against Eastern Michigan as part of the Bracket Buster on Saturday, Feb. 21. CSU then closes the regular season with road games at Loyola (Feb. 26) and UW-Milwaukee (Feb. 28).
