Feb. 23, 2004
Contact: Brian McCann
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GAME 27
Cleveland State (4-22, 0-14) at Loyola Chicago (7-19, 3-11)
Date: Thursday, Feb. 26, 2004
Time: 7:00 p.m. CST
Site: Joseph J. Gentile Center (5,200)
TV: Fox Sports Ohio (Les Levine & Franklin Edwards)
Radio: WKNR, 850 AM (Frank DeMarco)
Series: Loyola Leads, 14-9
Last Meeting: Loyola 90, CSU 83, Jan. 5, 2004 in Cleveland
SETTING THE SCENE: Cleveland State (4-22, 0-14) takes to the road for the remainder of the 2003-04 season, starting with a Thursday night (Feb. 26) contest at Loyola Chicago (7-19, 3-11) that will tip-off at 7 p.m. CST in Loyola's Gentile Center. The game will be televised live on Fox Sports Ohio with Les Levine and Franklin Edwards providing the commentary. The road trip continues with a Feb. 28 game at Horizon League front-runner UW-Milwaukee and a first round Horizon League Championship game on March 2nd.
CLEVELAND STATE PROBABLE STARTERS 2003-04 Statistics
F 5 Omari Westley, 6-7, 205, Jr., Cleveland, Ohio 15.2 pts, 8.4 reb, 2.1 ast
F 42 Pape Badiane, 6-11, 220, Sr., Les Ulis, France. 6.8 pts, 5.6 reb, 2.4 blk
C 33 Pete Ritzema, 7-2, 300, Jr., Clarkston, Mich. 2.0 pts, 1.8 reb, 0.3 blk
G 1 Jermaine Robinson, 6-2, 180, Sr., Philadelphia, Pa. 20.1 pts, 5.0 reb, 2.7 ast
G 3 Victor Morris, 6-0, 175, Fr., Inkster, Mich. 6.2 pts, 2.3 reb, 2.2 ast
TV TIMEOUT: Thursday's game will be the last of eight games that will be televised by Fox Sports Ohio this year.
PREVIEWING LOYOLA: Picked to finish fifth in the Horizon League this year, the Ramblers have struggled, dropping 14 of their last 15 games. In eighth place in the Horizon League, Loyola needs a pair of wins and two Youngstown State losses to avoid being the eighth seed in next weeks conference tournament. Preseason first team all-league pick Paul McMillan has lived up to his advance billing, averaging 16.7 points and 7.3 rebounds a game while center Demetrius Williams (11.9 ppg, 6.5 rpg) and guard Terrance Withers (10.2 ppg) have provided additional offense. The Ramblers lead the league with 116 blocked shots with Louis Smith (35) and Williams (34), ranking second and third, respectively.
PREVIEWING THE VIKINGS: The Vikings enter the final week of the regular season with a 4-22 overall and 0-14 Horizon League record, knowing that they will be the ninth seed in next week's Horizon League Championship. CSU has lost 20 straight games going back to mid-December and injuries and other problems have left first-year head coach Mike Garland playing the last month 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 16 games and averages 20.1 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 15.2 points and leads the league with 8.4 rebounds a game, has been even better in league play, averaging 16.9 points and 8.4 rebounds.
CSU IN THE NCAA STATS: The Vikings received a single mention in the latest NCAA statistics, which were released on Feb. 17. Senior Jermaine Robinson was 32nd in the nation in scoring (19.8 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 on Feb. 12, Mike Garland indicated that his team could not give possessions away. No words could be truer. Ten of the games during CSU's current 20-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.
MORRIS EMERGES AS OFFENSIVE LEADER: One of the true bright spots this season has been the development of freshman guard Victor Morris. Morris, who has started 17 straight games, has shown more aggressiveness offensively lately. He is averaging 8.7 points over the last nine games, shooting .476 from the field (30-63) during that span. His ball-handling has improved as well. He has had three or more assists in five straight games, including a career high nine assists vs. Eastern Michigan last week. Over the last three games, Morris has handed out 16 assists while committing just five turnovers.
A SENIOR SALUTE: The two games this week will serve as the final regular season contests in the careers of Viking seniors Jermaine Robinson and Pape Badiane. Robinson ranks ninth in CSU history with 1,362 points while Badiane, a three-year regular in the lineup, is third with 127 career blocks.
ROBINSON CLAIMS A THREE-POINT RECORD: Lost in the Eastern Michigan loss was that Jermaine Robinson's four-for-11 shooting effort from three-point allowed the senior to break the CSU season record for three-point field goals attempted in a season. In 26 games, Robinson has attempted 195 treys, two more than the previous mark of 193 set by James Madison during the 1999-00 campaign. Robinson has made 58 treys this year, the 10th highest season total in school history. He needs 12 three's to equal the record of 70 treys set by both Theo Dixon (2000-01) and Damon Stringer (1999-00).
. . . AND ROBINSON ASCENDS THE FREE THROW CHARTS: With at least three games left in the 2003-04 season, Jermaine Robinson is also chasing a couple of free throw records. He enters the week having made 134 of 202 free throws this year, ranking sixth in free throws made and third in attempts. Both records were set by Ken McFadden in 1987-88 when he made 177 of 233 free throws.
RITZEMA CELEBRATES A START: With Patrick Tatham out with a knee injury, Mike Garland inserted Pete Ritzema into the starting lineup against Butler on Feb. 12, 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 has started the last four games, scoring a season-high 18 points against Eastern Michigan last week.
. . . 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 had 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 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 in early February 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 nine shots in his first five games to regain the lead. In 15 games, Badiane is averaging 2.40 blocks per game, well ahead of Smith (35 blocks in 25 games, 1.40) and Williams (34, 23, 1.48).
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 out-rebounded, 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 five games, it is pertinent to see which set of statistics held true from the note above. In the five games, the Vikings blocked 22 shots (4.4 bpg) and were out-rebounded, 186-145. The five opponents shot .456 from the field (124-272).
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 five 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 112 minutes in the last 12 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 eight contests with a broken hand.
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 seven games, giving him at least one three-pointer in 25 of the 26 games this year.
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 17 times, posting 15 games of 20 points or more, the second highest total in the Horizon League. He is second in the league with a 20.1 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 20 times. His ability to penetrate and score has led to him attempting a league-leading 7.8 free throws a game (202 total). His 27 points against Eastern Michigan on Feb. 21 was his 25th career game of 20 points or more.
ROBINSON READY CONTINUES CLIMB UP SCORING CHART: A 12-point effort against Butler on Feb. 12 allowed senior Jermaine Robinson to move into ninth place on the CSU career scoring chart. He enters the final week of the regular season with 1,362 points. Against Butler, 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. He now needs 41 points to pass eighth place Eric Mudd (1985-88), who scored 1,402 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 38.2 minutes played (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 40 times during his career, including in 18 of the last 19 games and 21 times in 26 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 10 of the last 11 games, averaging 36.1 minutes over that span. He played a full 40 minutes at Butler on Jan. 29. He has played a total of 710 minutes this year, the eight-highest total by a freshman in CSU history.
GIVING CHARITY: Although the Vikings have been to the free throw line 585 times this year, CSU is being outscored by its opponents at the stripe. In 26 games, Vikings opponents have attempted 617 charity tosses and own a 437-383 scoring edge from the line. CSU opponents are converting at a .708 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 17 games since Christmas, being outscored 291-200 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 (202 attempts) and Omari Westley (159) rank first and third, respectively in the Horizon League in free throw attempts. Wright State's Vernard Hollins ranks second with 162 attempts. 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.
THE O-SHOW IS A SMASH HIT: The first 26 games of the collegiate career of Omari Westley have been nothing short of outstanding. He has scored in double figures 21 times with nine double-figure rebounding efforts. He leads the Horizon League in rebounding (8.4) and double-doubles (7) while leading the team in field goal percentage (.495) and is second in free throw percentage (117-159, .736) and scoring (15.2). 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.
. . . WESTLEY HAS TAKEN THE HARD ROAD: After almost 20 months watching from the sidelines, junior Omari Westley has finally completed the long and hard journey to Division I basketball. His basketball odyssey included: * Three-year starter at John F. Kennedy High in Cleveland, averaging 24.2 points, 16.5 rebounds and 5.7 assists as a junior in 1998-99. * Transferred to East Cleveland Shaw High as a senior in 1999-2000, averaging 20.4 points and 14.0 rebounds. * A partial-qualifier, Westley enrolled at Wabash Valley JC in Mt. Carmel, Ill., serving as a sixth-man on the team that won the NJCAA national title (2000-01). * After Wabash Valley head coach Jay Spoonhour left to join his father at UNLV, Westley transferred to Barton County JC in Great Bend, Kan. * Averaged 13.0 points as a sophomore (2001-02) at Barton County and was one of the most highly recruited JC players in the country. * Unable to complete his degree requirements at Barton County and meet NCAA initial eligibility requirements, he enrolls at Cleveland State in the fall of 2002 and sat out the season. He was not allowed to practice. * Completes residence year in the May of 2003 and joins the Vikings.
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 week having started 95 of the 112 games during his career, totalling 3,190 minutes. His 38-minute effort against Eastern Michigan on Feb. 21 allowed him to move into sixth place on the career minutes played list, passing Eric Mudd (1983-88), who had 3,175 minutes. Robinson should move into fifth place against Loyola, needing 25 minutes to surpass Darren Tillis (1978-82), who played 3,214 minutes.
A SHOT-BLOCKING FAMILY: The shot-blocking performance by Pape Badiane this year should not be surprise. After all, blocking shots is a trait that is shared by his younger brother, Moussa, who is a junior at East Carolina. Moussa Badiane has blocked 75 shots in the Pirates' 23 games this year (3.3 bpg), giving him 225 blocks in his career. Moussa Badiane ranked eighth nationally in blocked shots last week while Pape Badiane's 2.40 blocks per game would have been 20th had he played in the required 75% of CSU's games.
THE BLOCKED SHOT RECORD LOOKS SAFE: With at least three games left in the 2003-04 season, it appears that the Vikings will miss out on breaking the school record for blocked shots in a season for the third time in four years. In 26 games this year, CSU has blocked 104 shots, 28 less than the school record of 132 set last year. The Vikings originally set a school record with 130 blocks in 2000-01 and then narrowly missed resetting the mark with 128 blocks in 2001-02. The record fell again last year when the Vikings swatted away 132 shots to lead the Horizon League. CSU will need to average 9.3 blocks over the next three games or advance past the first round of the Horizon Tourney to catch the mark this year.
A VIKING BLOCK PARTY: Even though it appears that the Vikings will fall short of the blocked shot record, there have been several blocked shot highlights this year, including a school record 12 blocked shots against Central State. Some interesting notes about the shot blocking performance this season: * The Central State performance topped the old school record of 11 set against IUPUI on Nov. 16, 2002. * Pape Badiane rejected five shots against both Central State and Florida A&M, tying him for the fourth-highest single game total in school history. * Five different Vikings blocked at least one shot against Central State, the most since five players accomplished it against IUPUI in the first game of the 2001-02 season. * Badiane leads the Horizon League with 37 blocked shots this year, despite missing 11 games with a broken hand. * Badiane has 15 career games of four blocks or more and 34 games with multiple blocks.
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."
VIKINGS INK ONE ON SIGNING DAY: The Vikings received an added bonus on Nov. 12 when Rockford (Mich.) High standout Mike Redell signed a national letter of intent to attend CSU and play basketball beginning next fall. Redell, a 6-1 point guard, is ranked as the No. 2 point guard in Michigan this year while also being tabbed as the best defender in the state by Prep Spotlight. He is coming off a junior campaign which saw him earn first team all-state honors from the Associated Press after helping his team to win the state title and, in the process, become only the second Class A squad to go undefeated in state history (28-0). He averaged 14.3 points and 4.8 assists per game, shooting 42 percent from three-point (80-191) and 72 percent from the line (82-114).
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 regular season at UW-Milwaukee on Saturday (Feb. 28) and then open play in the Horizon League Championship on Tuesday, March 2.
