March 14, 2011

Contact: Brian McCann

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Game 35: 2011 National Invitational Tournament - Vermont (23-8) at Cleveland State (26-8)
Date: Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Time: 7:00 p.m. EDT
Site: Goodman Arena (8,500), Wolstein Center, Cleveland, Ohio
Radio: WHKW 1220 AM (Cleveland) & WHKZ 1440 AM (Warren) (Al Pawlowski)
TV: ESPN3.com (Jim Barbar & David Kaplan)
Promo: Hoopy Hour (Beginning at 5:30 p.m. on the North Concourse.)
Series: CSU Leads, 2-0
Last Meeting: CSU 72, @Vermont 69 (11/24/01)
Tickets: $10 & $20

SETTING THE SCENE: Cleveland State heads to post-season play for just the sixth time in program history, and third in the last four seasons, when the Vikings host Vermont (23-8) on Tuesday, March 15 beginning at 7:00 p.m. in the Wolstein Center. The game will be streamed live on ESPN3.com with Jim Barbar and Dave Kaplan providing the commentary. This will be the fourth trip to the NIT for the Vikings, and second under Gary Waters, with CSU owning a 2-3 record all-time in the tourney. The contest will be the first home game in postseason since the Vikings toppled Illinois State, 89-83 in 1988. Waters will be going for his 100th win at CSU, entering the contest with a 99-69 mark in five seasons. Cleveland State is 26-8 this year, the second-highest single season win total in school history. Vermont enters the contest with a 23-8 record after winning the America East regular season title and advancing to the semi-finals of the league tourney before falling to Stony Brook. The Catamounts are no stranger to the Vikings as CSU has won both previous meetings, the last coming in November of 2001. A victory would send CSU to a second round game against the winner of the Tuesday's No. 3 Dayton at No. 6 College of Charleston contest.

PREVIEWING CLEVELAND STATE: Gary Waters has the Viking basketball program back at a level where he is comfortable as the return of all five starters and nine lettermen from last year's team has helped the Vikings to a 26-8 record and a post-season bid for just the sixth time in program history. The strength of the squad is at the guards where Horizon League Player of the Year Norris Cole (21.6 ppg, 6.0 rpg, 5.3 apg) and juniors Trevon Harmon (13.5 ppg, 4.0 rpg) and Jeremy Montgomery (12.0 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 1.8 apg) each return to once again form the nucleus of the starting lineup this season. Senior forward D'Aundray Brown (8.6 ppg, 5.6 rpg) has not played following preseason surgery on his right index finger, leaving the small forward spot to be manned by the sophomore duo of Charlie Woods (2.6, 2.5) and Josh McCoy (4.5, 2.6), who redshirted last season following hip surgery. Junior Aaron Pogue (8.0, 6.0) returns as the starter at center with sophomore Tim Kamczyc (5.9, 3.7) as the starting power forward. Junior Joe Latas (1.8, 2.0) and freshmen Luda Ndaye (1.2, 1.5) and Devon Long (2.0, 0.9) help to provide CSU with a spark off the bench inside.

CSU IN THE NCAA STATS: Cleveland State received numerous mentions in the most recent NCAA men's basketball statistics, which were released on Friday (March 11). Individually, Norris Cole ranked 11th in the nation in scoring (21.6), 22nd in steals (2.2) and 38th in assists (5.4). As a team, the Vikings were in the top 80 in nine categories, ranking 23rd in turnover margin (+3.0), 29th in winning percentage (.765), 35th in turnovers (11.6), 47th in scoring margin (+7.9) and free throw percentage (.735), 61st in scoring defense (63.7), 7th in three-point defense (.326), 77th in steals (7.4) and 78th in field goal defense (.413).

WATERS GOES FOR VIKING WIN No. 100: With a 99-70 record in five seasons at CSU, head coach Gary Waters will be going for his 100th victory as a Viking when the Vikings host Vermont in the NIT first round.

VIKINGS IN POSTSEASON PLAY: This will be the sixth time in program history that the Vikings will take part in one of the postseason tournaments with CSU owning a 5-5 overall record and advancing past the first round of the tourney in four of the five appearances. CSU is 3-2 in two trip to the NCAA Championship (1986 & 2009) and 2-3 in NIT play (1987, 1988 & 2008).

WATERS IN THE NIT: The NIT appearance marks the ninth time in 15 years as a head coach that Gary Waters has taken a team to post-season play and his sixth appearance in the NIT, owning a 7-5 record in those appearances. He was 2-1 while at Kent State, taking the 2000 team to the quarterfinals. Waters' Rutgers teams made three appearances, losing in the opening round in 2002, going 4-1 to finish in second place in 2004 and making a second round visit in 2006. In his only appearance with the Vikings, CSU dropped a 66-57 decision to Dayton in 2008.

COLE NAMED TO TWO ALL-DISTRICT TEAMS: The honors poured in for Cleveland State senior guard Norris Cole last week as he was named to the all-district team by both the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) and the United States Basketball Writer's Association. The USBWA District V team, which consists of players from the midwestern states, consisted of Ben Hansbrough (Notre Dame), Tu Holloway (Xavier), Matt Howard (Butler), JaJuan Johnson and E'Twaun Moore from Purdue, Jon Leuer (Wisconsin), Kalin Lucas (Michigan State), Demetri McCarney (Illinois) and Jared Sullinger (Ohio State) and Cole. The team was determined in balloting of USBWA members within the district. The NABC District 12 squad, which is comprised of players from the Horizon and Summit Leagues and determined through a balloting of the coaches within the district, consists of Oakland's Keith Benson, IUPUI's Alex Young, Valparaiso's Brandon Wood, Butler's Howard and Cole.

COLE A FINALIST FOR THE BOB COUSY AWARD: Cleveland State senior guard Norris Cole has been named as one of five finalists for the 2011 Bob Cousy Award, which is presented by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame to the nation's top collegiate point guard. He is joined by BYU's Jimmer Fredette, Nolan Smith of Duke, Wisonsin's Jordan Taylor and Kemba Walker of Connecticut. Cole was initially named as one of 72 candidates for the award in early December and the list was pared down by the selection committee to 20 in January and to 10 in February. The most recent balloting included an online voting that was open to fans nationwide with that vote being used to help trim the list from 10 to five. Cole finished third among the 10 nominees with 13 percent of the vote. The winner of the 2011 Bob Cousy Award will be announced on April 1 with the award presentation coming at the Final Four on Monday April 4 as part of the Basketball Hall of Fame Class Announcement.

COLE NAMED HORIZON LEAGUE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Viking senior Norris Cole capped off a championship season when he was named the 2010-11 Horizon League Player of the Year in a balloting of league coaches, sports infromation directors and media. He is only the second player in school history to be named league player of the year (Ken McFadden in 1987-88) but the first since CSU joined the Horizon League in 1993-94. Cole has been nothing short of brilliant this season, scoring 19 points or more 23 times this year to lead the Horizon League with a 21.5 scoring average. More importantly, he has shown his leadership skills on the court by also leading the league in steals (2.2) and free throw percentage (.848) while ranking second in assists (5.4), third in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.9648) and minutes played (35.3), fourth in defensive rebounds (5.2) and seventh in rebounding (6.0). He has eighteen 20-point games this year, giving him 37 in his career, to raise his CSU career scoring total to 1,909 points to rank fourth on the CSU chart.

...AND VIKINGS DOMINATE DEFENSIVE AWARDS: In addition to earning league player of the year honors, Norris Cole was also tabbed as the Horizon League Defensive Player of the Year while Trey Harmon was named to the five-player all-defensive team. Cole, the first player in league history to earn player of the year and defensive player of the year honors in the same season, led the league in steals with 76 while Harmon was fourth with 52 steals. In addition, the duo was the focal point of the Viking defense with Harmon routinely shutting down the opposing point guard and Cole covering the top player among the guards. Cole joins Cedric Jackson (2009) as the only Vikings to earn defensive player of the year honors in the Horizon League.

VIKINGS CLAIM HORIZON LEAGUE CROWN: The win over Green Bay on Feb. 26 allowed the Vikings to finish the regular season atop the Horizon League standings with a 13-5 record to give CSU its first regular season title since joining the league for the 1994-95 season. This is the fourth league title in program history, the others coming in 1984-85, 1985-86 and 1992-93 when CSU was part of the Mid-Continent Conference.

...AND SET A RECORD FOR WINS: The Vikings won 13 Horizon League games this season en route to claiming the regular season crown, the most league wins as a member of the Horizon League. The 13 wins marks only the second time that CSU had won 10 or more league contests in four straight seasons. With a 47-25 record over the last four years, it breaks the school record of 45 league wins over a four-year span set from 1984-85 to 1987-88.

COLE BREAKS SCORING RECORD: The 65 points by Norris Cole in the Horizon League Championship allowed the Viking senior to break the CSU single season scoring total with 735 points. Cole broke Ken McFadden's season record of 708 points, which was set in 1986-87. Cole, who had 539 points last year, joined Franklin Edwards, Ken McFadden and Clinton Ransey to become the fourth player in program history to score 500 points or more in multiple seasons.

COLE BREAKS SECOND FREE THROW MARK: A 24-for-24 performance at the line in the Horizon League Championship allowed Norris Cole to break the school record for free throws attempted in a season. Cole, who is now 215-for-252 from the stripe, broke Ken McFadden's record of 233 attempts, which was set in 1987-88. Cole has shattered Ken McFadden's school record of 177 free throws made, which he set in both 1986-87 and 1987-88. Cole has also set the Horizon League record for free throws made in a season and is 17 attempts away from the single season mark as well. Milwaukee's Shannon Smith held the records with 212 free throws made and 268 attempted in 1994-95.

VIKINGS APPROACH WIN MARK: The Vikings enter postseason play with 26 wins, tying them for the second-highest single season win total in school history. It is the eighth 20-win season, and the third in the last four years. The 1985-86 Vikings set the record by winning 29 games and CSU also won 26 games in 2008-09.

CSU BREAKS HOME WINS MARK: Part of the reason for the successful season this year has been CSU's ability to play well at home. The Vikings enter postseason play with a 16-2 home record, the most home wins in a season in program history. It broke the old mark of 15, which was set in both 1985-86 and 1987-88. CSU played every game in Woodling Gym in 1985-86 and 11 of the 15 games in Woodling in 1987-88 with the other four contests being held in Public Hall. The 16 wins in the Wolstein Center breaks the old mark of 13 wins, which was set in 2008-09.

...AND VIKINGS CREATE A HOME COURT EDGE: When Gary Waters took over as head coach at CSU, he talked about the importance of creating a home court advantage by winning at home. Waters has done that as the Vikings have won 12 or more games in the Wolstein Center in each of the last four years, going 54-11 (.831) at home during that span.

COLE MEETS PRESIDENT OBAMA, GAINS SUPPORT FOR HIS HI-TOP FADE: Norris Cole added another first to his resume on Feb. 22 when he was one of a handful of Cleveland State students selected to take part in the Winning the Future Forum on Small Businesses in the Wolstein Center. As part of the event, Cole was able to meet and shake hands with President Obama and several of his staff. Although he did not make a public declaration, President Obama did voice his private support for Coles' retro hi-top fade hair style.

VIKES BREAK STARTING RECORD: The Viking are one of three teams in the nation this year who have used the same starting lineup combination in every game. The lineup of Norris Cole, Jeremy Montgomery, Trevon Harmon, Tim Kamczyc and Aaron Pogue have started all 34 games to break the old CSU record of 23 straight games set by the 1992-93 group of Craig Caldwell, Gravelle Craig, Shawn Fergus, Sam Mitchell & Anthony Reed. The only other teams to start the same lineup in every game are Missouri State (33 games) and St. Bonaventure (30).

LOOKING FOR BENCH RELIEF: One of the key statistics that has helped to determine the difference between a win and a loss this season has been he performance of the Viking bench. In the 26 CSU wins, the Viking reserves have averaged 12.0 points a game. In the eight losses, however, the bench is averaging just 5.5 points a game, being shutout twice. With four regulars missing time because of injury, the CSU bench has been depleted of late, scoring 51 points in the last 10 games, including being held scoreless three times.

MONTGOMERY & HARMON ARE CHASING 1,000: With the 2010-11 season winding down, juniors Jeremy Montgomery and Trey Harmon are working their way towards becoming the 19th and 20th players in school history to score 1,000 career points. Montgomery enters the NIT game with 979 points while Harmon has 909 points.

COLE SETS IRON MAN MARKS: Nobody has played more games and more minutes at Cleveland State than Norris Cole. Cole broke the records for games played and consecutive games played in the Feb 12 win over Youngstown State and toppled the minutes played mark against Milwaukee on Feb. 24. Cole enters the NIT having played in all 138 career games, totalling 4,038 minutes played. He broke the school records of J'Nathan Bullocks, who had 3,872 minutes while playing in all 130 games in his career. A fixture in the Vikings lineup during his career, Cole has also set a school-record third season of 1,000 minutes or more (1,169 this year). Cole ranks second in consecutive games started (104), just two games away from Bullock's school record.

COLE EYES THIRD PLACE ON THE SCORING CHART: A 24-point effort against Butler in the Horizon League semi-finals has raised Norris Cole's career scoring total to 1,933 points, moving him within 14 points of passing Clinton Ransey (1,946 points from 1983-87) and into third place on the CSU career scoring list.

COLE KEEPS HEADING TO VICTORY LANE: The win over Wright State in the Horizon League second round was the 89th victory in the CSU playing career of Norris Cole, tying him with Eddie Bryant (1983-87) and Clinton Ransey (1983-87) for the second-highest wins total in school history. Cole is now two wins short of tying the school record of 91 wins set by Ken McFadden from 1985-89. Cole came off the bench in all 34 games as a freshman, helping CSU to a 21-13 record. He then started all 37 games as a sophomore in 2008-09, winning 26 times, and won 16 times as a junior last year.

THE TREY TRIO: The Vikings have achieved a statistical first this season as Jeremy Montgomery (150 three-pointers), Norris Cole (136) and Trevon Harmon (134) are the first active trio in school history to play together on the same team after each has made 100 career three-pointers. Montgomery (150-415) ranks fifth in school history in three-pointers made and eighth in attempts while Cole (136-419) is 10th in makes and sixth in attempts and Harmon (134-419) is 11th in makes and sixth in attempts.

FINISHING IT IN REGULATION: The Butler game extended Cleveland State's school-record streak of consecutive games without an overtime contest to 134. The last time CSU played an overtime tilt came on Nov. 17, 2007 when the Vikings toppled Florida State, 69-66, at the Glenn Wilkes Classic in Daytona Beach, Fla. In the 134 games since, Cleveland State has gone 87-47 (.649).

FREE THROWS: After setting a school record by shooting .749 from the foul line last year, the Vikings have come back to shoot .735 (576-784) this year, the second-best effort in program history. Included in that total was a 22-for-23 (.957) performance against Iona on Nov. 13, the fourth-highest single game percentage in school history, and a .920 performance (23-25) vs. Wright State on Jan. 22. For the year, CSU ranks third in the league.

...AND THE VIKINGS ARE WARMING UP WHEN IT COUNTS: The Vikings will carry a streak of 10 straight games of shooting .700 or better from the line when CSU plays in the NIT. Cleveland State has made 181 of its 227 free throws during that stretch (.797), including five games of .800 or better.

...AND FOUL SUCCESS DURING CRUNCH TIME: CSU continues to perform well from the foul line in the last five minutes of games, shooting .787 as a team (166-211) this year. Norris Cole leads the way by making 80 of his 89 free throws down the stretch (.899). Success down the stretch is nothing new as CSU shot .826 last year (147-178). Cole is one of eight players on the team shooting .700 or better, including Josh McCoy (16-17, .941) and Tim Kamczyc (13-17, .765).

...WHEN THE GAME IS AT STAKE, COLE IS AT THE LINE: Senior Norris Cole has made a name for himself by making free throws down the stretch, shooting .861 for his career (169-196) including a .899 effort this year (80-89). Cole has had some dominant efforts in games this year, going six-for-six in both the three-point win over Kent State and 10-point win at Youngstown State, a five-for-five showing at Akron and by making all eight attempts in the five-point win at Louisiana. On Dec. 2, he was 11-for-12 at Green Bay. Cole was 56-for-63 (.889) last year.

NORRIS' BIG DAY:Norris Cole turned in a once in a lifetime kind of performance in the win over Youngstown State on Feb. 12, setting career highs with 41 points and 20 rebounds while adding nine assists and three steals and playing all 40 minutes. Cole:
• recorded only the second 40-20 game nationally in the last 15 years (Blake Griffin vs. Texas Tech, 2/14/09).
• actually had a double-double in each half, totalling 21 points and 10 rebounds in the first half and 20 points and 10 rebounds in the second half.
• set a CSU single game record with 18 defensive rebounds (old record 16 by Sam Mitchell vs. Saginaw Valley State, 12/4/93).
• had the first 20-rebound game in 22 years, recording the most since Warren Bradley had 23 vs. Clarion on Nov. 25, 1988.
• recorded the 12th highest single game scoring total in the nation this year.
• posted the 9th highest single game rebounding total in the nation this year.
• had the third-highest single game scoring total in CSU history and the most since Damon Stringer had 47 at Milwaukee on 1/29/00.
• came one assist short of the first triple-double in school history (1,826 games).
• had his sixth double-double of the season (4th with points-rebounds) and the ninth of his career.
• used the effort to win the Horizon League Player of the Week award for the fourth time this season (and sixth of his career), averaging 34.0 points, 13.0 rebounds and 8.0 assists in the two games last week.

...AND A SEARS BRACKETBUSTERS ENCORE: The 35-point outburst by Norris Cole in the Sears BracketBusters game against Old Dominion On Feb. 20 was the most by a single player in a televised game during the nine-year history of the event. Cole broke the old record of 33 points set by Ball State's Chris Williams in 2003. The scoring total was the most by an opposing player in the history of ODU's Constant Center.

COLE DIALS THREE FROM LONG DISTANCE: The Old Dominion contest featured an eight-for-15 shooting performance from three-point by Norris Cole, leaving the Viking senior just short of a pair of CSU single game records. The eight treys was one short of Percell Cole's school record of nine at Duequesne (11/27/02) while the 15 attempts was one away from Percell Coles' record of 16 vs. North Carolina (11/29/03).

SUCCESS 401: The fifth edition of Success Class under Gary Waters is utilizing the book Winning With People, by John Maxwell as the course text, marking the third time in five years that a Maxwell text has been used as the text book. Instituted at CSU in the summer of 2006, Waters uses Success Class to teach the Viking players the finer points of what it takes to succeed, both on the basketball court and in life. Success Class 101 used John Wooden's book, The Pyramid of Success. Waters relied on John Maxwell's book Talent Is Never Enough in 2007-08, turned to former Indianapolis Colts head coach Tony Dungy's book, Quiet Strength in 2008-09 and returned to Maxwell in 2009-10, using 17 Essential Qualities of a Team Player as the course text. The non-credited class is taught weekly by Waters to the Viking players over the summer and preseason months.

GETTING THE THIRD DEGREE: Usually when you get the third degree about your performance in the classroom, it isn't a good thing. But for Viking junior Joe Latas, it is a compliment as the Viking center has already earned undergraduate degrees in both communications and religious studies and is currently finishing up the requirements for a degree in philosophy as well.

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES: A couple of little tidbits about the Vikings during the 2010-11 season:
• CSU went a perfect 8-0 in November, the first undefeated month (of more than two games) since the Vikings went 8-0 during February of 1986.
• A 14-1 record in November and December helped CSU to complete the 2010 calendar year with a 26-8 record, the second best record in school history. CSU was 4-10 heading into January of 2010 but went 12-7 the rest of the year. The effort trails only the 29-4 record amassed in 1986.
• The Vikings set a program best when they defeated Loyola on Jan. 29 to reach the 20-win mark faster than any other team in school history. (Old record Feb. 17 in 1985-86)
• Norris Cole has been tabbed the Horizon League Athlete of the Week a league record tying five times, earning the honor on Nov. 15 after averaging 23.3 points to lead CSU to the title of the World Vision Classic. He won again on Dec. 6 after averaging 23.0 points, 4.0 rebounds, 5.7 assists and 3.0 steals in wins over Robert Morris, Green Bay & Milwaukee and for the third time on Jan. 24 for posting back-to-back double-doubles in wins over Detroit and Wright State. His most recent honor was on Feb. 21.
• Trey Harmon has also earned a Horizon League Athlete of the Week honor, receiving it on Jan. 3 after averaging 19.0 points and 4.0 steals in wins over UIC and Loyola.
• Norris Cole was tabbed as the CSU Student-Athlete of the Month in November after averaging 21.5 points, 5.0 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 2.4 steals in leading CSU to an 8-0 record. He repeated the honor in December after averaging 20.1 points, 4.4 rebounds, 6.1 assists and 2.0 steals per game.
• Nov. 27-Dec. 4 was Revenge Week for the Vikings as CSU defeated four teams -- St. Bonaventure (69-51), Robert Morris (58-53), Green Bay (83-75) and Milwaukee (82-59-- that it went 2-5 against last season.
• The wins at Green Bay and Milwaukee in early December marked the first sweep of the road games sine the 1999-2000 season and the fourth time in program history. The win at Green Bay was just the second since the 2001-02 season (2-9 total) while the win at Milwaukee snapped a 10-game CSU losing streak in Milwaukee.
• The CSU wins over Akron and Kent State marked the first time since 1997-98 that the Vikings swept the two games and just the fifth time in the 31 years that CSU faced both opponents in the same year.
• Junior Trey Harmon had his string of 29 consecutive free throws made snapped against Kent State (Nov. 14), the second longest streak in school history (three short of Damon Stringer's record set in 1999-2000).
• The Vikings were the busiest team in America during the opening weekend of the season, winning four games in 74 hours (Bryant, Iona, Kent State & Urbana).
• The Vikings made 10 or more three-pointers in four straight games for the first time in program history when CSU went 45-for-86 (.523) from three-point in wins over Green Bay (10-14, .714), Milwaukee (14-22, .636), West Virginia Tech (11-29, .379) and Sam Houston State (10-21, .476). The effort vs. Green Bay was the third highest percentage in CSU history while the 14 treys vs. Milwaukee tied a school record.
• CSU set a school record by turning the ball over just four times in the Dec. 22 win over South Florida. What made the record even more impressive is that the Vikings forced 24 turnovers that night for a +20 turnover margin.
• With 14 wins in November and December, the Vikings shattered the old school record of 11 wins before January 1, which was set in 1992-93.
• CSU opened the 2010-11 season with 12 straight wins to easily break the old record of four wins, which came in both 1963-64 and 1985-86.
• The 12 straight wins to open the season was the third longest winning streak in school history and two short of the 14 straight wins set in both 1985-86 and 1992-93.

NEXT UP: A victory over Vermont would send the Vikings to a second round game against the winner of Tuesday's No. 3 Dayton at No. 6 College of Charleston game. The date, time and site will be determined on Tuesday evening (March 15).