GAME #14
Oakland (4-9, 0-0) at Cleveland State (5-8, 0-0)
Friday, Dec. 28, 2018 | 7:00 p.m.
Cleveland, Ohio | Wolstein Center
CW 43 Cleveland
Live Stats | Watch: ESPN+ | Listen: 1420 AM
GAME #15
Detroit Mercy (3-9, 0-0) at Cleveland State (5-8, 0-0)
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
Oakland/Detroit Mercy at Cleveland State
GAME PREVIEW:
• Cleveland State opens Horizon League play by hosting Oakland and Detroit Mercy Friday, Dec. 28, and Sunday, Dec. 30.
• The Vikings ended non-conference play with an 82-60 win over Niagara, their third straight home win.
• Oakland is 4-9 and has lost four straight, all of which were on the road and two of which came to Power Five schools.
• Detroit is 3-9 entering the weekend and has lost six straight, four to MAC teams, one to a BIG EAST team and one to an A-10 team.
• These games will be the first two 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 OAKLAND SERIES:
• This will be the 15th all-time meeting between these teams.
• Oakland swept the regular-season series last season, but CSU returned the favor, edging past OU in the HL semifinals with a 44-43 victory as Tyree Appleby hit a go-ahead shot with 32 seconds left.
• CSU is 4-3 against Oakland at home but has not won at home in the series since 2014-15.
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 13: CSU 82, NU 60 (12/19/18):
• CSU used a strong defensive effort and a balanced offensive performance to run past Niagara, 82-60, in its non-conference finale.
• CSU never trailed in winning its third straight home game while simultaneously stopping Niagara's three-game winning streak
• Tyree Appleby led the team in points (16) and assists (4) and tied for the team high in rebounds with Jaalam Hill (8).
• The Vikings closed the game on a 14-0 run.
• CSU had a season-high 40 points in the paint.
COOLING DOWN ROCKETS...
• Toledo is shooting 47.3% from the field in all other games, but the Vikings held the Rockets to a 38.7% mark from the floor.
• At the time, it marked the lowest field goal percentage by a CSU opponent in the Vikings' last 35 regular-season games vs. DI foes.
...AND THEN FOLLOWING IT UP VS. FALCONS...
• CSU then bettered that effort in its next game, holding Bowling Green to 32.9% shooting from the floor.
• The Vikings held Bowling Green to 64 points and 23 field goals.
...AND EAGLES:
• In its final non-conference game, the Vikings held Niagara to 60 points, a new season low for the Purple Eagles.
• CSU held NU to 32.4% shooting and 22 field goals, both new lows for CSU opponents this season.
• The Vikings also held Niagara to 18.5% shooting from distance, the lowest figure by a CSU foe since the 2016-17 regular-season finale.
HE SHOOTS, HE SCORES
• Tyree Appleby has reached double figures in scoring in seven straight games entering the weekend, a career long streak.
• Appleby had 15+ points in six of the final seven non-conference games and has eight such efforts in the non-league season.
• Appleby had a career-high 37 points Dec. 5 vs. Bowling Green.
• Appleby had 16 points last time out, one game after he tied his career high with 12 free throws en route to 21 points.
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 11 games.
• Appleby is averaging 5.3 assists after averaging 4.0 over the course of his freshman season.
• He also had a steal in each of the final 12 non-league 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 hit 10+ threes in four of the final six non-conference games.
THAT'S FOUL:
• Toledo was the only non-league foe to commit fewer fouls than CSU, 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.
NOT OVER THE HILL:
• Junior college transfer Jaalam Hill is shooting 55.1% from the floor (49-for-89).
• 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 8.5 points and a team-leading 7.0 rebounds for the season.
• Hill has six 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 shot 45.9% from distance in non-conference action.
• 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 (3.4) & 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.
• 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 took 291 free throws through 13 games, a mark that ranks among the top 30 in Division I.
• Tyree Appleby leads the team with 70 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 18 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 41.7% in this stretch (483-for-1,158).
TYREE'S TERRIFIC HALF
• Tyree Appleby scored a then career-high 28 points in the home opener against Kent State.
• All 28 of his points came in the second half as he shot 5-of-8 from three in the frame with the five three's being a then career high.
• It was the first of eight games this season in which he had double digits points in the second half alone and one of two where he scored 25+ in the second half.
STEF STEPPING UP:
• After scoring a combined six points in the first two games, Stefan Kenic stepped up his scoring output.
• Kenic scored 10+ in 10 of the final 11 non-conference 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 107 field goal attempts in the last 10 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 HL play with a school record streak of 645 straight games with a three-pointer.
• The Vikings have hit at least three three's in 194 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 second in the Horizon League and is among the top 15 in Division I with its 128 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 nine games.
• CSU got a season-high 82.4% of potential defensive rebounds Dec. 16 at Illinois State, holding ISU to just six offensive boards.
BOOST OFF THE BENCH:
• CSU's bench has outscored its opponents in 10 of 13 games.
• CSU has a 324-216 advantage in bench points on the year, an average of 8.3 points better per game.
• Rashad Williams leads the team with 116 bench points while Jaalam Hill has 71.
• CSU's bench outscored its opponent in just 14 of 35 games last season.
SHARING THE SCORING LOAD:
• Cleveland State had five players reach double figures in scoring against Niagara, the fourth such occasion this season.
• Tyree Appleby, Jaalam Hill and Stefan Kenic have been a part of the group of 5+ in double figures on each of those occasions.
ODDS & ENDS:
• CSU is 5-0 this season when leading at the half.
• CSU is 5-0 when holding their opponent under 70 points.
UP NEXT:
• CSU opens a season-long four-game road trip by heading to Milwaukee and Green Bay Jan. 3 and Jan. 5.
