Men’s Basketball starts final homestand with showdown against UIC Athletics

Posted: Feb 10, 2022

CLEVELAND – The first-place Cleveland State men's basketball program returns home to the friendly confines of the Wolstein Center to take on conference foe UIC at 7 PM ET on Thursday evening. The contest will feature a celebration of CSU Athletics Academic Honors Night along with CSU Faculty and Staff Appreciation Day.

SETTING THE SCENE

The Cleveland State men's basketball program will end its 2021-22 home campaign this weekend, beginning with a 7 PM ET conference-clash against UIC on Thursday. CSU enters Thursday's contest in first place in the Horizon League as the Vikings currently sit 16-5 overall and 12-2 in conference play. Thursday features a celebration of CSU's Academic Honors Night along with its Faculty and Staff Appreciation Night. Halftime will feature an on-court presentation when the CSU Athletic Department will honor its 300-plus student-athletes who achieved a GPA of 3.0 or higher. UIC will come into Thursday night at 8-13 overall and 4-8 in Horizon games. The two squads were set to square off on New Year's Day, but the game was canceled due to COVID-19 protocols. This will be the first meeting of the teams during the 2021-22 season.

A WIN ON THURSDAY WOULD…

Start another hot streak for the Vikings as a victory would be their third in a row and sixth in their last seven games …Improve CSU to 14-2 in the Wolstein Center this season...Give the Vikings their fifth straight home victory...Put CSU another step closer to winning its second consecutive Horizon League Regular Season Championships...Become the first regular-season victory over UIC in Gate's tenure...Snap a four-game losing streak to UIC.

THE CLEVELAND STATE/UIC SERIES

Thursday's game will mark the 89th meeting between the two teams, with CSU owning a 48-40 edge in the all-time series. Last year, UIC swept the season-series and enter Thursday on a four-game winning streak. CSU's last win over UIC came in an 86-78 road-victory back on Feb. 10, 2018, exactly two years to tonight's game.

LAST TIME OUT…

The Cleveland State men's basketball team picked up its second straight win Sunday afternoon, earning an 84-71 victory over Milwaukee.

· Cleveland State's offense was led by D'Moi Hodge with 21 points, while Yahel Hill added 17 points, Torrey Patton tallied 15 and Deante Johnson added 10 points.

· Deante Johnson and Tre Gomillion both grabbed a team-high eight rebounds, while Torrey Patton recorded six boards.

· As a team, the Vikings shot 49-percent from the field, including a .517 clip during the first half.

· Cleveland State finished with 19 assists on the game, while Deshon Parker posted a team-high seven.

· The Vikings recorded six blocked shots on the game, including three from Deante Johnson and two from D'Moi Hodge.

· D'Moi Hodge recorded his seventh 20-point game of the season after finishing with 21 against Milwaukee.

· Cleveland State's 19 assists marks the third straight game the Vikings have posted 19+ assists.

· The Vikings have now shot 45-percent or better from the field 15 times this season after posting a .492 clip against the Panthers.

VIKINGS ALL OVER THE NATIONAL RANKS

CSU enters Thursday's conference contest with its name all over the national rankings:

· 12th in the nation with 17.0 assists per game (tops in Horizon)

· 29th in the country in field goal percentage with a .478 clip from the field (tops in Horizon)

- 37th in basketball with a .762 won-lost percentage (tops in Horizon)

· 36th in the US in assist turnover ratio at 1.34 (tops in Horizon)

· 42nd in DI with 8.3 steals per contest (tops in Horizon)

- 42nd in NCAA with 15.48 forced turnovers per game (tops in Horizon)

· 46th in the nation with 357 total assists (tops in Horizon)

· 46th in the country in turnover margin at 2.8 (tops in Horizon)

· Also ranked in the Top 100 in steals (175 - 75th), scoring offense (75.3 - 86th), free throws attempted (439 - 88th), fewest turnovers (267 - 90th), three-point FG defense (31.6 - 96th) and blocked shots per game (3.9 - 99th)

#HLMBB PLAY OVER THE LAST TWO YEARS

Throughout the last two years, Cleveland State has combined for a 28-6 regular season record against league opponents, including a 17-3 mark when playing at the Wolstein Center. If you include #HLMBB Tournament play, the Vikings have won 21 of their last 25 matchups entering Thursday's game against UIC.

NO, NO, NO...

Deante Johnson became the seventh Viking all-time to reach 100 career blocked shots, finishing with 102 after notching three in the Vikings win over the Panthers this past Sunday. On the season, Johnson has a team-best 29 total blocked shots, and ranks third among #HLMBB student-athletes with his average of 1.4 blocks per contest.

HODGE WILL TAKE THAT

D'Moi Hodge comes into Thursday's contest ranked 31st in the nation and second overall in the conference with 46 total steals. He also slots 24th in the country with 2.19 steals per game. The 46 career steals are already a new career-high for the senior with seven games still left in the season.

COLLEGEINSIDER.COM MID-MAJOR POLL

For the fifth straight week, Cleveland State was ranked in the Top-25 in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major poll. The Vikings jumped up five spots to No. 13 overall in the latest edition of the poll. CSU is one of three Horizon League teams to crack into the Mid-Major Top-25 this week (Oakland - 16, Wright State - RV).

SHOT TO GET HOT, SHOT TO STAY HOT

Entering Thursday's game against UIC, CSU continues to lead the league shooting 47.8 percent from the floor, including a .450 clip or better in the last seven straight contests and 13 of its last 16 games. Last time out, the Vikings posted a 49.2 clip from the floor against Milwaukee, marking the eighth time this year that they have shot 50-percent or better.

CSU SPREADING OUT THE OFFENSE

Cleveland State has tallied 15-plus assists in 14 of its 21 games so far this season, including 20-plus assists on seven occasions. Through the first part of the 2021-22 campaign, the Vikings are averaging a league-best 17.0 assists per game and have a league-high 357 total assists on the year. So far this season, 13 Vikings have recorded at least one assist, led by Torrey Patton with 75 assists and Deshon Parker with 68 assists on the year.

HODGE GOES FOR 20 AGAIN

Last time out, D'Moi Hodge tallied his seventh 20-plus point game of the season, as he dropped 21 in CSU's win over Milwaukee. Hodge has reached the double-digit scoring plateau in 18 games this year, which includes a season-best of #HLMBB PLAY OVER THE LAST TWO YEARS

TICKETS

For more information on Cleveland State men's basketball tickets, call the CSU Ticket Office at (216)-687-4848 or visit CSUVikings.com/buytickets.

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