GAME DETAILS – HORIZON SEMIFINALS
Monday, March 7 – Indianapolis, Indiana – 7 PM ET (Indiana Farmers Coliseum)
National TV: ESPNU
Radio: 1100 WTAM | iHeart Radio App | 106.9FM (CLEVELAND)
Live Coverage: Live Stats
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Cleveland State Links: News | Roster | Schedule | Stats
Wright State Links: News | Roster | Schedule | Stats
SETTING THE SCENE
The Cleveland State men's basketball team returns to Indy for the second straight year to defend its title as the Vikings will take on Wright State in the Horizon League Semifinals at the Indiana Farmers Coliseum on Monday. Tipoff is set for 7 PM ET and the game will be played in front of a national audience on ESPNU. It is the fifth meeting between CSU and Wright State in postseason history, with the Raiders holding a slight 3-2 edge. The last postseason meeting between the two programs came back in the 2018 Horizon Championship game that saw Wright State advance to the NCAAs. Cleveland State won both regular-season matchups this season, an 85-75 home win on Dec. 4 and another 10-point victory, 71-61, on the road on Jan. 28. The winner of Monday's semifinal game will advance to the Horizon League Championships, set for Tuesday, March 8 at 8 PM on ESPN.
A WIN ON MONDAY WOULD…
Advance the Vikings to the Horizon Championship game for the second consecutive season…Improve the Vikings to 6-1 under head coach Dennis Gates in the Horizon Tournament…Keep the run alive for the Vikes as they look to punch their ticket to the NCAA Tournament for the second year in a row, the first time the back-to-back feat would be accomplished in school history.
THE CLEVELAND STATE/WRIGHT STATE SERIES
Monday's postseason action will be the 80th meeting between the Vikings and Raiders, with Wright State holding a 42-37 edge. That includes a run of wins in 11 of the past 16 contests for the Raiders, although the Vikings have won the past three straight games. CSU is 2-0 against Wright State already this season.
LAST TIME OUT…
The Cleveland State men's basketball program will get its bags packed for Indianapolis as the Vikings punched their ticket to the Horizon League Semifinals for the second consecutive season after downing visiting Robert Morris, 83-67, in the Horizon Quarterfinals at the Wolstein Center on Thursday night.
The Vikes got big games from Torrey Patton (25 points), D'Moi Hodge (15) and Tre Gomillion (13) and will take on Wright State in the conference semifinal game on Monday, March 7 at the Indiana Farmers Coliseum.
- Patton led the Viking attack with 25 points on 9-of-15 shooting from the field. The senior also added six rebounds, four assists and three steals. The offensive outburst tied a season-high for the Dayton, Ohio native.
- Hodge added 15 points of his own on an efficient 5-of-9 night, which included a 3-of-6 mark from beyond the arc. The senior also picked up four assists and three steals in the contest.
- Gomillion continued the contributions by the senior class as the Augusta, Ga. native dropped 13 points along with three points, two helpers and two steals. It was his 14th double-digit game of 2021-22.
- As a unit, CSU has nine steals and just 10 turnovers while they forced RMU into 18 mistakes of their own.
- Cleveland State shot 54.2 percent from the field, the 11th time this season that the squad has finished above 50 percent as a unit in a contest.
- The Vikings finished with an edge in points off of turnovers (20-9), in the paint (48-34), second chance opportunities (13-5), fast break (20-4) and points off the bench (19-16).
VIKINGS ALL OVER THE NATIONAL RANKS
CSU enters Monday's postseason game with its name all over the national rankings:
- 12th in the nation in assists per game with 16.8 per contest (tops in Horizon)
- 19th in field goal percentage with a clip of 48.3 percent (tops in Horizon)
- 25th in total assists with 486 (tops in Horizon)
- 25th with 8.6 steals per contest (fourth in Horizon)
- 29th with 15.41 turnovers forced per game (second in Horizon)
- 34th in total steals overall at 249 (fourth in Horizon)
- 58th in free throw attempts with 602 shots (second in Horizon)
- 58th in assist turnover ratio at 1.24 (tops in Horizon)
- 61st in scoring offense at 75.9 points per game (tops in Horizon)
- 69th in the country in won-lost percentage at 69.0 (tops in Horizon)
- 70th in turnover margin at 1.9 (third in Horizon)
NO HANDLES AGAINST HODGE
D'Moi Hodge is one of the best student-athletes at generating steals in all of NCAA DI basketball as the senior guard ranks 10th in the nation with 2.31 per contest. Hodge also slots in at SEVENTH in the country with his 67 overall steals on the season, a number that also leads the Horizon League. The senior has 112 career steals at CSU over two seasons with the program. With his standout year, Hodge was named the Horizon's Defensive Player of the Year to go with First Team All-League and All-Defensive team honors. He was just the fourth student-athlete to win the Horizon League's top-defensive honor in school history (fellow Vikings Tre Gomillon took home the top prize a year ago).
LOOKING TO GO DANCING IN BACK-TO-BACK YEARS
Cleveland State is looking to advance to the NCAA Tournament for the second consecutive season, and fourth time overall in school history. It would be the first time that the program has made the national tournament in back-to-back years. Before last season's run, the Vikings last made the NCAAs in 2009 as a No. 13 seed when it upset No. 4 Wake Forest, 84-69 (March 20 – Miami, Fla.) in the opening round. The No. 15 Vikings fell in the opening round a season ago to a red-hot No. 2 Houston squad, 87-56.
50 WINS FOR GATES
In the Vikings quarterfinal win over Robert Morris, head coach Dennis Gates reached the 50-win plateau in his first three years with the CSU program. Gates becomes just the seventh CSU coach in school history to reach the milestone. He improved to 50-38 at the helm of the Vikes program, good for a 56.8 winning percentage overall. Over the past two seasons, Cleveland State has gone 39-17 (.696) and is looking for its second straight NCAA berth.
20-WIN SEASON FIRST SINCE 2013-14
With its quarterfinal win over Robert Morris, Cleveland State hit the 20-win mark for the first time since the 2013-14 season. It is a feat that has now only been accomplished 11 times in program history.
ALL-LEAGUE HONORS FOR PATTON
For the second straight year, Torrey Patton played his way onto the All-League team with his Second Team honors this season. The senior from Dayton, Ohio recorded averages of 14.0 points, 6.1 boards and 3.5 assists to go with five double-doubles this year. Patton currently ranks tied for sixth in the conference in assists per game, tied for seventh in steals and 11th in rebounding per contest, to go with being ranked tied for 11th in the Horizon in total steals (41). Patton went off for 25 points in the Vkings quarterfinal win over RMU.
VIKES TAKE 3-OF-5 ON ALL-DEFENSIVE TEAM; GOMILLION THIRD TEAMER
Both Deante Johnson and Tre Gomillion rounded out the All-Defensive team for the Vikings. It was the second straight season that both student-athletes were selected. Gomillion also added an All-League Third Team nod to go with the All-Defensive team selection. The senior guard took home the league's Defensive Player of the Year a season ago. Johnson joined his teammates on the All-Defensive team.
SWATS BY "SPIDER"
Veteran forward Deante "Spider" Johnson is not an easy man to make a basket on as the senior has racked up 110 career blocks, which ranks him sixth all-time in program history in rejections. Johnson's 37 total blocks and 1.3 rejections per game are both ranked third in the Horizon on the season. His 37 rejections are also 118th-most in all of NCAA DI.
PARKER PACING THE OFFENSE
Veteran guard Deshon Parker slots 49th in the country with his 2.26 assist to turnover ratio, a mark that ranks third in the Horizon.
SPACING IT OUT
The Vikings have racked up 15 or more assists in 18 of their 29 games this season, which includes eight contests of 20-plus. CSU has reached double-digit steals in all but just two games this year, which explains its ranking of 34thin the country in that category (249 total steals as a team on the season).
NO PLACE LIKE HOME
CSU sits at 15-3 at home this season and has gone 24-5 over the past two years inside the friendly confines of the Wolstein Center, good for a .827 winning percentage.
WHAT THE CONFERENCE IS SAYING (FROM THE HORIZON LEAGUE)
- The CSU offense has led the way this season as it was the No. 2 scoring offense during League play at 76.2 points, while leading in assists at 16.9 and field-goal percentage shooting 48.8 percent from the floor. Defensive Player of the Year and All-Horizon League First Team selection D'Moi Hodge leads the offensive charge for the Vikings as he averaged 15.6 points on 49.8 percent shooting during HL play and was No. 1 in steals at 2.4, while All-League second team honoree Torrey Patton is averaged 14.1 points, 6.2 rebounds and 3.8 assists vs. HL opponents in the regular season. The Vikings defense is also getting it done as they placed three players on the All-Defensive Team and held HL opponents to just 42.1 percent shooting from the floor, including 31.8 percent from long range, both ranking top-2 during #HLMBB play.
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