Cleveland, OH-The Cleveland State men's basketball team defeated IUPUI for the second time in four days, with this victory advancing the Vikings to the Quarterfinal Round of the Barbasol Horizon League Men's Basketball Tournament. The Vikings took down the Jaguars 85-66 to improve to 19-13 overall.
The seventh seed Vikings will move on to take on the no. 2 seed Youngstown State in Thursday's Quarterfinal Round.
Cleveland State led for 34 minutes in the game and turned the game into a blowout late, extending its lead as high as 29 late in the second half. Overall, all 12 of Cleveland State's available players saw action in the game.
Four Vikings finished in double figures led by Jayson Woodrich who tallied 18 points. Woodrich was 7-of-12 from the field and connected on 4-of-7 attempts from three-point range. He finished with three rebounds and two assists.
Tristan Enaruna finished with 15 points, the first time in 12 games that he has scored under 20. Enaruna was an efficient 7-of-9 from the floor and added five rebounds, two assists and three steals.
Dylan Arnett and Tae Williams finished with 11 points each. Arnett was a perfect 5-of-5 from the field and Williams was 5-of-7. Arnett finished with six rebounds while Wiliams added three along with two assists and two steals.
Cleveland State found its rhythm offensively throughout the game, finishing a sizzling 60 percent from the field for the game along with a 40 percent clip from three-point range. The Vikings dominated the turnover battle forcing 19 Jaguar turnovers which turned into 33 points.
The visiting Jaguars, who stayed in Cleveland following Saturday's regular season finale, got off to a fast start. IUPUI led 9-3 early following a Vincent Brady layup just over three minutes into the game.
The lead proved to be the largest of the day for IUPUI. Cleveland State fought back to tie it at 9 headed into the first media timeout and took the lead for good with 14 minutes to play in the opening half.
Cleveland State led by 15 at the half and the Vikings broke the game wide open midway through the second half. Back-to-back triples from Woodrich with a little under 14 minutes to play gave the Vikings a 19-point advantage, and a Tevin Smith jumper in the paint ballooned the lead to 29 with 3:25 to go.
Cleveland State and Youngstown State will get underway at 7:00 p.m. from the Beeghly Center in Youngstown on Thursday. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ with radio coverage on WTAM 1100 AM starting at 6:30. The two teams split the two regular season meetings with each team winning on its home floor. The winner of Thursday's game advances to the Semifinal Round in Indianapolis on Monday, March 11.
