Feb. 4, 2005

Contact: Brian McCann

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GAME 19
Detroit (8-12, 5-5) at Cleveland State (7-11, 4-6)
Date: Saturday, Feb. 5, 2005
Time: 5:30 p.m. EST
Site: Goodman Arena (8,500), The Wolstein Center, Cleveland, Ohio
TV: None
Radio: WKNR, 850 AM (Frank DeMarco)
Series: Detroit Leads, 28-6
Last Mtg.: Detroit 62, CSU 36, March 2, 2004, Detroit, Mich.

SETTING THE SCENE: The Vikings close a four-game homestand in the Wolstein Center when CSU hosts Detroit on Saturday, Feb. 5 beginning at 5:30 p.m. EST. The Vikings (7-11, 4-6) saw their three-game Horizon League win streak come to an end on Thursday night with a 69-62 loss to second-place UW-Green Bay. CSU is 6-2 at home this year, including league wins over Butler (77-57) and Wright State (67-53) last week. Detroit is 8-12 overall and in a fourth place tie in the league with a 5-5 record after dropping a 59-55 decision at Youngstown State on Thursday. The Titans hold a commanding 28-6 lead in the series with CSU, including 10 straight wins going back to the 2000-01 season.

PREVIEWING DETROIT: Detroit is in the midst of a rebuilding season, owning an 8-12 overall record heading into Saturday's game with the Vikings. With just one starter back from the Titan squad that went 19-11 last year and finished fourth in the Horizon League, Detroit struggled to a 1-6 start. The season turned around when Michigan State transfer Brandon Cotton (17.5 ppg) became eligible at the semester break. Cotton, the only Titan to average in double figures in scoring, has helped Detroit go 7-6 over its last 13 games, including a 5-5 showing in league play, good for a fourth place tie. The supporting cast around Cotton has been a good one as guard James Thues (9.4 ppg), center Ryvon Covile (8.1 ppg, 5.4 rpg) and forward Torvoris Baker (7.2, 5.4) have each helped offensively. The Titans lead the league in rebounding margin (+5.2) and offensive rebounds (14.2), are second in field goal defense (.418) and third in scoring defense (62.2).

THE CONVO UNDERGOES A NAME CHANGE: The CSU Convocation Center officially became the Bert L. & Iris S. Wolstein Center on Jan. 21 when the CSU Board of Trustees approved the name change to honor the couple for their $6.25 million commitment to CSU Foundation. Bert Wolstein, who passed away last May, was a graduate of the Cleveland-Marshall School of Law. He was a fixture in the professional sports scene in Cleveland, serving as the founder and owner of the Cleveland Force indoor soccer team, which will continue to play all of its home games in the Wolstein Center.

Mike Garland SHOW RESUMES: The weekly Mike Garland Radio Show resumed on Jan. 17 and will continue through the end of the regular season. The one-hour call-in show will be held every Monday night from 7:00-8:00 p.m. on WKNR, 850-AM. Jason Gibbs returns as the host for the second straight year.

FOUR VIKINGS NAMED TO DEAN'S LIST: Evidence of the emphasis that head coach Mike Garland has placed on performing both on and off the court can be found in the academic showing of CSU during the recently completed fall semester. Four players, Mike Redell, Justin Henderson, Doug Barber and Greg Vlosich were named to the Dean's List after recording grade point averages above 3.25. As a team, CSU sported a 2.70 grade point average for the fall semester.

CSU DRAWS CENTRAL MICHIGAN AS PART OF BRACKET BUSTER POOL: The Vikings have drawn Central Michigan as their opponent for the Feb. 19 game scheduled as part of the third annual Bracket Buster Saturday pool matchups which were announced on Monday (Jan. 31). The game will tipoff at 2:00 p.m. in CMU's Rose Arena. In all 64 teams from 13 Division I conferences are participating in the one-day event. CSU hosted Eastern Michigan in last year's event. As part of the agreement, Central Michigan will also play a non-conference game at Cleveland State next season. The Chippewas have won two of the three games in the series with the Vikings but the two teams have not met since the 1987-88 season.

WESTLEY TRIES FOR A RARE DOUBLE: Senior Omari Westley continues his quest this week to become only the second player in Horizon League history to lead the conference in both scoring and rebounding. Westley, who is averaging 17.2 points and 8.7 rebounds, has a comfortable lead on the rebounding chart but is narrowly ahead of UW-Milwaukee's Ed McCants (17.0) in the scoring race. Evansville's Parrish Casebier is the only player in the 26-year history of the league to accomplish the feat, averaging 25.4 points and 9.5 rebounds in 1991-92. Westley would also be only the fourth player to lead the league in rebounding in consecutive seasons and first since Northern Illinois' T.J. Lux accomplish it in 1995-96 and 1996-97.

10 DIMES MAKE A DOLLAR FOR REDELL: Freshman point guard Mike Redell set a career high for assists on Thursday night when he handed out 10 of them in the loss to UW-Green Bay. Redell, whose previous best was an eight-assist effort at Youngstown State on Jan. 22, is now averaging 3.6 assists a game, including 4.2 in league games. With only two turnovers against the Phoenix, Redell now owns a 1.78 assist-to-turnover ratio (57 assists, 32 turnovers), ranking him fourth in the Horizon League this season.

VIKINGS DEVELOP AN INSIDE PRESENCE: An area where the Vikings have been more efficient this year has been in the paint. Five CSU players have seen time in the post this season (Westley, Tatham, McGee, Henderson & Koundoul, combining to average 32.8 points and shoot .510 from the field (214-419). Last year, Viking post players averaged 29.0 points but managed just .440 shooting (305-693).

TRYING TO DOUBLE UP: With seven victories this season, the Vikings will be trying to double their win total from the 2003-04 season when they host Detroit on Saturday.

WINNING BIG: The 20-point victory margin against Butler on Jan. 27 was the largest margin of victory for the Vikings against a conference opponent since an 81-60 win over Loyola on Jan. 31, 2002.

VIKINGS BACK AT FULL STRENGTH: Head coach Mike Garland has enjoyed the benefit of a healthy roster the last three games as Patrick Tatham and Victor Morris returned to the lineup last week. Garland has had a full compliment of players available only four times this year with CSU owning a 3-1 record in those games. Every CSU player was available for season opener against Hillsdale but Mike Redell missed the next two games with back spasms. Since that time, Raheem Moss (2 games), Tatham (7), Morris (1), Amadou Koundoul (2) and Frashon McGee (4) have each missed games because of injury.

. . . BUT CSU IS WAY AHEAD OF LAST YEAR: Although injuries have hurt CSU this year, it was decimated by them last year. The Vikings had a full compliment of players in only four of their 29 games, with players missing a total of 43 games.

STARTING EARLY: Since the spring semester at Cleveland State started on Jan. 17, Mike Garland has changed the practice schedule of the Vikings around a bit, electing to hold practices at 6:30 a.m. early in the week. This is not the first time that CSU has practiced early in the morning. The Vikings routinely held weight room sessions during the preseason and off-season individual workouts before 8:00 a.m. so as not to conflict with class schedules.

STARTING EARLY, PART II: The Vikings started early on the court as well last week, scoring the first 16 points against Butler and opening an 11-2 lead in the win over Wright State.

WARMING UP FROM THE FIELD: One statistic that stood out in the Vikings' recent three-game winning streak was field goal shooting. CSU made 79 of its 154 field goal attempts during the stretch (.513) to improve its record to 4-1 this year in games in which the Vikings shoot .500 or better from the field.

. . . AND COLD-SHOOTING LEADS TO A LOSS: The Vikings struggled from the field in the loss to UW-Green Bay on Thursday, equalling a season-low for field goal percentage. CSU made just 20 of its 59 field goal attempts (.339), the exact same shooting figures as its previous low set at UW-Milwaukee on Jan. 20. The Vikings are just 3-10 when shooting less the .500.

TURNOVERS HAVE ALSO BEEN A TELL-TALE STAT: The other statistical trend that has been a constant this season has been turnovers margin. The Vikings are 6-2 in games in which they have committed fewer turnovers than there opponents this season and just 1-9 when making more turnovers.

WESTLEY HOLDS LEAGUE SCORING LEAD: After briefly losing the Horizon League scoring lead this week, Omari Westley used a 24-point effort against UW-Green Bay to take it back. Westley's 17.2 points a game this year are slightly ahead of UW-Milwaukee's Ed McCants, who is averaging 17.0 points a game. McCants' 24-point game at Wright State on Wednesday temporarily moved him ahead of Westley, who did not play until the next day. Westley was not ranked in the top 10 in the league in scoring until early January. His 38-point game at UW-Green Bay on Jan. 11 propelled him from sixth to first on the league scoring chart.

VIKINGS FINALLY RETURN HOME: After playing nine of their previous 10 games on the road over the last five weeks, the Vikings started an extended homestand in the Wolstein Center with three straight home games over the last two weeks. The loss to UW-Green Bay was the third of four straight home games and part of a stretch that will see CSU close the regular season with seven of its last 10 games at home. That is good news for Cleveland State, which is now 6-2 at home this year, including three league wins. CSU is outscoring its opponents by 12.4 points a game at home (74.4 to 62.0), owning a +4.4 rebound and +3.3 turnover margins.

OH MY!, OMARI: Omari Westley has never been better than when he poured in a career-high 38 points at UW-Green Bay on Jan. 11 to shatter his personal scoring best. He was 14-of-20 from the field and nine-of-11 from the line against the Phoenix, scoring 19 points in both the first and second halves. The scoring total was the sixth-highest single game total in CSU history and the most since Damon Stringer tallied 47 points at UW-Milwaukee on Jan. 29, 2000. Westley is tied with UW-Milwaukee's Ed McCants for the highest single game total in the Horizon League this year (McCants scored 38 points against Detroit on Jan. 3).

CHAVIS PASSES REED, HOOD NEXT: A six assist performance against Wright State on Saturday allowed senior Walt Chavis to move past current CSU athletic director Lee Reed and into an eighth place on the CSU career assist chart. Reed accumulated 339 assists when he played for the Vikings from 1979-83. Chavis, who now has 346 assists, needs 50 assists to catch Shawn Hood (1983-87), who is seventh with 395 assists.

WESTLEY IS ON A ROLL: Omari Westley has been a dominant player at both ends of the court since Horizon League play began, averaging 20.0 points and 8.3 rebounds a game and shooting .570 from the field (68-121) in the 10 league contests. He has shot better than 55-percent in six of those games, including a 14-for-20 performance at UW-Green Bay on Jan. 11. He has raised his field goal percentage from .406 (41-101) after nine games to .505 (107-212) overall, ranking him seventh in the league this year.

. . . MORE ON THE ROLL: After leading the team in scoring in just one of the first six games (16 at Utah Valley State), the Dec. 29 game at North Carolina turned out to be an awakening for Omari Westley as he scored a then-season high 18 points against the fourth-ranked Tar Heels. In the 11 games since (counting UNC), he has averaged 19.8 points, leading the team in scoring in all but two games. He went from averaging 14.0 points after seven games to 17.2 points heading into this weekend.

WESTLEY PASSES HIS BOARDS: Omari Westley is well on his way to claiming his second straight Horizon League rebounding title as the senior is more than two rebounds a game ahead of his closest competitor. Westley, who has grabbed 10 or more rebounds seven times this season, is averaging 8.5 rebounds a game, putting him well ahead of second place Adrian Tigert from UW-Milwaukee, who is averaging 6.9 rebounds a game. To put the the margin into better perspective, Westley has grabbed 12 more rebounds than Tigert despite playing three less games. Westley also leads the league with 3.8 offensive rebounds a game. He led the league in both offensive (3.1) and total rebounds (8.6) a year ago.

. . . WESTLEY LOVES THE DOUBLE-DOUBLE: Omari Westley has made a habit of turning in double-double performances -- double figure totals in points and rebounds -- during his career. He has seven of them in 18 games this year, to easily lead the Horizon League. In fact, only UW-Green Bay's Javier Mendiburu (4) has more than two double-doubles. In 46 career games, Westley has 15 double-doubles.

WESTLEY FROM THE LINE: With seven or more free throw attempts in nine of the last 10 games, Omari Westley has regained the Horizon League lead for free throws attempted. Westley, who ranked third with 175 attempted free throws last year, has gone to the line 136 times in 18 games this year (7.6 per game). He and Wright State's DaShaun Wood (114 attempts) are the only players to attempt more than 100 free throws this season. Westley has attempted 10 or more free throws in a game eight times during his career, including four this season.

THE STARTING LINEUP SHUFFLE: In an effort to find a combination that will get the Vikings started quickly, CSU head coach Mike Garland has used nine different starting lineups in the 17 games this year. The Vikings used the same starting combo in three of the first four games (Chavis, Morris, Moss, Westley & Tatham) with the lone change coming in the Norfolk State game when Raheem Moss came off the bench after being sick for several days before the game. The lineup has changed often since then as Moss, Patrick Tatham and Frashon McGee have each been sidelined with injuries. Ten of the 11 Vikings regulars have started a game this year with Amadou Koundoul the lone player kept out of the starting lineup. Last year, CSU used 10 different starting lineups in 29 games.

A TURNAROUND FROM THE LINE: The last 15 games have seen the Vikings correct one of its Achilles Heels from a year ago. . . free throw shooting. Cleveland State, which ranked last in the Horizon League a year ago with a .646 team free throw percentage (411-636), started off the year shooting .609 from the stripe in its first three games (42-69). The Vikings have found their range since then, going 218-of-297 (.734) to move from ninth to third in the league standings with a .710 mark (260-366). CSU set season highs for free throws made (24) and free throw percentage (.857) against Youngstown State on Jan. 8. No player has exemplified the improvement better than Justin Henderson, who was three-of-nine in the first three games but has gone 19 of 24 since (.792). Mike Redell leads the team and ranks fourth in the Horizon League with an .810 percentage (34-42). As a team, seven of the 11 players who have attempted free throws this year are shooting .700 or better.

. . . BUT THE VIKES COULD USE BETTER FREE THROW DEFENSE: Viking opponents have set a blistering pace from the free throw line this year, making 72 percent of their charity tosses, slightly ahead of the school season record. In 18 games, CSU opponents have made 277 of 384 free throws (.721) with 10 opponents shooting better than .750. CSU's opponents have cooled off recently, making 92-of-136 (.676) over the last seven games. Eastern Michigan was the best foul-shooting team against CSU this year, making 33-of-38 (.868) on Dec. 23. The Viking school record for best free throw percentage by opponents during a season is .718 (443-617), set in 1989-90.

. . . ESPECIALLY DOWN THE STRETCH: Viking opponents have been even better from the foul line late in games, making 85 of their 107 free throw attempts (.794) in the last five minutes of games. The breakdown is an interesting one as CSU opponents are just 12-of-19 (.632) in the seven Viking wins and 73-88 (.830) in the 11 losses. Loyola (13-14, .929) was the best from the foul line in the final five minutes with Wright State (7-8, .875), Utah Valley State (7-8, .875) and Eastern Michigan (12-14, .857) also turning in strong efforts. UIC, which was just 7-17 (.412) from the stripe in the first 35 minutes, made seven-of-eight in the final five minutes. After shooting just .606 (20-33) from the line in the final five minutes of the first eight games, the Vikings have warmed up, going 33-of-39 (.846) from the line over the last 10 games.

REDELL WARMS TO THE STARTING ROLE: Since being inserted into the starting lineup against North Carolina on Dec. 30, freshman guard Mike Redell has really excelled in his 10 starts. He has averaged 7.3 points, 3.0 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game, scoring in double figures three times. His first start came in front of 18,537 fans against the fourth-ranked Tar Heels and he responded by setting then-career highs for assists (4), rebounds (5) and minutes played (24). In his second start at Wright State on Jan. 6, he made five-of-nine three-pointers to score a career-high 15 points and then followed that up with 10 points, six assists and five rebounds against Youngstown State on Jan. 8.

LOOKING AHEAD: The Vikings head back out on the road, playing at Butler on Feb. 10 before returning home for a Feb. 12 contest with UIC.