Feb. 18, 2005

Contact: Brian McCann

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GAME 23
Cleveland State (9-13) at Central Michigan (8-15)
Date: Saturday, Feb. 19, 2005
Time: 2:00 p.m. EST
Site: Rose Arena (5,200), Mount Pleasant, Mich.
TV: None
Radio: WKNR, 850 AM (Frank DeMarco)
Series: CMU Leads, 2-1
Last Mtg.: CMU 82, CSU 77, Jan. 13, 1988, Mount Pleasant, MI

SETTING THE SCENE: The Vikings take a break from the race for a conference tournament first round home game when CSU travels to Mount Pleasant, Mich. to face Central Michigan on Saturday (Feb. 19) as part of the ESPN Bracket Buster pool games schedule. The game will begin at 2:00 p.m. EST in Rose Arena on the CMU campus. The Vikings dropped to 9-13 on the year after losing at Detroit, 67-52, on Wednesday night. Central Michigan (8-15) ended an eight-game losing streak with an 84-74 win over Western Michigan on Tuesday night.

PREVIEWING CENTRAL MICHIGAN: Two years removed from advancing to the second round of the 2003 NCAA Tournament, Central Michigan has fallen on some hard times, entering Saturday's matchup with a 8-15 overall record, including losses in 11 of its last 13 games. Junior guard Kevin Nelson, one of just two CMU returning starters, is averaging 18.1 points to lead the Mid-American Conference in scoring. He ranks among the top 10 nationally with 69 three-pointers this year, shooting .431 from beyond the arc (69-160). Freshman guard Giordan Watson (10.8 ppg, 3.6 apg) is the only player to start every game, with 11 of the 12 players having started at least one game this year. Sohomore forward Sefton Barrett is averaging 10.1 points a game but has played in just 14 games.

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.

Mike Garland SHOW: The weekly Mike Garland Radio Show is held from 7:00-8:00 p.m. every Monday night through the end of the regular season. The one-hour call-in show airs on WKNR, 850-AM with Jason Gibbs serving as the host for the second straight year.

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.

TRACKING THE BRACKET: Cleveland State's chances of hosting a first round Horizon League Championship on March 1 took a big hit earlier this week when the Vikings lost at Detroit and Loyola won at UIC. With a 6-8 league mark and games with Loyola (Feb. 23) and UW-Milwaukee (Feb. 26) remaining, CSU will most likely be the No. 7 seed, which would play at the No. 6 seed in the opening round of the tourney. There are several scenarios for the Vikings to get a No. 6 seed and a first round home game. They are:

• CSU must wins both games to finish 8-8 and in the process, give Loyola its ninth loss, moving past them in the standings. If this happens, the Vikings could be be seeded as high as sixth if Detroit also goes 0-2 this week.

• If CSU loses to Loyola and defeats UW-Milwaukee, then the Vikings would need Wright State to lose both games next week. CSU would be tied with the Raiders with a 7-9 record and have the tiebreaker by virtue of the win over UWM.

• If CSU defeats Loyola and loses to UW-Milwaukee, then Butler must win games against Youngstown State & UIC, putting CSU, Loyola and Butler in a three-way tie. CSU would claim the No. 6 seed because it was 3-1 against the teams.

VIKINGS DON'T FARE WELL IN TIEBREAKERS: Without a win over UW-Milwaukee next week, the Vikings will not win a tiebreaker with any of the four teams they are battling for the final first round home game. The tiebreaker problems exist because CSU has lost all three games to date against UW-Milwaukee and UW-Green Bay, the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds, respectively.

Opponent: Reason CSU can't win a tiebreaker
UIC: CSU went 0-2 vs. Flames during regular season
Detroit: Detroit split with UW-Milwaukee this year. CSU was 0-2.
Wright St.: WSU split with UW-Green Bay. CSU was 0-2.
Loyola (If CSU wins): Loyola split with UW-Green Bay. CSU was 0-2.
Loyola (If CSU loses): Loyola swept regular season games with Vikings.

. . . AND THE REST OF THE BRACKET PICTURE: The rest of the playoff picture is almost set. UW-Milwaukee (13-2) and UW-Green Bay (10-4) will be the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds, respectively and Youngstown State (2-12) will be the No. 9 seed. Any combination of one CSU win or one Butler loss next week will make the Bulldogs the No. 8 seed. The remaining five teams are separated by just one game in the loss column with the team finishing third receiving a first round bye and the teams seeded fourth through sixth claiming home first round games. Here is a look at the remaining schedules for the teams vying for a first round tournament bye or home game:

Pl. School (Record): Remaining League Games
3. UIC (7-7): Wright St. (Feb. 23), at Butler (Feb. 26)
4. Detroit (7-7): at UW-Green Bay (Feb. 23), Youngstown St. (Feb. 26)
5. Wright St. (7-7): at UIC (Feb. 23), UW-Green Bay (Feb. 26)
6. Loyola (7-8): at CSU (Feb. 23)
7. CSU (6-8): Loyola (Feb. 23), UW-Milwaukee (Feb. 26)

A RETURN HOME FOR CSU'S MICHIGANDERS: Two Viking players along with head coach Mike Garland will be returning home when the Vikings play two games in Michigan this week. Sophomore Victor Morris is from Inkster, Mich., which is a suburb of Detroit while freshman guard Mike Redell hails from Rockford, Mich., which is located about 40 miles southwest of Mt. Pleasant . Garland was born and raised in Ypsilanti, Mich., which is about 35 miles outside of Detroit, attending high school in nearby Belleville, Mich. He began his coaching career at Belleville High in 1987, remaining at the school until leaving for Michigan State in 1996.

TATHAM TO FACE AN OLD TEAMMATE: Please excuse Patrick Tatham if he is especially looking forward to the Central Michigan game. After all, he will be lining up against Chippewa forward Sefton Barrett, who was a teammate of Tatham's for one year (2001-02) at Chinguacousy Secondary School in Brampton, Ont. Tatham, a junior at the time, averaged 25.1 points and 12.3 rebounds that year but Barrett, a senior, earned team MVP honors. Barrett went on to play at Champlain Regional College the following year before joining Central Michigan for the 2003-04 season.

MOSS DELIVERS FROM LONG RANGE: With seven straight games of multiple three-point field goals, sophomore Raheem Moss has moved up to third in the Horizon League in three-point field goals made, averaging 2.6 per game. Moss, who is 52-of-129 from three-point this year (.403) needs just nine more treys this year to break into the CSU single season top 10 and 19 to break the school season record of 70 three-pointers held by Theo Dixon (2000-01) and Damon Stringer (1999-2000).

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 16.9 points and 8.3 rebounds, has a comfortable lead on the rebounding chart but is trails UW-Milwaukee's Ed McCants (17.2) 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.

RECORD-SETTING COMEBACK VS. DETROIT: The win over Detroit on Feb. 5 set a couple of Cleveland State records for largest deficits overcome. The 24-point comeback -- CSU trailed 47-23 -- was the largest deficit overcome in school history, topping the rallies from 19 points down to defeat UW-Milwaukee (1/29/00) and Middle Tennessee State (12/21/93). CSU also set the record for the largest halftime deficit overcome. The Vikings trailed the Titans, 44-23 at the half, breaking the old school record of 15 points set when CSU rallied for a 71-55 win at Northern Illinois on Feb. 1, 1992.

WELCOME BACK PATRICK: Sophomore center Patrick Tatham celebrated his return to the starting lineup by scoring a career-high 20 points at Butler last week, going nine-of-14 from the field with a career-best two three-pointers. It was his first start since he went down with an ankle sprain on Jan. 3, causing him to miss seven games.

VIKINGS GET THE POINT. . . BOTH OF THEM: One of the reasons for the recent success of the Vikings has been the play of point guards Walt Chavis and Mike Redell. Early in the season, you rarely saw both players on the court at the same time, but that changed after the holiday break when Redell broke into the starting lineup and Chavis started seeing playing time at the off-guard. Chavis leads the Horizon League in steals (47), is second in assists (4.1) and fourth with a 1.75 assist-to-turnover ratio (89 assists, 51 turnovers). Redell, who is third in the league with a 1.83 assist-to-turnover ratio (73-40) and fifth in assists (3.7), has played even better in league play, ranking second in assists (4.1) and third in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.15). The duo have started the last nine games together with CSU going 5-4 over that span.

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 32.5 points and shoot .501 from the field (254-507). Last year, Viking post players averaged 29.0 points but managed just .440 shooting (305-693).

DOUBLING UP: With three games remaining in the regular season, the Vikings have already more than doubled their win total from the entire 2003-04 season. CSU enters the Central Michigan game with a 9-13 record, which is quite an improvement on the 4-25 mark of a year ago. The school record is an eight win improvement, that coming when CSU won 21 games in 1984-85 and 29 the following year.

VIKINGS PLAY BETTER AT FULL STRENGTH: When sophomore Victor Morris was sidelined for the UIC game with an ankle sprain, it snapped a streak of five straight games during which head coach Mike Garland had his entire roster available to him. Garland has only had his full team available six times this year with CSU owning a 5-1 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 (2), Amadou Koundoul (2) and Frashon McGee (4) have each missed games because of injury.

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.

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 14 starts. He has averaged 6.8 points, 3.0 rebounds and 4.3 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.

TURNOVERS HAVE BEEN A TELL-TALE STAT: The other statistical trend that has been a constant this season has been turnover margin. The Vikings are 7-3 in games in which they commit the same number or fewer turnovers and just 1-10 when making more turnovers. CSU averages 12.9 turnovers in its nine wins and 18.5 miscues in its 13 losses.

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).

TATHAM IMPROVES OFFENSIVE PLAY: No Viking player has shown greater improvement this year than Patrick Tatham, whose offensive advances since his freshman season have been nothing short of incredible. Playing most of the season with a knee that eventually needed surgery, Tatham averaged 3.8 points and shot .293 from the field (29-99). He has increased those numbers this season, shooting .470 from the field (55-117) to average 9.1 points a game.

WESTLEY FROM THE LINE: Omari Westley continues to lead all Horizon League players in free throw attempts, going to the line 178 times in 22 games (8.1 per game). Westley, who ranked third with 175 attempted free throws last year, has attempted eight or more free throws in eight of the last nine games, including a season-high 16 free throw attempts against Detroit on Feb. 5. Westley is one of only three Horizon League players that have attempted 100 free throws this year with Wright State's DaShaun Wood second with 133 attempts. Westley has attempted 10 or more free throws in a game 10 times during his career, including six this season.

. . . AND WESTLEY ON THE FREE THROW LIST: Omari Westley enters the Central Michigan game with 178 free throw attempts this season, the eighth-highest single season total in CSU history. He needs four attempts to move into seventh (181 by Sam Mitchell in 1992-93), seven to move in sixth place (184, Dave Youdath, 1983-84), eight for fifth place (185, Dan Lee, 1971-72) and 20 for fourth place (197, Clinton Ransey, 1984-85).

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 11 different starting lineups in the 22 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 changed seven times over the next 10 games as Moss, Patrick Tatham and Frashon McGee each missed time with injuries. The 10th lineup came on Feb. 10 at Butler when Tatham returned to the lineup for the first time in 12 games after spraining his ankle in early January and it was followed by the 11th lineup at Detroit when McGee started in place of Westley. 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.

LOOKING AHEAD: The Vikings return home to close the regular season with games against Loyola (Feb. 23) and UW-Milwaukee (Feb. 26).