Feb. 24, 2012
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Game 31
Wright State (13-17, 7-10 HL) at Cleveland State (21-9, 11-6 HL)
Date: Saturday, February 25, 2012
Time: 2:00 p.m. EST
Location: Wolstein Center (8,500) - Cleveland, Ohio
Radio: WHKW 1220 AM (Cleveland) & WHKZ, 1440 AM (Warren) (Al Pawlowski)
TV: None Live. Video stream available on Horizon League Network and CSUVikings.com
Series: CSU leads, 29-27
Last Mt'g: CSU 45 @WSU 43 (12/1/11)
Tickets: $10, $15, $25
Promos: Family Value Saturday; Kids Zone; $1 hot dogs; Fan Appreciation Day
SETTING THE SCENE: Cleveland State plays host to Wright State on Saturday (Feb. 25) at 2:00 p.m. in the final regular season contest. The Vikings snapped a five-game losing streak with a 77-64 win over Detroit on Thursday night, outscoring the Titans by 19 points in the second half. It helped the Vikings improve to 21-9 overall and 11-6 in the Horizon League, tied for second place with Butler, who plays at Valparaiso on Friday. Wright State is 13-17 overall and 7-10 in league play. Saturday's game will be the 57th meeting between the two schools with CSU holding a 29-27 lead. CSU has won five straight and six of the last seven, including a 45-43 win in on Dec. 1.
ON THE ROAD: The Vikings have been proving their mettle away from home this season, posting a 12-5 record in those contests. CSU is 11-4 in "true" road games and 1-1 in neutral site contests. The 11 "true" road wins are tied for the most in the nation (Iona, Wagner), while CSU's 12 wins away from home are the third most in the country. The school-record for road wins in a season is 13, set in 2008-09. This year's 11 road victories rank second in school history, while CSU's .733 (11-4) road winning percentage is currently the best in school history.
VIKINGS GET 10 IN THE LEAGUE: CSU's two wins in Chicago (Feb. 3 &5) allowed the Vikings to clinch the fifth straight year of double digit wins in the Horizon League. It marks the first time in program history that the Vikings have won at least 10 league games in five straight seasons. The old mark was four straight, set from 1984-85 through 1987-88.
SENIOR DAY ON SATURDAY: Saturday's game is Senior Day with the four seniors and two senior managers on the roster being honored in a pre-game ceremony. Together, the quarter of seniors D'Aundray Brown, Trey Harmon, Jeremy Montgomery and Aaron Pogue have helped the program to a pair of Horizon League Championships (2009, 2011), a berth in the 2009 NCAA Championship and the 2011 NIT. Over the last four seasons, the Vikings have won 90 games. In addition, Javier Collins and Mychael White have been part of the program for the last four years and managers, assisting with behind the scene tasks on a day-to-day basis, which have helped the program achieve its successes.
NCAA STATS: CSU was well represented in the latest NCAA statistical report that was released on Monday (Feb. 19). As a team, CSU is ranked 16th in the country in scoring defense (59.1) and steals (8.6), 27th in turnover margin (3.0), 45th in three-point defense (.308), 56th in won-lost percentage (.714) and 65th in free throw percentage (.726). Individually, D'Aundray Brown is ninth in the nation in steals (2.6), while Trey Harmon is ranked 87th in the country in three-pointers per game (2.4).
20-20 VISION: CSU's win at UIC on Feb. 5 allowed the Vikings to clinch the ninth 20-win season in program history and the fourth in the last five seasons. Head coach Gary Waters claims four of the 20 win seasons in his six years at the helm. The 1985-86 Vikings set the record by winning 29 games, while last year's team won 27 games, second most in school history.
WHERE WE STAND: With one game left in the Horizon League season, the Vikings can finish anywhere from second to fourth. Here are the scenarios. (Note: Butler plays at Valparaiso on Friday night).
• Clinches No. 2 seed with win AND Butler loss.
• Clinches No. 2 seed with loss AND Butler loss AND Detroit win AND Milwaukee loss.
• Clinches No. 2 seed loss AND Butler loss AND Detroit win AND Milwaukee win.
• Clinches No. 3 seed with win AND Butler win.
• Clinches No. 3 seed with loss AND Butler win AND Detroit win AND Milwaukee loss.
• Clinches No. 3 seed with loss AND Butler win AND Detroit win AND Milwaukee win.
• Clinches No. 4 seed with loss AND Butler win AND Youngstown St. win AND Milwaukee loss.
• Clinches No. 4 seed with loss AND Butler win AND Youngtown State win AND Milwaukee win.
• Clinches No. 4 seed with loss AND Butler loss AND Youngstown St. win AND Milwuakee win.
IKE LIKES DETROIT: Ike Nwamu provided the Vikings with a spark off the bench in his 12 minutes against Detroit on Thursday night. Nwamu tied his career-high with eight points, hitting 3-of-5 from the field, including 2-of-4 from three-point. Nwamu also had eight points in CSU's win at Detroit (Dec. 3). Coming into Thursday night's game, Nwamu had scored just eight points over the previous 12 games.
MASON BREAKS OUT: Freshman Marlin Mason, who was a redshirt for the first 16 games of the season, had his breakout game on Thursday against Detroit. Making his second career start, Mason tallied career-highs in points (15) and rebounds (9), while adding two assists, one steal and one blocked shot. He played a career-high 32 minutes.
THE FRESHMEN HAVE IT: CSU's freshmen class played a key role in Thursday's victory over Detroit, combining for 37 points, 21 rebounds and nine assists. In fact, with several upperclassmen saddled with foul trouble and Jeremy Montgomery limited with cramps, head coach Gary Waters went with four freshmen - Charlie Lee, Ike Nwamu, Marlin Mason and Anton Grady - along with junior Tim Kamczyc, for a four minute stretch in the second half.
ALL HE DOES IS WIN: Jeremy Montgomery enters Saturday's game with 90 career wins, tied for the second most in program history with Norris Cole (2007-11). Montgomery is just one win shy of tying Ken McFadden (1985-89) for first place on the list with 91 career wins and two wins shy of becoming the all-time winningest player to play at Cleveland State.
10 WINS AT HOME: CSU enters the final regular season game with a 9-4 record at home, needing a win to clinch the 15th season of 10 or more wins at home in school history. In fact, it would be the Vikings' fifth straight year of 10 plus wins at home, tying a school record for most consecutive seasons with at least 10 home wins. CSU also accomplished the feat from the 1983-84 season through 1987-88.
TREY FOR THREE: With his three three-pointers at Green Bay on Tuesday, Trey Harmon became just the third player in CSU history to make 200 career three-pointers. Harmon, who is third on the all-time list at CSU with 203 three-pointers, joined James Madison (262) and teammate Jeremy Montgomery (205) as the only players in program history with 200 career trifectas.
... AND AT 68 THIS YEAR: Trey Harmon has hit 68 three-pointers this season, the highest single-season total in his career. His 68 trifectas are tied for the third most in a season in program history and just three shy of breaking the CSU mark of 70 held by Theo Dixon (2000-01) and Damon Stringer (1999-00).
GRADY NETS CAREER HIGH: Freshman Anton Grady scored a career-high 23 points on Tuesday at Green Bay, hitting 10-of-15 from the field. Grady, whose previous career-high was 18 points at Butler (Feb. 11), added eight rebounds, three assists and two steals. His 23-point effort was the most highest scoring output by a CSU freshman since J'Nathan Bullock had 25 against UIC (Feb. 22, 2006).
... AND CONTINUES STRONG PLAY: Anton Grady has emerged as a frontrunner for Horizon League Newcomer of the Year akkkkknd Sixth Man of the Year with his play. He is averaging 8.7 points, 6.3 rebounds (8th in league) and 1.4 blocked shots (5th in league), while ranking third in the league in field goal percentage (.559). Grady has upped those numbers to 10.4 points and 7.1 rebounds per game in Horizon League contests.
FROM REDSHIRT TO STARTER: Freshman Marlin Mason has had quite a six weeks. Slated to redshirt this year, Mason had it taken off when he was pressed into action due to injuries 15 games into the season. In the 15 games since, he has averaged 3.9 points and 2.7 rebounds per game and has been thrust into the starting lineup twice (Feb. 18 vs. Drexel and Feb. 23 vs. Detroit).
STARTING LINEUPS: When Marlin Mason started against Drexel (Feb. 18), he became the ninth different player to start a game for the Vikings this year. In fact, the combination of Jeremy Montgomery, Trey Harmon, Mason, Tim Kamczyc and Aaron Pogue was the fifth different starting lineup combination used by CSU this year. A season ago, the Vikings were one of just three Division I teams to use the same starting lineup for every game (Norris Cole, Montgomery, Harmon, Kamczyc and Pogue started all 36 games).
LINEUP AT GREEN BAY MAKES IT SIX: The Vikings used their sixth different starting lineup of the season on Tuesday night (Feb. 21) at Green Bay when Charlie Lee joined Jeremy Montgomery, Trey Harmon, Tim Kamczyc and Aaron Pogue in the lineup. It was Lee's second start of the season (Jan. 3 vs. UIC).
BETTER THAN 55 PERCENT: Tim Kamczyc and Anton Grady are both on pace to shoot better than 55-percent from the field this year. Kamczyc is shooting .580 (102-176), which is currently the third best percentage in school history, while Grady is at .559 (104-186), the seventh best percentage in CSU history. The duo would be the third set of teammates to shoot 55-percent or better from the field in the same season, joining Eric Mudd (.571) and Clinton Smith (.565) in 1985-86 and Darren Tillis (.568) and Mike Sweeney (.552) in 1980-81.
WATERS COACHES 500th GAME: Head coach Gary Waters coached his 500th career game on Feb. 3 at Loyola. The 16-year veteran is 291-213 overall as a head coach. He went 92-60 in five years at Kent State (2001-06), was 79-75 at Rutgers from 2001-06 and is 120-80 in six years at Cleveland State. He has led nine of his teams to postseason play.
... AND COACHES #200 AT CSU: Tuesday's contest was the 200th career game at Cleveland State for Gary Waters, allowing him to become the fourth coach in CSU history to coach 200 career games. Waters joined Ray Dieringer (360), Kevin Mackey (211) and Rollie Massimino (203) and has a 121-80 record at CSU, trailing only Dieringer (149) and Mackey (142) for most wins in school history.
FREE TOSSES: One quick look at CSU's statistics and you'll see the biggest difference is at the free throw line where CSU's opponents have made more free throws (478-of-723) than the Vikings have attempted (319-of-442). In fact, the Vikings have taken more free throws than their opposition in just three of 30 games this year, while opponents have taken at least 10 more free throws than CSU in 15 games.
KEEP `EM UNDER 50: The 70-42 win at UIC (Feb. 5) was the seventh time that CSU held a team under 50 points this year. UIC joined Rhode Island (45), Wright State (43), Sam Houston State (45), Loyola (48 and 47) and Youngstown State (47). The 1933-34, 1935-36 and 2008-09 teams share the school record, holding 11 opponents to 50 points or less. CSU is second in the league and 10th in the nation in scoring defense (58.7).
SIX IN DOUBLE DIGITS: CSU had six players score in double figures vs. Milwaukee (Jan. 22). Trey Harmon led the way with 15 points, while Tim Kamczyc, Jeremy Montgomery and Anton Grady all had 12 points. Aaron Pogue chipped in 11 and D'Aundray Brown had 10. It was the first time CSU had six players in double digits since a 113-61 win over Wilberforce on Dec. 12, 2009 (Cunningham, 18; Cole, 16; Ajere, 14; Montgomery, 12; Brown, 11; Harmon, 10).
DIALED IN FROM DISTANCE: Cleveland State has hit 198 three-pointers this year, tied for the third most in a season in program history. The Vikings are on pace to become just the third team in school history to hit 200 three-pointers in a season and would join the 2010-11 squad (237) and 2009-10 team (214) as the only teams with 200 three's in a season.
429 AND COUNTING: With seven three-pointers on Tuesday at Green Bay, the Vikings extended their school-record streak to 429 straight games with at least one three-pointer. CSU's last game without a three-pointer was on Feb. 21, 1998, when the Vikings went 0-for-8 in a 60-57 home win over Detroit.
ON THE MARK: CSU shot 25-of-37 (.676) from the field in the Feb. 3 win at Loyola, the third best field goal percentage in CSU history. The Vikings went 10-of-17 (.588) in the first half and 15-of-20 (.750) in the second half. The only times a CSU team shot better in a game both came in 1979. The Vikings went 37-of-54 (685) against George Mason on Feb. 5, 1979, and were 36-of-53 (.679) versus St. Francis (Pa.) on Feb. 1, 1979.
TAKING CARE OF THE BALL: CSU committed a season-low six turnovers in Saturday's (Feb. 18) game vs. Drexel, tied for the third fewest turnovers in a game in school history. The school-record for fewest turnovers in a game is four against South Florida (12/22/10). There have been five games in CSU history with five turnovers and six games with six miscues.
ON THE MARK PART 2: CSU's 12 missed shots at Loyola (Feb. 3), matched the fewest field goal misses by a Division I team this year. CSU was the third team to miss just 12 shots in a game this year, joining Norfolk State (Nov. 27) against Eastern Kentucky and Mercer versus Navy on Dec. 30. Of the three teams, CSU attempted the most field goals (37).
OH FOR THREE: CSU held Butler without a three-point field goal in the Feb. 11 loss (0-of-8). It was the 15th time in CSU history that a team failed to make a three-pointer against the Vikings, including the second time this year. CSU held Rhode Island without a three-pointer (0-8) on Nov. 26. Prior to this year, the last time the Vikings did not give up a three-pointer in a game was Dec. 17, 1996, against Youngstown State.
POGUE GRABS 500TH CAREER BOARD: With his three rebounds against Valparaiso on Feb. 9, Aaron Pogue became the 19th player in CSU history to grab 500 rebounds for a career. He enters Saturday's game with 527 career rebounds. Pogue is the second player to notch his 500th career rebound this year, joining D'Aundray Brown. It is the second time in program history that CSU had two players reach the milestone in the same season.
MONTGOMERY STREAK SNAPPED AT 22: When Jeremy Montgomery failed to make a three-pointer against Valparaiso (Feb. 9), it snapped his school-record streak of 22 straight games with a three-pointer. Montgomery went 0-for-4 from long distance in CSU's win over Rio Grande (Nov. 15), in the second game of the season, but hit at least one three-pointer in every game since, before missing all five of his attempts against the Crusaders.
A PERFECT 10: Anton Grady had quite a weekend (Feb. 3-5) from the field in Chicago as he did not miss a shot, going 10-for-10 in the wins at Loyola and UIC. Grady made all four of his shots at Loyola and all six at UIC. He became the second player from CSU to be perfect from the field in a weekend, joining Tim Kamczyc who went 8-for-8 in home wins over Green Bay (Jan. 20) and Milwaukee (Jan. 22). Kamczyc made all four of his shots in both games.
STRONG DEFENSE CONTINUES: Strong defense has always been a staple at CSU under head coach Gary Waters and this year has been no different. CSU is ranked first in the league in scoring margin (+6.3), steals (8.4) and scoring defense (59.6) and turnover margin (+2.9) and second in field goal defense (.412) and three-point field goal defense (.317) and The Vikings have held 22 of their 30 opponents to under 45-percent shooting from the field.
THIS `N THAT: Notes from the early part of the season...
• Trey Harmon was selected to the preseason All-Horizon League first team, while CSU was tabbed to finish third in the preseason poll.
• The Vikings won five straight games to open the season, the second best start in school history. Last year's squad holds the record with 12 straight wins.
• CSU's win at No. 7 Vanderbilt on Nov. 11 was the highest ranked opponent the Vikings have defeated in program history. It was the sixth top-25 team that CSU has defeated in program history with five of the wins under Gary Waters.
• The Vikings blocked 11 shots in a win over Rio Grande (Nov. 15), one shy of equaling the school record for most blocks in a game.
• Anton Grady had six blocks against Rio Grande, one shy of tying the CSU single game record of seven by three players and the most by a CSU freshman in a game.
• Aaron Pogue captured MVP honors of the Kingston, R.I., subregional of the Ticket City Legends Classic (Nov. 25-27) for his performance in CSU's three games. Pogue averaged 10.3 points and 6.3 rebounds to help the Vikings claim the title.
• Jeremy Montgomery dished out a career-high tying eight assists in a win at Rhode Island (Nov. 27). Charlie Lee had a career-high five assists in wins over UIC (Jan. 5) and Loyola (Jan. 7). Tim Kamczyc set a career-high with six assists against Youngstown State (Dec. 31).
• Freshman Anton Grady is the cousin of NBA player Earl Boykins. Both played high school basketball at Cleveland Central Catholic, while Boykins was a standout at Eastern Michigan when Gary Waters was an assistant coach.
• CSU went 6-1 in November this year and is a combined 14-1 during the last two November's. The Vikings were also 6-2 in December this year, improving their record to 12-3 over the last two December's.
• The Vikings had a 17 game win streak against schools in Ohio snapped with a 73-67 setback to Youngstown State (Dec. 31).
• CSU has had 11 different players hit a three-pointer this year, establishing a new season mark for players with a three-pointer. The previous mark was 10 players, accomplished three times, most recently in 2009-10.
• The trio of associate head coach Jayson Gee and assistant coaches Larry DeSimpelare and Jeremaine Kimbrough are in their sixth year serving for head coach Gary Waters on the Viking bench. Only the tandem of Mitch Buonaguro and Paul Molinari (1996-03) served longer as a unit.
• Sebastian Douglas will miss the remainder of the season after injuring his left knee in late December It is the same knee that Douglas injured in May of 2010. That injury forced him to redshirt in 2010-11.
• This is the 21st season of CSU playing in the Wolstein Center with the Vikings going 176-114, including winning records in 11 of the last 15 years.
FIVE OR LESS: The 71-67 loss at Green Bay (Feb. 21) marked the third time this year that CSU lost a game by five points or less, dropping the Vikings to 7-3 in those contests.The Vikings have won four games on their final offensive possession this season. They include...
• Trey Harmon hits a three-pointer with 2.8 seconds left in a 67-64 win over St. Bonaventure (Nov. 18).
• Jeremy Montgomery steals the inbounds pass and hits two free throws with 3.4 seconds to play in a 63-62 victory over Boston University (Nov. 25).
• D'Aundray Brown tips in a missed shot with 0.3 seconds left in a 45-43 win at Wright State (Dec. 1).
• Jeremy Montgomery hits a three-pointer with 21.2 seconds left to give the Vikings a 69-66 win over Akron.
A TURNOVER TALE: One area where the Vikings have been dominant this year is the turnover battle where CSU is second in the Horizon League and ranks 23rd in the nation with a +2.8 turnover margin. While CSU's turnovers are up from last year to 13.9 per game (CSU averaged 11.4 last year), the Vikings are turning teams over an average of 16.7 per game (14.7 last year), with opponents committing at least 20 turnovers in six games this year.
J-MO KEEPS PLAYING: When Jeremy Montgomery takes the floor on Saturday, he will be playing in his 137th straight game at CSU, second on the all-time list at CSU. Montgomery, who has never missed a game in his career, is slated to make his 87th straight start. With a minimum of two games left, Montgomery has a chance to break Norris Cole's school-record of 140 straight games played.
... SO DOES HARMON: Trey Harmon will take the floor for the 122nd time in his career on Saturday, tied for the third most games played in CSU history. He is just the eighth player in CSU history to play in 120 or more career games.
NO EXTRA TIME NEEDED: Thursday's game against Detroit extended CSU's school-record streak of consecutive games without an overtime contest to 165. The last time CSU played an overtime tilt was on Nov. 17, 2007 when CSU topped Florida State, 69-66, at the Glenn Wilkes Classic in Daytona Beach, Fla. CSU is 108-57 since.
DROPPING DIMES: The Vikings dished out a season-high 22 assists (on 33 field goals) in the Jan. 22 win over Milwaukee. It was the second time CSU had at least 20 assists this year, the first time coming when the Vikings notched 20 in a win at Detroit (Dec. 3). The Vikings rank second in the league and rank 53rd in the country with 13.8 assists per game.
UP NEXT: CSU begins play in the Horizon League Championship next week. The complete bracket will be announced after all league games on Saturday are concluded.
