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Vikings Host Wright State In A Battle For Second Place
Feb. 5, 2008
Complete Release in PDF Format
Contact: Brian McCann
GAME 24 SETTING THE SCENE: Cleveland State will attempt to snap a season-high four-game losing streak when the Vikings return home for the first time in three weeks, starting a three-games in five days stretch in the Wolstein Center. CSU opens the home stand against Wright State on Thursday, Feb. 7 beginning at 7:30 p.m. The contest is a doubleheader with the women's team hosting Milwaukee at 5:00 p.m. Cleveland State (14-9, 7-4) enters the week in a second place tie with Wright State (14-6, 7-4) in the Horizon League standings. PREVIEWING CLEVELAND STATE: The Vikings are a totally different team from the one that went 10-21 a season ago. With five returners and 10 newcomers on the squad, second year head coach Gary Waters has depth available at every position on the floor. Junior forward J'Nathan Bullock (13.4 ppg, 6.2 rpg) leads the returners after becoming only the third player in CSU history to lead the team in scoring as both a freshman and sophomore. All five returners figure prominently in the rotation this season with senior Breyohn Watson (4.8, 2.0) and sophomore Joe Davis (9.5 ppg) sharing time at the off-guard and senior Kevin Francis (5.1, 4.6) and junior Renard Fields (2.3, 1.9) seeing time inside. The Vikings have benefited from the addition of transfers Cedric Jackson (St. John's), Chris Moore (UC Santa Barbara) and George Tandy (Eastern Illinois). Jackson (14.4, 4.7, 4.8 apg) starts at point guard with Moore (6.2, 3.5) starting at center and Tandy (4.8, 4.8) at forward. Freshmen D'Aundray Brown (5.0, 3.3) and Norris Cole (3.9 ppg) have impacted the rotation. HEAD COACH Gary Waters: A 33-year collegiate coaching veteran, Gary Waters took over as the head coach of the Vikings in the spring of 2006, bringing with him to Cleveland a head coaching history that included six trips to the postseason in his first 10 years as a head coach. He posted a 92-60 record in five seasons at Kent State, making NCAA appearances in both 1998-99 and 2000-01 and becoming the third coach in Mid-American Conference history to be named league coach of the year in successive years. Waters moved to Rutgers in 2001-02, compiling a 79-75 mark in five seasons, including three trips to the NIT. Waters is 24-30 in his second season at CSU, giving him a 195-165 record in 12 seasons. DOUBLE THE PLEASURE, DOUBLE THE FUN: The success of the Vikings at home this year has not just been limited to the men's team as the women's squad is also enjoying a strong year on its home court. In fact, when the men beat Valparaiso and the women upended Wright State on Jan. 19, it marked the school record fourth consecutive doubleheader sweep by the Vikings. The last two doubleheaders of the regular season are set for this week. On Thursday (Feb. 7), the men play Wright State while the women face Milwaukee. On Saturday (Feb. 9), the women host Green Bay while the men play Detroit. VIKINGS DRAW MARIST IN ESPNU BRACKETBUSTERS: Cleveland State will host Marist College of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference on Saturday, Feb. 23 as part of the ESPNU BracketBusters. The game was selected as one of the 14 TV games and will be broadcast nationally on one of the ESPN channels. Game time and broadcast outlet will be released on Monday, Feb. 11. This will be the second meeting all-time between CSU and Marist with the Vikings claiming a 52-49 decision on Jan. 20, 1987 at the Meadowlands in East Rutherford, N.J. It was a triumphant return for CSU to the building that had seen the Vikings fall to Navy in the NCAA Sweet 16 round the year before. CSU won despite a 22-point, 10-rebound effort from Marist's Rick Smits. THERE IS SOMETHING ABOUT THE WOLSTEIN CENTER: The Vikings have shot the lights out in the Wolstein Center of late, surpassing the .500 mark in three of their last seven games. CSU is 185-of-365 from the field during the span (.507). The stretch started with a .560 effort vs. Geneva (42-75) and was followed by a .646 mark vs. Youngstown State on Dec. 8. In the Dec. 22 game vs. Central Michigan, the Vikings were 25-for-47 (.532). The Youngstown State game was the 10th best single game effort in school history and the best shooting performance by a CSU team since a .650 effort (26-40) against Green Bay on Jan. 18, 1993. VIKINGS DROP OUT OF MID-MAJOR POLL: One side affect of the curent Viking losing streak is that CSU dropped out of this week's Mid-Major Top 25, which was released on Monday (Feb. 4). The Vikings, who were ranked 16th last week and had risen as high as 12th (Jan. 21), received just 36 votes to drop to 26th in the voting. Morgan State (12-8) grabbed the final spot in the poll with 39 votes. CSU had received 405 votes last week. Butler takes over first place this week after one week at No. 2, receiving 15 first place votes and 753 points. Gonzaga is second with 10 first place votes and 748 points. The poll, which is sponsored by TheCollegeInsider.com, is released every Monday afternoon through the end of the regular season. JACKSON IS A STEAL: Junior Cedric Jackson is on the verge of becoming the first Viking in 18 years to break into the single season top 10 list for steals. With 60 steals, Jackson needs just three more to catch Franklin Edwards for 10th place. Edwards had 63 steals in 1980-81. . . . JACKSON MAKES HIS MARK NATIONALLY: Not only does Cedric Jackson lead the Horizon League in steals, but the latest NCAA statistics has him ranked 10th nationally. DAVIS HAS CAREER NIGHT: The loss at UIC on Thursday (Jan. 31) spoiled a career night from sophomore Joe Davis, who came off the bench to set career highs for points (27) and assists (5). Davis, whose previous career best was a 20-point effort against Geneva, was 10-for-16 from the field and four-for-seven from three-point. TANDY SWATS HIS 100TH: Junior George Tandy has seven blocked shots in the last four games to raise his career total to 105. The 6-8 junior ranks second in the Horizon League this year with 34 blocks (1.55 bpg), having nine multiple block games. Tandy had 42 blocks as a freshman (2004-05) at Eastern Illinois and added 29 the following year before transferring to CSU. . . . AND CLOSES IN ON CSU TOP 10: With 34 blocked shots this season, George Tandy is just two rejections away from breaking into the CSU single season list for blocks. Tandy needs just two blocks to catch Shawn Fergus, who is currently in 10th place with 36 blocks. VIKINGS REBOUND TO REBOUND: It has been six seasons since Cleveland State finished the year with a positive rebounding margin, but based on the rebounding performance of the Vikings, the streak may well come to an end this year. In 23 games, CSU has averaged 35.9 rebounds a game while limiting its opponents to 32.5 boards to lead the Horizon League with a +3.4 rebounding margin. The Vikings have out-rebounded their opponent in all but six games. The last time that CSU was able to hold the rebounding edge for an entire season came in 2000-01 when the Vikings had a +3.1 rebounding margin. . . . BUT NOT LAST THE LAST TWO WEEKS: The Viking struggles on the road the last two weeks were epitomized by their inability to rebound the basketball, losing the battle of the boards by decisive margins in three of the four games. Green Bay claimed a 45-40 edge on the glass on Jan. 24, using them to out-score CSU in second chance points 17-13. The Jan. 26 Milwaukee contest saw the Vikings out-boarded, 43-34, with the -9 margin being the worst of the season for CSU. The rebounding was a draw at UIC on Thursday (Jan. 31) with each team grabbing 34 boards but Loyola followed on Saturday (Feb. 2) with a 32-26 edge.In the four games, CSU was out-rebounded by an average of 5.0 boards a game. . . . FROM WORST TO FIRST, A LEAGUE FIRST: Not only are the Vikings near the top of the Horizon League after finishing in last place a year ago, but CSU is also attempting to become the first team in league history to go from last in rebounding margin in one year to first the next. The Vikings were out-rebounded 33.1 to 36.6 last year for a -3.5 margin. . . . BUT DO THEY HAVE TO BE SO OFFENSIVE ABOUT IT? Part of the reason for CSU's success on the boards this season has come at the offensive end of the floor where the Vikings lead the Horizon League with an average of 13.09 offensive rebounds a game. CSU has three of the top 14 individuals in offensive rebounds with J'Nathan Bullock (2.35) and Kevin Francis (2.04), ranking third and seventh, respectively, while George Tandy is 15th with 1.73 offensive rebounds a game. FINALLY: The win over 12th-ranked Butler on Jan. 17 marked only the second time in school history that the Vikings defeated a ranked opponent and the first during the regular season and the first at home. The only other time that CSU knocked off a ranked team came on March 14, 1986 when it upset 14th-ranked Indiana, 83-79, in an NCAA first round game at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse, N.Y. The Butler win improved CSU to 2-26 all-time against ranked opponents, snapping a 19-game losing streak. BIG CROWDS: The 5,352 fans that attended the Jan. 17 Butler game marked the largest crowd in the Wolstein Center since the curtain was added four years ago on the west side to trim the capacity of the building to approximately 8,500. The last time CSU had a larger crowd in the Wolstein Center came on Nov. 29, 2003 when 11,534 saw the Vikings drop an 82-76 decision to North Carolina. CSU HAS BLOWN PAST LAST YEAR'S RECORD: With a 14-9 overall and 7-4 league record, Cleveland State has significantly improved its record from a season ago. The Vikings enter the week with four more overall and league wins then CSU posted during all of last season. Cleveland State was 10-21 overall and 3-13 in the Horizon League a year ago. THE BENCH SHINES: Cleveland State continues to get a big boost from its second unit as the Viking bench is averaging 24.7 points per game. CSU has held the edge in bench points in 15 of the last 19 games, posting 20 points or more in 13 of the last 16 games. Joe Davis leads the bench bunch with a 9.5 scoring average while Kevin Francis (5.1), D'Aundray Brown (5.0 ppg) and Norris Cole (4.0) round out the scoring. BULLOCK MAKES 58TH CONSECUTIVE START: J'Nathan Bullock enters the week as one of 12 Viking players who have started 50 consecutive games in their career. Bullock, who earned the honor when he started against UIC on Jan. 5, enters the week ranked ninth on the list with 58 straight starts. He needs one more start to catch Gravelle Craig (1990-93), who made 59 straight starts. If Bullock stays healthy, he could catch record-holder Ken McFadden (1985-89), who started 86 straight games, early next year. BULLOCK EARNS CSU ATHLETE-OF-THE-MONTH HONORS: Junior J'Nathan Bullock has been named the Cleveland State Male Athlete of the Month for December, marking the second time in his career that he received the honor. A native of Flint, Mich., Bullock led CSU to its second consecutive winning month (4-2) by averaging 13.2 points, 4.5 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game. He shot .469 (23-49) from the floor, including .462 (6-13) from three-point, while also making 27-of-32 (.844) free throws. Bullock started the month with a 13-point, seven-rebound effort against Geneva before scoring 14 points with four rebounds in a win at Chicago State. He also tallied a team-high 16 points in a loss to Ohio State and a game-high 19 points, including 16 in the second half, in a win over Central Michigan. VIKINGS POST THIRD CONSECUTIVE WINNING MONTH: Despite losing their last three games, the Vikings finished the month of January with a 6-3 record. It allowed CSU to post its third consecutive winning month for the first time since the Vikings put together six consecutive wining months between February, 1992 and March, 1993. CSU went 4-3 in November, 4-2 in December and 6-3 in January this year. . . . BUT ARE 0-1 IN FEBRUARY: The loss at Loyola on Saturday may have been a bad omen as the Vikings lost the first game of the month for the first time this season. CSU previously won the first game in November (at USF), December (Geneva) and January (Loyola) en route to three straight winning months. VIKINGS RANK SECOND IN FIELD GOAL DEFENSE: Gary Waters said during the preseason that in order to achieve success this year, the Vikings were going to have to apply more defensive pressure. The Vikings obviously have paid attention to those words as Cleveland State is second in the Horizon League in field goal defense. CSU opponents have shot .419 from the field this year (504-1,204), which is slightly behind Valparaiso, who is allowing just .416 shooting. CSU has held 10 opponents under 40-percent from the field this year with the .286 effort by UIC on Jan. 5 being the lowest by an opponent this year. THREE-POINT DEFENSE: The Viking perimeter defense has been outstanding in the 10 league games to date as CSU leads the league in three-point field goal defense in conference games. In the 11 games, Viking opponents have shot .275 from behind the arc, making 47 of their 171 three-point attempts. The percentage is 45 points ahead of second-place Green Bay, who has allowed .320 shooting, and the 47 treys allowed is the fewest in the league, four less than the 51 allowed by Butler (which has played one less game than CSU) and 17 less than third place Milwaukee. GOING FOR A RARE DOUBLE: Junior Cedric Jackson, who leads the Horizon League in steals (2.61) and is second in assists (4.83), is attempting to become just the fifth player in league history to accomplish the feat. Jackson's 2.61 steals per game is significantly ahead of Green Bay's Terry Evans (1.86) while his assist total is slightly behind Butler's Mike Green (4.86). Jackson is attempting to join Loyola's Darius Clemens (1980-81) and Earl Brown (1997-98), Detroit's Roy Simms (1982-83) and LaSalle's Paul Burke (1993-94). BULLOCK PASSES 1,000 POINT MARK: An 11-point effort in the win over Valparaiso on Jan. 19 allowed junior J'Nathan Bullock to become the 17th player in school history to score 1,000 points in a career. Bullock went over the mark when he scored on a three-point play with 9:39 left. He is the first Viking to accomplish the feat since Jermaine Robinson ended his career in 2003-04 with 1,408 points. Bullock enters the week ranking 15th with 1,044 career points, needing 80 points to pass Anthony Reed (1,123 points from 1990-93) and move into 14th place. . . . AND BREAKS INTO FREE THROW TOP 10: J'Nathan Bullock is also making his mark on the free throw charts, entering the week ranked seventh in school history for both free throws made (303) and attempted (418). He needs 20 more free throws made and 52 more attempts to move up into sixth place. BULLOCK'S FREE THROW IMPROVEMENT CONTINUES: J'Nathan Bullock continues to show improvement at the foul line, going 92-for-109 this season to improve his career free throw percentage to .723 (303-418). He struggled from the line as a freshman, making only 83-of-139 (.597), including just .511 (47-92) in the first 22 games. Bullock improved to .748 last year (122-163) and is third in the Horizon League in free throw percentage (.845) this season. MOORE ENJOYS PLAYING WITH BLOCKS: Junior Chris Moore has added a weapon to his defensive arsenal this year, entering the week ranking fifth in the Horizon League with 26 blocked shots this season. That is quite a total, especially when you consider that in two seasons at UC Santa Barbara, Moore blocked just seven shots (in 30 games). NEXT UP: The Vikings remain at home to host Detroit on Saturday (Feb. 9) beginning at 5:30 p.m. in the Wolstein Center. The game will be televised regionally on SportsTime Ohio.
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