Dec. 21, 2005

Contact: Brian McCann

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GAME 9
John Carroll (6-2) at Cleveland State (3-5)
Date: Thursday, December 22, 2005
Time: 7:30 p.m. EST
Site: Goodman Arena (8,500), The Wolstein Center, Cleveland, Ohio
Sponsor: WJW-TV, Fox 8
TV: None
Radio: WKNR, 850 AM (Al Pawlowski & Jason Gibbs)
Series: JCU Leads, 31-12
Last Meeting: CSU 88, JCU 43 (Nov. 28, 1984 at CSU)
Tickets: $8, $10 & $14

SETTING THE SCENE: Cleveland State plays its final game before a short holiday break when the Vikings host John Carroll on Thursday, Dec. 22 beginning at 7:30 p.m. in the Wolstein Center. The game is the first of three doubleheaders this season with the Viking women's basketball team facing Ohio University beginning at 5:00 p.m. Cleveland State enters the contest with a 3-5 record, snapping a three-game losing streak with a 70-69 overtime win over Utah Valley State on Tuesday night. John Carroll is 6-2 this year and has not played since dropping an 87-75 decision to Otterbein on Dec. 17.

PREVIEWING CLEVELAND STATE: In their the third season under head coach Mike Garland, the Vikings are a team that is trying to establish an identity for itself, using six different starting combinations during the first eight games. Two constants have been juniors Raheem Moss (11.6 ppg) and Patrick Tatham (9.8 ppg, 5.3 rpg). Moss, who earned second team preseason all-league honors, leads the team in scoring and is shooting .500 from three-point (18-36) while Tatham, the most experienced of the Vikings post players, has scored in double figures in four straight games. Freshman forward J'Nathan Bullock (10.3 ppg, 4.1 rpg) has emerged as one of the dominant players inside, ranking second on the team in scoring and starting the last six games. The tandem of junior college transfer Carlos English (7.8 ppg, 5.5 apg) and junior Victor Morris (8.3 ppg) have shared the point guard duties. Senior Frashon McGee (5.9 ppg, 4.6 rpg) and sophomore Luke Murphy (3.1 ppg, 2.8 rpg) have provided some depth inside. The Vikings have shot well from the perimeter, making 57-of-157 treys (.363), an average of 7.1 three-pointers a game. Defensively, CSU is leading the league in both field goal defense (.441) and steals (9.8).

GOING OVERTIME: The win over Utah Valley State on Tuesday marked the first time that the Vikings have played an overtime game in the three seasons under head coach Mike Garland. CSU is now 35-30 all-time in games extended to overtime, including 21-14 in home games. The last time the Vikings played into overtime came on Feb. 24, 2003 when CSU dropped a 79-75 decision to Butler in double overtime in the Wolstein Center.

THE BROTHERHOOD BAND: Each member of the Viking basketball team and coaching staff are sporting green wristbands this year that are emblazoned with the word "Brotherhood", one of the squad's themes for the season. With CSU celebrating its 75th season of basketball this year, head coach Mike Garland created the band as a way to show the team the importance of unity. CSU hosted a group of basketball alumni for a dinner before the first practice of the year on Oct. 14, after which Garland passed out the bands to the alumni in a ceremony at mid-court. Garland then had each of the alumni put a band on the wrist of each of the players and coaches.

IT HAS BEEN AWHILE: Thursday's game against John Carroll will mark the 44th time that theVikings have faced the Blue Streaks in basketball, but the first since Nov. 28, 1984. In the 7,692 days since that game. . .

• The Berlin Wall came down.
• Five summer and five winter Olympics were held.
• Eleven of the 17 current Vikings were born.
• The Key Tower was built, forever changing the Cleveland Skyline.
• Al Gore invented the internet. (I'm kidding, but you know what I mean)
• Jacobs Field, Quicken Loans Arena, Browns Stadium and the Wolstein Center were all built.
• The Cleveland Browns were stolen from us and later returned, sort of.
• Twenty-two new professional sports teams were added.
• Seven James Bond movies were released.

A RARE DOUBLE-DOUBLE: One of the keys to the win over Utah Valley State was the play of center Patrick Tatham (11 points, 10 rebounds) and forward J'Nathan Bullock (10, 10), who each recorded double-doubles during the game. It was the first time that two CSU players had double-doubles in the same game since Jermaine Robinson (23, 10) and Omari Westley (14, 11) accomplished it against Youngstown State on Jan. 24, 2004.

WINNING AT THE WIRE: Cleveland State's overtime win over Utah Valley State was only the second time under head coach Mike Garland that the Vikings won a game decided by three points or less. CSU is 2-8 in those contests, owning a 2-2 record in games decided by a single point and 0-4 in contests decided by two points. The Vikings have lost both games decided by three points over the last three seasons.

E-JAY DAY HAS ARRIVED: The win over Utah Valley State featured the Viking debut of junior transfer Ije Nwankwo, who became eligible to play for CSU after sitting out the NCAA-required two semesters following his transfer last January from Purdue University. Nwankwo, a 6-7 center, scoed four points in 13 minutes against the Wolverines. He was ranked as one of the top 75 players in the nation as a high school senior.

. . . AND HOLDER IS ELIGIBLE AS WELL: Sophomore forward Jason Holder also became eligible to play earlier this week and he should make his CSU debut in the next couple of games once he gets used to the CSU offensive and defensive systems. Holder enrolled at CSU last January and practiced with the Vikings for several days before the NCAA Eligibility Clearinghouse surprised him by ruling him ineligible because he lacked a required course. Holder, who has spent the last two semesters working towards meeting the NCAA initial eligibility guidelines, was not permitted to practice with the team until Sunday (Dec.18).

CARLOS, CAN YOU SPARE A DIME? Junior guard Carlos English keeps getting better and better at running the Viking offense, improving on his career assist high five times this year. The latest came when he handed out 12 assists at Michigan State last week, the seventh-highest single game total in CSU history and the most since Gravelle Craig dished out 14 against Akron on March 8, 1992.

. . . VIKINGS NEARLY HAVE AN ASSIST ON EVERY BASKET: One of the tell-tale statistics that explains the Vikings' ability to play with 12th-ranked Michigan State last week was their high assist percentage. CSU had 22 assists on the 26 field goals in the game, good for a .846 assist percentage. It was the fifth-best single game percentage in school history and the highest under head coach Mike Garland.

BORN TO COACH: Growing up in Ypsilanti, Mich., Mike Garland was friends with a number of individuals who would go on to find success as coaches in both college and professional sports. Garland started at quarterback on the Belleville (Mich.) High teams coached by current Michigan head coach Lloyd Carr, the first head coaching position by Carr. Garland grew up with current Indianapolis Colts head coach Tony Dungy, who was a native of nearby Jackson, Mich. While playing with Tom Izzo at Northern Michigan, Garland became friends with current Detroit Lions head coach Steve Mariucci, who was Izzo's roommate at NMU.

TATHAM FINDS THE RANGE: Junior center Patrick Tatham has found himself with a new role this year, playing a little farther away from the basket offensively. The move has paid off as Tatham, a .393 shooter during his first two seasons at CSU, begins the week ranked 12th in the Horizon League shooting .492 this year (30-61). It took him a little while to get warmed up, shooting .381 in the first three games this year (8-21) before going 14-for-20 (.700) in games against Central Michigan, Kent State and Albany.

. . . TATHAM THE SCORER: Patrick Tatham's increased offensive efficiency has led to him ranking third on the team, averaging 10.3 points a game. After starting the season by averaging just 7.0 points in the first four games, he has bounced back to score in double figures in four straight games, averaging 12.5 points over the last four contests.

THE BABY BULL-OCK: Freshman forward J'Nathan Bullock is living up to the expectations that made him one of the top newcomers on the team this year. Bullock is second on the team in scoring, averaging 10.3 points a game while leading the team with 15 offensive rebounds. He came off the bench to lead CSU with 15 points, six rebounds and three steals at North Carolina on Nov. 22. He set a career high with 21 points at Kent State on Dec. 3 and posted a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds against Utah Valley State this week.

. . . BULLOCK SETS FREE THROW RECORD: It only took J'Nathan Bullock five games to put his name in the CSU record book as he set a CSU freshman record by attempting 20 free throws in the game at Kent State. He broke the old record of 19 set by Clinton Ransey against Northern Iowa on March 9, 1984. The 20 attempts was also the third-highest total in CSU history, trailing only the record 22 attempts by Gale Drummer in 1974-75 and the 21 by Mike Campbell in 1997-98. It was also two attempts shy of the Horizon League record of 22 held by Duquesne's Derrick Alston (1992-93) and Wright State's Thad Burton (1997-98). His 11 free throws made are the most by a Horizon League player this year.

MORE ON BULLOCK'S SCORING OUTBURST: The 21 points by J'Nathan Bullock at Kent State were the most points by a CSU freshman since Percell Coles scored 22 points at Loyola on Jan. 3, 2002.

IT MUST HAVE BEEN THE NUMBER: After playing his first two seasons wearing uniform No. 3, junior Victor Morris chose to switch to No. 5 for this season, the same number that he wore in high school. The move, along with off-season knee surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his knee that had bothered him for most of the 2004-05 season, seems to have paid off as Morris ranks fourth on the team in scoring (8.3 ppg), including 16 points against Florida A&M in the opener. It was the third-highest single game total in his career and the most since he set a career high with 18 points at Eastern Michigan (12/23/04) last year. Morris has scored in double figures three times this year, giving him 11 career double-figure scoring efforts.

. . . AND MORRIS SHOWS A LITTLE SHOOTING RANGE: During his first two seasons as a Viking, Victor Morris had been known for his ability to create scoring opportunities off the dribble. The scouting report on Morris may have changed as he enters the week leading the Horizon League in three-point percentage (8-15, .533) and eighth in field goal percentage (.500). That is a considerable improvement over the .412 field goal percentage (119-289) that he had for his first two seasons.

. . . AND MORRIS SURPASSES LONG-RANGE TOTAL: It took Victor Morris just seven games to accomplish what he did last year in 24 as the junior has already surpassed his entire 2004-05 three-point total with eight this year. Morris, who entered the season having made just 19 of his 72 career three-point attempts (.264), was just six-of-23 from beyond the arc last year. He is eight-of-15 this season (.533).

VIKINGS USE A LITTLE ENGLISH: Mike Garland said on many occasions during the preseason that his life would be much easier if junior Carlos English would claim the starting point guard slot. English must have listened because he has excelled this year, averaging 7.8 points and 5.5 assists. He has done a tremendous job of taking care of the ball, handing out 44 assists while committing only 20 turnovers to rank third in the Horizon League with a 2.20 assist-to-turnover ratio. Defensively, he has made at least one steal in every game, leading the Horizon League with 17 thefts. He also leads the league in assists (5.5).

. . . AND ENGLISH GOES FOR A RARE DOUBLE: Carlos English begins the week leading the Horizon League in both assists (5.5) and steals (2.1), a feat that has been done just four times in Horizon League history. Loyola's Earl Brown (1997-98) was the most recent to accomplish it. The rest of the list includes Loyola's Darius Clemons (1980-81), Roy Simms of Detroit (1982-83) and LaSalle's Paul Burke (1993-94).

VIKINGS THROW A BLOCK PARTY: Cleveland State recorded seven blocks in the win over Rochester on Nov. 22, the most by a Viking team since CSU set the school record with 12 blocks against Central State on Nov. 22, 2003. As a team, CSU leads the league averaging 3.3 blocks per game with Patrick Tatham and Frashon McGee sharing the team lead with five blocks each and Renard Fields and Luke Murphy each having four.

. . . AND THE SEASON HAS BEEN A STEAL SO FAR: Another statistical trend that is holding steady this year has been the ability of the Vikings to force turnovers. CSU has forced its opponents to commit 142 turnovers this year (17.8 per game) with the Vikings easily leading the Horizon League averaging 9.6 steals per game. CSU owns the top two single game team totals in the league this year, making 15 steals against Rochester and 13 at North Carolina. Carlos English leads the league in steals (2.1).

LONG RANGE SCORING: The Vikings have fared well from beyond the arc this season, ranking third in the Horizon League averaging 7.1 three-point field goals a game, putting them on a pace that would break the CSU school record of 196 three-pointers in a season which was set in 2000-01.

. . . VIKINGS SET THREE-POINT MARK: The Vikings have already made one new entry into the CSU three-point record book when they made a school-record 14 three-pointers in the Dec. 16 game at Michigan State. It surpassed the old record of 12 three-pointers set against Norfolk State (11/27/04) and Drake (12/30/03). Earlier this year, CSU made 10 treys against Florida A&M, the ninth-highest single game total, and nine against Kent State. Cleveland State attempted 31 three-pointers against both Michigan State and Florida A&M, the second-highest total in CSU history and one attempt off the school record.

BACK-TO-BACK 43-POINT EFFORTS: The 43 points allowed in back-to-back games against Rochester College (Nov. 26) and Central Michigan (Nov. 30) were the fewest points given up by CSU in a game since the Vikings limited UW-Milwaukee to 34 points in a 57-34 CSU win on Jan. 27, 2001. The previous low point total against a Mike Garland-coached team was 48 by Norfolk State on Nov. 27, 2004.

. . . AND GOING BACK FURTHER: The back-to-back 43 points allowed against Rochester College and Central Michigan marks the first time that the Vikings allowed less than 50 points in back-to-back games since giving up 49 to Ashland and 22 to Walsh during the 1966-67 season.

WHO MADE THIS SCHEDULE? Cleveland State is facing one of the most difficult road schedules in school history this year, playing teams that advanced to postseason play last year in each the first four road games. CSU opened the year at defending national champion North Carolina on Nov. 22 and then played at Kent State, a 2005 NIT participant, on Dec. 3. The Vikings played at Michigan State on Friday (Dec. 16), a team that went to the Final Four last season. Next up is defending Horizon League champion UW-Milwaukee, a team that went to the NCAA Sweet 16 last year. This isn't the first time that CSU has faced big challenges on the road. Last year the Vikings played nine out of 10 games away from home during a stretch that ran from mid-December to late January.

THE NUMBERS GAME: After having his game plans limited over each of the last two seasons because of a lack of depth, Viking head coach Mike Garland vowed to never let that happen again. The 2005-06 roster is proof that Garland has followed through on the promise as CSU has 18 players on the squad, the most since a 20-player roster in 1974-75. The Vikings will dress 15 players this week with junior Greg Vlosich and freshman Robbie Clark both being out for the season following knee surgery. Junior Stephen Kallman will sit out the year after transferring from Maryland-Eastern Shore.

. . . THE NUMBERS MEAN A LARGE ROTATION: Even with some minor injuries that have come and gone this season, Mike Garland has been able to rotate at least 10 players in each of the games this year. Nine players have seen time in all seven games and 10 are averaging at least 10 minutes a game. All 12 eligible scholarship players saw action during each of the first two games, including multiple times during the contests when Garland put five fresh players into the game during a stoppage in play.

NOT A BAHAAD BLOODLINE: Forgive Viking basketball fans if they get a little ahead of themselves when they are pondering the playing ability of freshman Bahaadar Russell. After all, Russell is the nephew of former NBA standouts Campy Russell and Walker Russell. Campy Russell, the No. 8 pick of the first round by the Cleveland Cavaliers in 1974, averaged 15.8 points per game (8,953 total) in nine seasons with Cleveland and New York. Walker Russell, a fourth round pick by the Detroit Pistons in 1982, played six seasons in the NBA with Detroit, Atlanta and Indiana from 1983-88. Bahaadar Russell has exhibited the playing skills of his uncles, averaging almost 24 points a game in his lone season (2003-04) at Maine Central Institute, one of the top prep school basketball teams in the country.

NEXT UP: The Vikings open Horizon League play at home against Loyola on Dec. 29.