Dec. 15, 2010

Contact: Brian McCann

Complete Release in PDF Format

Game 13: Cleveland State (12-0) at West Virginia (8-2)
Date: Saturday, Dec. 18, 2010
Time: 2:00 p.m. EST
Site: WVU Coliseum (14,000), Morgantown, West Virginia
Radio: WHKW 1220 AM (Cleveland) WHKZ 1440 AM (Warren) (Al Pawlowski)
TV: Big East Network (John Sanders and Anthony Buford
Series: WVU leads, 4-0
Last Meeting: WVU 80, @CSU 78 (12/19/09)
Tickets: Available At Site

SETTING THE SCENE: Cleveland State will face its toughest opponent to date when the Vikings travel to Morgantown, West Virginia to take on West Virginia on Saturday, Dec. 18 beginning at 2:00 p.m. in the WVU Coliseum. The Vikings carry a school-record 12-0 mark into the contest after winning at Sam Houston State, 74-62, on Saturday (Dec. 11) to become the first Division I team to win 12 games this year. The Vikings, who are No. 20 in the most recent RPI and No. 30 in the Sagarine rankings, received 15 votes (32nd place) in this week's Associated Press poll, four votes (37th place) in the CNN/USA Today poll and remain in the top spot of the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25. West Virginia, which went to the NCAA Final Four last year with a 31-7 record, is off to a 8-2 start and is also receiving votes and is ahead of Cleveland State in both major college basketball polls.

PREVIEWING CLEVELAND STATE: Gary Waters has the Viking Basketball program back at a level where he is comfortable as all five starters and nine lettermen return from last year's team that went 16-17 against one of the most difficult schedules in the country. The strength of the squad is at the guards where senior Norris Cole (23.5 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 4.6 apg), a first team All-Horizon League selection last year, and juniors Trevon Harmon (14.2 ppg, 4.3 rpg) and Jeremy Montgomery (11.7 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 2.3 apg) each return to once again form the nucleus of the starting lineup this season. Senior forward D'Aundray Brown (8.6 ppg, 5.6 rpg) is out until late-December following preseason surgery on his right index finger, leaving the small forward spot to be manned by the sophomore duo of Charlie Woods (4.3, 3.0) and Josh McCoy (5.3, 3.1), who redshirted last season following hip surgery. Junior Aaron Pogue (7.2, 6.2) returns as the starter at center with sophomore Tim Kamczyc (4.3, 3.7) opening the year as the starting power forward. Junior Joe Latas (2.4, 2.2) and freshmen Luda Ndaye (1.5, 1.5) and Devon Long (2.5, 1.3) will help to provide CSU with a spark off the bench inside this year. Injuries to Brown, freshman Sebastian Douglas (season/knee) and sophomore Anthony Wells (knee), have hurt the bench depth, especially to start the season. CSU got Wells back into the lineup for the St. Bonaventure win, but he has missed the four subsequent games.

VIKINGS REMAIN ON TOP THE MID-MAJOR POLL: A school-record 12-0 record to start the season has kept Cleveland State in the top spot for the second straight week of the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25, which was released on Monday (Dec. 13). The Vikings received 27 of the 31 first place votes and 770 total points to own a 42-point lead second place Old Dominion (728 points). St. Mary's is third with 703 points followed by Gonzaga in fourth (682) and Wichita State in fifth (600). Butler is eighth with 533 points while Loyola is 25th (59 points) and Valparaiso and Detroit also received votes. A new poll is released every Monday throughout the season.

CSU IN THE NCAA STATS: Cleveland State received numerous mentions in the most recent NCAA men's basketball statistics, which were released on Monday (Dec. 13). Individually, Norris Cole ranked 22nd in the nation in scoring (21.3), 32nd in steals (2.3) and 75th in assists (4.6). As a team, the Vikings were in the top 50 in six categories, ranking first in won-loss percentage (1.000), 25th in scoring defense (59.0), 28th in field goal defense (.376), 34th in scoring margin (+14.8), 39th in three-point defense (.288) and 47th in turnover margin (+3.5).

THE VIKING BASKETBALL REPORT RETURNS: The Viking Basketball Report has returned to SportsTime Ohio for a fifth season with the second of 10 episodes airing on Tuesday (Dec. 21) at 6:30 and 9:30 p.m. and at 7:00 and 9:00 p.m. on Wednesday (Dec. 22).

THE COMPUTERS LIKE CSU: Although it is very early in the season, the fast start by the Vikings has helped CSU in the various computer rankings. One of 12 unbeaten teams in Division I (as of Wednesday morning), Cleveland State is ranked 20th in the latest RPI (through Monday) and 30th in the most recent Sagarin ratings. The Vikings are the first team in the nation to win 12 games this season.

...AND CSU GAINS NOTICE IN BOTH MAJOR POLLS: Cleveland State received more attention in both of the major college basketball polls, which were released on Monday (Dec. 13). The Vikings received 15 votes in the latest Associated Press men's basketball poll, good for 32nd place, and four votes in the CNN/USA Today poll, good for 37th place. The polls are released each Monday through Jan. 1 and then on Sunday through the remainder of the year.

THE TREY TRIO: The Vikings reached another program over the weekend when Trevon Harmon made four three-pointers at Sam Houston to give him 101 for his career. He joined teammates Jeremy Montgomery (114 career treys) and Norris Cole (103) to become the first active trio in school history to each make 100 career three-pointers.

SEVEN DAYS A WEEK: The win over West Virginia Tech on Dec. 7 allowed the Vikings to win at least one game this year on every day of the week. The Vikings are 4-0 when playing on Saturdays this season while also having two wins on both Monday and Friday. CSU has at least 19 games remaining, nine of which will come on a Saturday, five on Thursday and at least one game on every other day of the week, except Tuesday. The Horizon League Championship game is slated for March 8th. . . a Tuesday.

DEFENSE: Although aggressive defense has always been one of the core principles of a Gary Waters team, the Vikings have really taken defense to heart this season. After 12 games, CSU leads the Horizon League in scoring defense (59.0), and field goal defense (.376) and are second in three-point defense (.288). Eight of the last 10 opponents have shot .400 from the field or less and just four teams have shot better than .275 from three-point in a game.

VIKINGS CLAIM ONE MORE RECORD: The win at Sam Houston State last week allowed the Vikings to break the school record of 11 wins before January 1, which was set during the 1992-93 season. With three games to go before the new year rings in, the Vikings have 12 wins.

COLE MAKES MVP CASE: Norris Cole has been nothing short of brilliant during the first two months of the season, scoring 19 points or more in 10 of CSU's 12 games to lead the Horizon League with a 21.3 scoring average and make a strong case for Horizon League Player of the Year honors. More importantly, he has shown his leadership skills on the court by leading the league in assists (4.6) and steals (2.3) while ranking 10th in assist-to-turnover ratio with 55 assists and just 35 turnovers (1.57). He has six 20-point games this year, giving him 25 in his career, to raise his CSU career scoring total to 1,453 points to move into seventh place on the CSU chart. Cole needs 120 more points to pass Theo Dixon (1,572 from 1997-02) for sixth place.

STONE COLE-D: Norris Cole may have been aptly nicknamed by a Horizon League fan site because when the game is on the line, he is at his best. In the six games that he has been on the floor four in the final minutes, he has dominated play by taking over the scoring lead. He is 42-for-44 (.955) from the foul line in the final 5:00 of games this year. Here is a look at how he has helped the Vikings secure wins this year:
Iona: Scored CSU's last six points (6-6 FT) in the final 1:39
Kent State: Broke a 61-61 tie by scoring CSU's last eight points in the final 0:50.
Louisiana: Scored 10 of the last 12 points (8-8 FT) in final 2:51.
Akron: Scored last seven CSU points (5-5 FT + big dunk) in final 1:06
Robert Morris: Scored 8 of last 10 points in final 8:09
Green Bay: Scored 11 of last 14 (9-10 FT) in final 2:05

A NOVEMBER TO REMEMBER: The win over Robert Morris on Monday (Nov 29) capped a perfect November for the Vikings as CSU won all eight games in the month, marking the first undefeated month (of more than two games) since the Vikings went 8-0 during February of 1986 as part of a 29-4 year. For the record, the Vikings have been undefeated in November in 13 seasons before, going 2-0 on six occasions and 1-0 seven additional times.

12-0: The win at Sam Houston State on Dec. 11 allowed the Vikings to extend their school record for consecutive wins to start a season to 12, three times the previous best. Cleveland State had previously opened both the 1963-64 and 1985-86 seasons with four straight wins but had never been 5-0. . . let alone 12-0. The 1985-86 team went on to set a school record with a 29-4 record, advancing to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Championship. The fast start was the high point of the year for the 1963-64 squad as the team went on to finish 10-9.

...AND MORE 12-0: The 12-0 start gives the Vikings the third longest win streak in school history and the longest since the 1992-93 squad matched a school record with 14 straight wins. CSU also won 14 straight in 1985-86 and 12 games in 1986-87.

MORE WIN STREAKS: The win over Akron on Nov. 24 extended CSU's win streak against Ohio schools to seven dating back to last season. In addition, the Vikings have won 12 straight home games against Ohio opponents going back to the 2007-08 campaign. Finally, the win over West Virginia Tech on Dec. 7 was CSU's ninth straight win in the Wolstein Center, seven of which have come this season.

IRON MAN COLE: Senior Norris Cole has been a fixture in the lineup during his Viking career, playing in all 116 games in his four seasons. He ranks 11th all-time in games played, seventh in consecutive games played (116) and fifth in consecutive games started (82). Cole, who has recorded back-to-back 1,000 minute seasons, has played 3,229 career minutes to rank seventh all-time, needing 634 to break J'Nathan Bullock's school record of 3,872 minutes. Cole can also topple Bullock's records for career games played (130) and consecutive games played (130).

FINISHING IT IN REGULATION: The win over Sam Houston State extended Cleveland State's school-record streak of consecutive games without an overtime contest to 112. The last time CSU played an overtime tilt came on Nov. 17, 2007 when the Vikings toppled Florida State, 69-66, at the Glenn Wilkes Classic in Daytona Beach, Fla. In the 112 games since, Cleveland State has gone 73-39 (.652).

COLE TO THE LINE: Through the first 12 games, Norris Cole has been spending an awful lot of time at the foul line as the Viking senior is averaging 8.5 free throws attempted per game. He is 86-for-102 to rank fifth in the league (.843). Although it is early in the season, the school record for free throws attempted in a season is 233 by Ken McFadden in 1987-88.

LONG DISTANCE SHOOTING: After shooting just .288 from three-point and making seven or less treys (5.3 avg.) over the first eight games of the year, the Vikings have broken out of their long-range shooting slump over the four games, making 10 or more treys in each game and shooting .523 from beyond the arc (45-86) during that span. CSU opened the stretch by making 10 of its 14 three-point attempts (.714) at Green Bay on Dec. 2, the third-highest single game percentage in school history. The Vikings came back to tie a school record with 14 treys at Milwaukee, shooting .636 (14-22), and made 11 treys against West Virginia Tech and 10 at Sam Houston State. The performance allowed the Vikings to move from 10th to second in the league in three-point shooting (87-232, .375).

POGUE'S PLAY PICKS UP: Gary Waters spoke all preseason about the improvement that junior center Aaron Pogue has shown in all phases of the game, but it wasn't until the season started that Viking fans had a chance to see it for themselves. Pogue, who averaged 6.3 points and 5.4 rebounds in 22.2 minutes last year, has improved his numbers to 7.2 points and a team-leading 6.2 rebounds (8th in the league), shooting .478 from the field (32-67) with six steals and seven blocks this year. He scored a season high 13 points in the win at Louisiana and averaged 9.7 points and 6.3 rebounds to earn a spot on the World Vision Classic all-tournament team. More importantly, he has improved his defensive play inside while looking more comfortable offensively with the ball in his hands.

WOODS PROVIDES BENCH SPARK: The Vikings have received a spark off the bench this year from sophomore Charlie Woods, who has helped CSU overcome the loss of D'Aundray Brown. Woods is averaging 4.3 points and 3.0 rebounds a game with a team-high 12 blocks (7th in the league). He is shooting .450 from the field (18-40) and 10-for-25 from three-point (.400). Woods tallied 10 points in 16 minutes against Bryant on Nov. 12. He excelled in the trip to Wisconsin, averaging 9.5 points in the two games, shooting .667 from the field (6-9) and .571 from three-point (4-7). His averages do not include a 10 point, nine rebound effort in 26 minutes in the exhibition win over Baldwin-Wallace.

A TALENTED STAFF: Gary Waters has had the benefit of continuity on his coaching staff as the trio of Jayson Gee, Larry DeSimpelare and Jermaine Kimbrough have been with him at CSU since he took the position five years ago. Now, the assistant staff is starting to get their due as Gee was ranked as the third best assistant coach in the Horizon League and DeSimpelare was fifth best in a compilation of the best assistant coaches in the country by Jeff Goodman in a blog on yardbarker.com.

REVENGE WEEK SUCCESS: Forgive the Vikings if their performance from Nov. 27-Dec. 4 meant a little more to them then during most weeks as CSU was able to knock off four straight opponents who had defeated them last season. In fact, with the wins over St. Bonaventure (69-51), Robert Morris (58-53), Green Bay (83-75) and Milwaukee (82-59), the Vikings went 4-0 against squads they managed just a 2-5 mark against last season.

...AND OVERCOMING A DECADE OF TOUGH TRAVEL: The annual trip to Wisconsin to face Green Bay and Milwaukee has historically been the toughest road swing of the year for the Vikings, but not this season. CSU swept the two games on the road for the fourth time in program history and the first since the 1999-2000 campaign. The win at Green Bay was just the second since the 2001-02 season (2-9 total) while the win at Milwaukee snapped a 10-game CSU losing streak in Milwaukee.

A NORTHEAST OHIO SWEEP: With wins over Akron and Kent State this season, the Vikings have swept the season series against its two Northeast Ohio rivals for the first time since the 1997-98 season. This year marked the 31st time that CSU played both teams in the same year and the fifth time that the Vikings swept all of the games. CSU claimed single games against both teams in 1987-88 and 1997-98, and went 3-0 in 1977-78, 1980-81 and 1985-86, winning twice against Akron in both 1977-78 and 1980-81.

WHAT'S THAT TAPE FOR?: Viking fans have inquired about the purpose of the multi-colored tape strips that they have seen on various parts of the players. It is part of a taping regime used by first year CSU head athletic trainer Chris Lacsamana called "Kinesio Taping". It is used to give free range of motion in order to allow the body's muscular system to heal itself bio-mechanically. When an athlete is injured, the space between the muscle and skin is compressed due to inflammation, swelling, and stiffness, limiting the flow of lymphatic fluid through the muscle which then results in pain. The kinesio tape lifts the skin up from muscle and fascia and it allows the flow of lymphatic fluid through the muscle. The tape doesn't allow the muscle to over stretch itself so it helps to reduce pain, swelling, and it can promote healing. It can used for a number of different injuries depending on the effect that you want to achieve, whether its to reduce swelling, pain, or not to let the muscle over contract.

HARMON FREE THROW STREAK ENDS AT 29: Junior guard Trevon Harmon saw his consecutive free throws made streak come to an end at 29 against Kent State on Nov. 14 when he missed a free throw in the final minute. Prior to that miss, Harmon had made all six of his free throw attempts this season and the final 23 from last season to give him the second highest total in school history. He fell three free throws shy of Damon Stringer's school record of 32 set in 1999-2000. His 29 free throw makes surpassed the 27 straight made by both Ken McFadden (1986-87) and Jack Shaughnessy (1949-50). Harmon is 31-for-40 from the line this year (.775).

FREE THROWS: The Vikings set a school record by shooting .749 from the foul line last year, but it wasn't until the Iona game this year that they looked anything like their past selves at the line when they went 22-for-23 (.957), the fifth-highest single game percentage in school history. It was a far cry better than the five-for-14 (.357) effort in the exhibition win over Baldwin-Wallace and the 13-for-19 (.684) in the opener against Bryant. For the year, CSU ranks fourth in the league, shooting .718 from the stripe (214-298).

...AND FOUL SUCCESS DURING CRUNCH TIME: CSU continues to perform well from the foul line in the last five minutes of games, shooting .810 as a team (68-84) this year. Norris Cole leads the way by making 42 of his 44 free throws down the stretch (.955), including a six-for-six effort in the three-point win over Kent State, a five-for-five showing at Akron and by making all eight attempts in the five-point win at Louisiana. On Dec. 2, he was 11-for-12 at Green Bay. Success down the stretch is nothing new as CSU shot .826 last year (147-178) with Tim Kamczyc (9-10, .900), Norris Cole (56-63, .889), Trevon Harmon (19-22, .855), Jeremy Montgomery (21-25, .840) and D'Aundray Brown (17-21, .810) each shooting better than 80-percent.

THE REAL McCOY: The 2009-10 season was a frustrating one for sophomore Josh McCoy, who was sidelined with a hip injury after playing just 30 minutes in five games. He has rebounded well however, providing the Vikings with a spark off the bench by averaging 5.3 points and 3.1 rebounds in 14.8 minutes a game, shooting .543 from the field (19-35), .474 from three-point (9-19) and .810 from the line (17-21). He scored a career-high 14 points in the win over West Virginia Tech on Dec. 7 and came back to add 10 points at Sam Houston State on Dec. 11.

A DOUBLE-DOUBLE FOR TREY: The most unusual double-double in recent memory for the Vikings came on Nov. 15 when Trey Harmon scored 16 points and grabbed a career high 10 rebounds in the win over Iona. Scoring has never been a problem for Harmon, who has 619 points in 68 career games (9.1 ppg) but the rebounding effort shows how hard the junior is working this year. The 10 rebounds shattered his previous career high of six, which was set at Valparaiso and at Loyola last season.

. . . IT STARTED A REBOUNDING TREND FOR HARMON: The 10 rebounds for Trey Harmon against Iona was just one of a handful of strong rebounding efforts this year by the Viking junior. Through 12 games, Harmon is averaging 4.3 rebounds a game to rank third on the team behind Norris Cole and Aaron Pogue. He has had four games of six rebounds or more, adding seven vs. Kent State and six vs. Urbana and West Virginia Tech.

A GOOD NDAYE: Viking fans saw a flash of the ability of freshman Luda Ndaye when the Montreal, Quebec native entered the Nov. 13 Iona game with the contest on the line and proceeded to connect on three straight shots to push the CSU lead to 11 with 4:13 left and effectively put the game away. Ndaye averaged 13.0 points a game last year at Westwind (AZ) Prep, playing for former CSU graduate manager Bobby Bossman.

SUCCESS 401: The fifth edition of Success Class under Gary Waters is utilizing the book Winning With People, by John Maxwell as the course text, marking the third time in five years that a Maxwell text has been used as the text book. Instituted at CSU in the summer of 2006, Waters uses Success Class to teach the Viking players the finer points of what it takes to succeed, both on the basketball court and in life. Success Class 101 used John Wooden's book, The Pyramid of Success. Waters relied on John Maxwell's book Talent Is Never Enough in 2007-08, turned to former Indianapolis Colts head coach Tony Dungy's book, Quiet Strength in 2008-09 and returned to Maxwell in 2009-10, using 17 Essential Qualities of a Team Player as the course text. The non-credited class is taught weekly by Waters to the Viking players over the summer and preseason months.

GETTING THE THIRD DEGREE: Usually when you get the third degree about your performance in the classroom, it isn't a good thing. But for Viking junior Joe Latas, it is a compliment as the Viking center has already earned undergraduate degrees in both communications and religious studies and is currently finishing up the requirements for a degree in philosophy as well.

COLE NAMED ATHLETE OF THE WEEK...AGAIN: A by-product of the strong overall play of Norris Cole this year is that the Viking senior has claimed two of the five Horizon League Athlete of the Week awards that have been given out this season, making him the only multiple award winner this season and giving him four awards during his career. He received the honor on Dec. 6 after averaging 23.0 points, 4.0 rebounds, 5.7 assists and 3.0 steals to lead CSU to a non-conference win over 2010 NCAA squad Robert Morris and a road sweep of Green Bay and Milwaukee. His first award of the year came on Nov. 15 when he averaged 23.3 points during the first weekend of the season to lead CSU to the title of the World Vision Classic.

...AND CSU ATHLETE OF THE MONTH...AGAIN: Norris Cole took home another honor last week when he was tabbed as the CSU Men's Athlete of the Month for November. It was the second time this year that he received the award, the first coming in January. In eight games in November, Cole averaged 21.5 points, 5.0 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 2.4 steals while leading the Vikings to their first undefeated month (of more than two games) since February of 1986.

VIKINGS ADD FIVE DURING EARLY SIGNING PERIOD: Head coach Gary Waters received an early Christmas present on Nov. 11 when he announced the signing of five high school student-athletes to national letters of intent to attend CSU and play basketball starting in the fall of 2011. The signees include:

Tremain Brown (Warren, OH/Warren G. Harding) (6-5, 185, wing): Averaged 13.6 points, 5.0 rebounds as a junior, helping team to a 23-3 record.
Anton Grady (Cleveland, OH/Central Catholic) (6-8, 215, F): Fourth best prospect in Ohio by ESPN.com after averaging 13.5 points, 7.1 rebounds and 4.5 blocks as a junior (11.6, 12.1 & 8.2 as a soph.)
Charles Lee (Milwaukee, WI/Huntington Prep) (5-9, 160, PG): Third team all-region pick as a junior after averaging 11.5 points and 5.4 assists.
Marlin Mason (Detroit, MI/Cass Tech) (6-6, 210, F): Preseason all-league choice who averaged 11.4 points, 8.2 rebounds and 3.4 blocks as a junior.
Ike Nwamu (Greensboro, NC/Westchester Country Day) (6-3, 195, G): Two-time all-conference pick who averaged 16.1 points, 5.8 rebounds and 2.9 steals

NEXT UP: The Vikings return home to close the pre-holiday schedule by hosting South Florida on Wednesday, Dec. 22 at 7:00 p.m.