Jan. 7, 2011
Final Stats
By: Robert Ivory
INDINAPOLIS, Indiana- It was a rough night of shooting for the Cleveland State Vikings, as they fell 79-56 Friday night to Butler at Hinkle Fieldhouse.
Cleveland State did not have their shooting shoes on, as the Vikes went just 19-55 from the field (34.5%) and only 13-20 (65%) from the line.
"I have to give Butler all the credit tonight," Cleveland State head coach Gary Waters said. "They came ready to play and they whooped our butt. They took it to us from the start and got us out of our flow on offense and defense."
"I am disapointed. I knew they were going to come ready to play after having a bad game against Milwaukee. But, I thought we would answer their emotion."
Norris Cole led the Vikings with 26 points, ten rebounds, two assist, and a steal. Aaron Pogue chipped in with 11 points and four rebounds.
The Vikings fall in their first Horizon League game of the year, but remain on top of the league at 4-1, but fall to 15-2 overall.
"Still," Waters said. "This is only one game, so now we need to regroup and come back and split this trip by beating Valpo on Sunday. If we can do that, we will be fine."
The Vikings, uncharacteristically, had a tough time handling the basketball early in the half. That led the Bulldogs being able to pull out to a 16-2 run and control the game early.
In the first ten minute of the half, CSU turned the ball over eight times.
Tim Kamczyc hit a three pointer to end the Viking drought, to make it 21-7 with 10:56 to go in the half. Kamczyc and Aaron Pogue started the game a combined 3-7 as the rest of the Vikes shooting just 0-4.
In the first ten minute of the half, CSU turned the ball over eight times.
CSU then ran off six straight points (a Cole free throw, a three, and a Montgomery bucker under the net) to edge the game back to 26-13 at the 7:56 mark.
Cole toped the none point run with a three pointer after dribbling out of the double-team to hit an NBA three and make it 26-16.
Chase Stigall hit a return three down the court and stop the bleeding to make it 29-16 Butler.
Cole was the silver lining for the Vikes, as he went 4-10 from the field, 2-3 from three and had 12 points. Kamczyc was next from the Vikes with five.
Head coach Gary Waters moved to a' box-and-one' defense, trying to find a stop to the Butler defense.
Butler would continue to hold their 19-point lead as the Vikings were just 9-25 (34.6%) from the field in the first half, leading 42-23 at the break.
The tale of the tape was interesting as CSU turned the ball over 10 times to Butler's six, but Butler led the advantage 18-5 on points off turnovers.
The Viking second half was much better, but the first half was the fatal killer for the Vikings.
Trevon Harmon looked to get things ready, as he hit a nice running layup in the paint for his first basket at the 12:44 mark of the second half. After a Bulldog turnover, Harmon hit a three from the corner, which looked to get CSU going at 54-37.
But, the Bulldogs were just too much for CSU, as Butler held their 20-point lead throughout the second half. Butler shot over 48% on the night and seemed to get the rolls on the rim that they needed.
Not only did the Bulldogs win the battle on the boards 35-26, but Butler did win the battle on the offensive glass 9-7.
Butler wins their third HL game of the year and are 3-1 in the league (11-5 overall).
The Vikings continue their three-game road swing Sunday (Jan. 9) afternoon at Valparaiso starting at 1:35 p.m. The Vikings then have a week off before they head east to Youngstown State on Saturday (Jan. 15) to face the Penguins, with tip at 7:05 p.m.
