All-Time vs. Youngstown State: 58-46

Last Meeting: 3/7/24 82-70 W

Tickets: ysusports.com

Radio: WTAM 1100 AM

Play-By-Play: Al Pawlowski, Ed Daugherty(Host)

TV: ESPN+

Play-By-Play: Robb Schmidt, Ron Potesta

SETTING THE SCENE

The Cleveland State Men's Basketball team travels to Youngstown State for the second game of a two-game road swing. The game pits the top two teams in the Horizon League standings in a key matchup early in conference play. The Vikings have won seven in a row after a win at Robert Morris on Wednesday night. This marks the longest winning streak in head coach Daniyal Robinson's tenure and the longest streak in the past four seasons. YSU has won nine of its past ten games and sits at 11-6 overall. 

THE CLEVELAND STATE/YOUNGSTOWN STATE SERIES

Saturday's game marks the 105th all-time meeting in the storied history of the Northeast Ohio series between Cleveland Stat and Youngstown State. The Vikings hold a 58-46 edge in the all-time series. Cleveland State has won seven of the last ten meetings between the two teams dating back to February, 2020 including two of three last season. Cleveland State took the most recent meeting as the Vikings defeated the Penguins 82-70 in Youngstown in the Horizon League Tournament Quarterfinals to earn a trip to Indianapolis. 

VIKINGS WIN SEVENTH STRAIGHT AT ROBERT MORRIS

Cleveland State won its seventh consecutive game as the Vikings defeated Robert Morris 80-69 to improve to 5-1 in league play. Cleveland State got balanced scoring once again as five players finished in double figures, led by Dylan Arnett's 16 points. The Vikings trailed by a point after a back and forth first half before breaking the game open in the second half. A 14-0 run midway through the period pushed the lead to double digits and put the game out of reach. Tevin Smith recorded his second double-double finishing with 11 points and 10 rebounds. 

RED HOT VIKINGS WIN SIXTH STRAIGHT, DEFEAT IU INDY

Cleveland State won its sixth consecutive game as the Vikings held off a scrappy IU Indianapolis team 67-61 at the Wolstein Center. Tahj Staveskie tied a season high with 20 points on 50 percent shooting from the field. The Vikings prevailed thanks to a 28-16 edge in the paint and converting IU Indy turnovers into points. The Vikings forced 14 turnovers and converted them into 25 total points. 

CLEVELAND STATE WINS FIFTH STRAIGHT, DOWNS WRIGHT STATE

Cleveland State won its fifth game in a row and its third consecutive in league play with a 78-64 decision over Wright State at the Wolstein Center. The Vikings shot 49 percent from the floor and 50 percent from three-point range in the win. Cleveland State continued its unselfish play of late, finishing with 17 assists against just eight turnovers. This marks the fourth straight game that the Vikings have finished with single-digit turnovers. Chase Robinson led a quartet of players who finished in double figures with a new season high of 16 points. 

VIKINGS DOWN OAKLAND FOR THIRD STRAIGHT WIN

Cleveland State took care of Oakland on Thursday night with a 92-75 win to improve to 2-1 in league play. The Vikings committed a program record low three turnovers and balanced that with 21 assists on 34 made field goals. Tevin Smith had a career night finishing with 37 points on 63 percent shooting from the field. Tahj Staveskie added 20 points including a career best six made three-point field goals and Chase Robinson set a new season high with 14 points. Cleveland State led the entire second half in rolling to the double-digit win. 

STEVENSON EARNS FOURTH STRAIGHT #HLMBB FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK

Je'Shawn Stevenson continued his strong play throughout the start of the season last week and earned his fourth straight Horizon League Freshman of the Week award. Stevenson has scored in double figures in five of the last six games and seven overall this season. He tallied 12 points in Sunday's win against Wright State, finishing 4-of-5 from the floor and 3-of-4 from the free throw line. 

SMITH NAMED #HLMBB PLAYER OF THE WEEK

Tevin Smith joined Je'Shawn Stevenson in the weekly award category as the two combined to sweep the Horizon League's weekly awards on Monday, December 23. Both players had strong performances in Cleveland State's victories the previous week. Smith took home the Player of the Week award after averaging 24 points, 4.5 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game. Smith scored a career-high 37 points in the win over Oakland, the most scored in a game by a Horizon League student-athlete up to that point this season. He finished a perfect 11-for-11 from the free throw line for the week.  
 

SCOUTING THE PENGUINS

Youngstown State is 11-6 and 6-1 in league play headed into Saturday's contest. The game pits the top two defensive teams in the Horizon League, with the Penguins leading the conference giving up 64.9 points per game and the Vikings second at 68.2 per contest. The Penguins' lone loss in league play came at the hands of Purdue Fort Wayne last week, which snapped a streak of eight consecutive victories. YSU has won nine of its past ten contests. Ethan Faulkner is in his first season as the head coach. Faulkner played at Northern Kentucky and was an assistant coach on former YSU head coach Jerod Calhoun's staff for the past five seasons before being promoted into the head coaching chair this offseason. 

CLEVELAND STATE SPLITS CONFERENCE-OPENING ROAD TRIP IN WISCONSIN

Cleveland State split last week's road trip in Wisconsin to open Horizon League play. The Vikings fell at Milwaukee on Thursday before rebounding with a 22-point win at Green Bay on Saturday. The game against Milwaukee was much closer than the final margin indicated, with the Vikings trailing by just two points with under three minutes to play before a 10-0 Panther run to close the game. In the Green Bay game, Cleveland State set a new season best for three-point field goals made in a game with 10 and Je'Shawn Stevenson recorded a career-high 20 points. Cleveland State out-rebounded Green Bay and recorded 47 points from its bench, the second highest total of the season. 

INSIDE THE WIN STREAK

Cleveland State has won seven consecutive games and has done so thanks to strong play on the defensive end of the floor. Cleveland State is allowing just 61 points per game during the streak and has held opponents to 39 percent shooting. CSU is out-rebounding opponents by a +5.7 margin during the streak and sports a 2.4 assist-to-turnover ratio, averaging over 19 assists against just 8 turnovers per game. 

VIKINGS IN THE HORIZON LEAGUE RANKINGS

Through the early going of conference play, Cleveland State is well represented at the top of the Horizon League rankings in several team and individual categories. As a team, the Vikings lead the league in three-point percentage at 42.2 percent coming into Saturday's game, and are second in field goal percentage at 47.5 percent. The Vikings also lead the league in turnover margin (+5.33) and assist-to-turnover ratio (+1.7). Individually, Tahj Staveskie leads the league in three-point percentage at a blistering 51 percent. Ebrima Dibba leads the league in assist-to-turnover ratio with a stellar 6.6 margin, and is second in assists per game at 5.5. 

HOME SWEET HOME

Cleveland State has made a habit of protecting its home court throughout the last two seasons. The Vikings are 8-2 at home to start this season and finished 14-3 at home in the 2023-24 season as well as a 35-8 overall record in Cleveland in the Daniyal Robinson era. Cleveland State outscored opponents by over 10 points per game in home contests in the 2023-24 season. 

20 WIN CAMPAIGN FOR THE THIRD YEAR IN A ROW

Cleveland State has amassed 20-plus wins for three straight seasons. The Vikings have also made four straight postseason appearances, which is a program record.  Cleveland State appeared in the NCAA Tournament in 2021, the NIT in 2022 and the CBI in 2023 and 2024. Daniyal Robinson is the most successful two-year head coach in program history, becoming the first coach to win 20 games in his first two years in charge in the history of the program. Robinson has amassed 42 total victories over his first two seasons.  

UP NEXT

Cleveland State returns home to take on Northern Kentucky on Wednesday night at the Wolstein Center. The matchup between the Vikings and Norse tips off at 7:00 p.m.