SETTING THE SCENE

The Cleveland State Men's Basketball team hits the road for a key matchup in the early second half of Horizon League play against Purdue Fort Wayne. The game will be played in front of a national TV audience on ESPNU. Cleveland State has won 12 consecutive games, tied for the second-longest streak in the nation. The Vikings are 10-1 in league play and in first place in the league standings. The Mastodons are close behind in the league race, tied for second at 8-3. PFW has won five of its last six games headed into Thursday's matchup. 

THE CLEVELAND STATE/PURDUE FORT WAYNE SERIES

Wednesday's game is the 16th all-time meeting between Cleveland State and Purdue Fort Wayne. The Vikings hold a 12-3 lead in the all-time series and have won the last four meetings and six of the last seven. This is the first time the two teams will meet this season with the second matchup coming on the final day of regular season play on March 1. Head coach Daniyal Robinson has an unblemished record against the Mastodons, having won all four games against Purdue Fort Wayne in his tenure. 

CLEVELAND STATE RANKED 22nd IN LATEST COLLEGEINSIDER.COM MID MAJOR POLL

Cleveland State has garnered national attention as the Vikings make their first appearance in the Collegeinsider.com Mid Major Poll. Cleveland State is ranked 22nd in the latest edition of the poll which was published on Monday, January 27. The Vikings were receiving votes in previous versions of the poll and climbed into the rankings last week at no. 24, and moved up two spots after another 2-0 week last week. The rankings are determined by a 25-person committee made up of mid major head coaches from across the country. Saint Mary's leads the way as the top-ranked team sitting at 18-3 overall.

VIKINGS WIN 12TH STRAIGHT OVER GREEN BAY AT THE WOLSTEIN CENTER

Cleveland State began its 12-game win streak with a road victory at Green Bay on December 7. The Vikings have still yet to lose since, and continued the streak with a second victory in as many tries over the Phoenix, 81-66. The game was tight throughout with CSU holding a one-point lead at halftime and just a two-point lead with 5:30 to play before a late run finally sealed the victory. Chase Robinson had 17 points to lead the way for the Vikings and Reece Robinson tallied 14 points, a new career-high, and 11 rebounds for his third double-double of the season. 

REECE ROBINSON NAMED #HLMBB FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK

Reece Robinson took home his first Horizon League weekly award after a big week this past week. Robinson set a season and career best with 14 points against Green Bay on Saturday, and averaged 10 points and seven rebounds for the week. He added 11 rebounds to his stat total on Saturday for his third double-double of the season, and shot 58 percent from the field for the week. 

VIKINGS BRING HOME 11TH WIN IN A ROW OVER DETROIT MERCY

Cleveland State picked up its 11th straight win defeating Detroit Mercy 65-50 on Wednesday night. The Vikings trailed by five at the break before a lockdown defensive effort in the second half spurred a 15-0 run that propelled CSU to its ninth conference win. Tevin Smith led the way with 23 points and Je'Shawn Stevenson added 13 off the bench. 

CLEVELAND STATE WINS TENTH IN A ROW AT IU INDY

Cleveland State earned its tenth straight win and eighth in a row in conference play with a 73-62 victory at IU Indianapolis. The Vikings trailed by two at halftime before a strong second half propelled them to their fourth conference road win in five tries. Tevin Smith led all scorers with 16 points, with 14 coming in the second half. Dylan Arnett and KJ Debrick teamed up inside with each scoring 13 points. Debrick tied his season high in the winning effort. 

CLEVELAND STATE STRETCHES WIN STREAK TO NINE WITH WIN OVER NKU

Cleveland State continued its strong play recently with a 76-58 win over Northern Kentucky. The Vikings defeated the Norse thanks to another strong second half performance as CSU outscored NKU by double digits to pull away. Tahj Staveskie led the way with 20 points, one shy of a season high, and Chase Robinson added 13 off the bench. Cleveland State shot 60 percent from the field in the second half. 
 

SCOUTING THE MASTODONS

Purdue Fort Wayne is 15-7 and 8-3 in the Horizon League headed into Thursday's game. The Mastodons have won five of the last six games and are unbeaten at home this season at 9-0. The trio of Rasheed Bello, Jalen Jackson and Corey Hadnot II lead the offensive attack for PFW. The three combine to average over 45 points per game with Jackson averaging 20.4 ppg. which leads the league. Jon Coffman is in his 11th season as the head coach. Coffman has 149 career victories in his time in Fort Wayne.

VIKINGS WIN EIGHTH IN A ROW AT YOUNGSTOWN STATE

In a game that featured the top two teams in the Horizon League standings, Cleveland State emerged with a key road victory at Youngstown State, 80-72. The Vikings took over sole possession of first place in the league with the win. CSU led by six at halftime and by as many as 16 midway through the second half. YSU mounted a late charge and moved within a point in the closing minutes before a huge three-point shot from Tahj Staveskie pushed the lead back to four and allowed the Vikings to hold on. Staveskie led a group of five players in double figures with a game-high 21 points. 

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. 

INSIDE THE WIN STREAK

Cleveland State has won twelve consecutive games and has done so thanks to strong play on the defensive end of the floor. The winning streak currently stands as tied for the second-longest in the country. Only Duke has a longer active streak, with CSU tied with Houston and Michigan State at twelve in a row. Cleveland State is allowing just 61.3 points per game during the streak and has held opponents to 39 percent shooting. CSU is out-rebounding opponents by a +4.8 margin during the streak and sports a 2.0 assist-to-turnover ratio, averaging over 18 assists against just 9 turnovers per game. 

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.  

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. Cleveland State is second in the league in field goal percentage at 47 percent, and third in three-point percentage at 38 percent. The Vikings lead the league in turnover margin(+4.73), assist-to-turnover ratio(1.64) and steals per game(8.36). Individually, Tevin Smith is tied for fourth in the league in scoring at 16.4 points per game and fourth in field goal percentage at 50 percent. Tahj Staveskie ranks third in three-point percentage at 40 percent. Ebrima Dibba leads the league in assist-to-turnover ratio at 3.7 and is second in assists per game at 5.0. 

DIBBA DROPPIN' DIMES

Ebrima Dibba has been one of the Horizon League's best distributors this season. Dibba is second in the league averaging 5.0 assists per game in conference play as well as sporting a 3.7 assist-to-turnover ratio. For the season, Dibba sports a 2.5 assist-to-turnover ratio and is averaging 4.0 assists per contest. He has recorded seven or more assists in a game five times this 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.

HOME SWEET HOME

Cleveland State has made a habit of protecting its home court throughout the last two seasons. The Vikings are 11-2 at home to start this season and finished 14-3 at home in the 2023-24 season as well as a 37-8 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. 

UP NEXT

Cleveland State remains on the road for a midweek game at Northern Kentucky. The Vikings and Norse will meet for the second time this season on February 5 at 7:00 p.m.