All-Time vs. Northern Kentucky: 10-11

Last Meeting: 1/15/24 76-58 W

Tickets: nkunorse.com

Radio: Fox Sports 1350 AM

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

TV: ESPN+

Play-By-Play: Brady Laber, Matt Sexton

SETTING THE SCENE

The Cleveland State Men's Basketball team takes its 13-game winning streak on the road for the second time in a week as the Vikings travel to Northern Kentucky for a Wednesday night matchup. Cleveland State defeated Purdue Fort Wayne on Thursday night to improve to 11-1 in league play and continue a streak of 11 consecutive conference victories. NKU also picked up a road victory in its last outing at Oakland on Saturday afternoon. The win over the Golden Grizzlies snapped a string of six consecutive losses which included dropping the first matchup against the Vikings earlier this season. 

THE CLEVELAND STATE/NKU SERIES

Wednesday's game is the 22nd all-time meeting between Cleveland State and Northern Kentucky. The series is nearly dead even with NKU holding a slight 11-10 edge. The Norse and Vikings have played many close games of late with five of the last six meetings between the two teams decided by one possession. The lone exception to that is the most recent meeting which took place earlier this season. The Vikings defeated the Norse 76-58 thanks to an 11-point margin in the second half. Tahj Staveskie led a group of four players in double figures for the Vikings finishing with 20 points in 39 minutes of action. 

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, February 3. The Vikings were receiving votes in previous versions of the poll and climbed into the rankings two weeks ago at no. 24. Cleveland State has now appeared in the poll for three straight weeks. The poll is comprised of a committee of mid-major head coaches from across the country. 

VIKINGS BRING HOME 13TH WIN IN A ROW OVER PURDUE FORT WAYNE

Cleveland State won its 13th game in a row as the Vikings defeated Purdue Fort Wayne 68-58 in front of a nationally televised audience on ESPNU. Cleveland State led nearly wire-to-wire as the Vikings never trailed after the first minute of action. CSU held one of the league's top offenses to its lowest scoring output of the season in league play. Chase Robinson tied a career-high with 20 points, with 11 coming in the second half.

CHASE ROBINSON NAMED #HLMBB PLAYER OF THE WEEK

Chase Robinson took home his first league weekly award after a big game on Thursday at Purdue Fort Wayne. Robinson poured in 20 points which tied his career best, which he set in last year's Horizon League Quarterfinal win at Youngstown State. Robinson shot 60 percent from the floor and finished 3-for-5 from three-point range. He was also perfect on five attempts from the free throw line. 

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. 

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. 

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. 

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 returns to the Wolstein Center for a matchup against Milwaukee on Saturday. The game is part of a doubleheader with the women's basketball team who will take on Oakland at noon with the men's game tipping at 3:00 p.m.