1-1 CSU Vikings Continue Bluegrass Showcase Tonight Against UT-Martin

GAME #3
Bluegrass Showcase
Cleveland State (1-1) at UT-Martin (2-1)
Friday, November 18 | 8:00 pm ET | Martin, Tenn.
Live Stats | OVC Digital Network | AM 1420 WHK

GAME PREVIEW:
•     Cleveland State continues play in the Bluegrass Showcase with an 8:00 pm ET game at UT-Martin on Friday (Nov. 18).
•    The Vikings are 1-1 this season after earning a 67-64 win over Canisius on Tuesday (Nov. 15) in the home opener.
•    UT-Martin is 2-1 this year and has defeated UT Rio Grande Valley and Cumberland after losing its season opener, 86-83, at Ole Miss.
•    Friday’s game will be broadcast live on AM 1420 and AM 1440 with Al Pawlowski providing the play-by-play.
•    The game will also be shown on the OVC Digital Network.

THE UT-MARTIN SERIES:
•     Friday’s game will be the first-ever meeting between CSU and UT-Martin in men’s basketball.
•    This will be the first of five teams that CSU will be playing for the first time in program history this year (UT-Martin, Arkansas State, Bethune-Cookman, Purdue, Lake Erie).

GAME 2 REVIEW: CSU 67, CANISIUS 64 (11/15/16)
•     CSU won its home opener, 67-64, on Tuesday night over Canisius at the Wolstein Center.
•    Rob Edwards led five players in double figures with 17 points, while Bobby Word had 14 points and tied a career-high with seven rebounds.
•    Derek Sloan set career-highs in points (10) and rebounds (7).
•    Kasheem Thomas posted 10 points, six rebounds and seven assists, while Jibri Blount tallied 10 points and five rebounds.
•    The Vikings shot .517 (15-29) from the field in the second half, out-scoring Canisius, 36-28, over the final 20 minutes.

WORKING OVERTIME:
•     The Vikings played the 85th overtime game in school history on Nov. 12 against Kent State.
•    CSU is now 44-41 all-time in overtime games and has dropped three straight overtime contests.
•    CSU’s last overtime win was a 66-61 win at Green Bay on Feb. 20, 2015.

VIKINGS TABBED 8TH IN PRESEASON POLL:
•     The Vikings were tabbed eighth in the Horizon League Preseason poll, earning 150 points.
•    Valparaiso was chosen as the League favorite with 385 points and 35 first place votes, while Oakland was second with 337 points and two first place votes.
•    Defending tournament champion Green Bay finished third with 309 points and the final two first place votes.
•    UIC was fourth with 217 points and was followed by Wright State (202), Detroit Mercy (195), Northern Kentucky (153), CSU (150), Youngstown State (125) and Milwaukee (72).

EDWARDS EARNS PRESEASON HONOR:
•     Sophomore Rob Edwards was named to the preseason All-Horizon League second team.
•    Edwards averaged 12.4 points, 3.9 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.2 steals per game last year, earning a spot on the Horizon League All-Freshman team.
•    He started 30 games last year, the most for a freshman in CSU history, and also logged a CSU freshman record 994 minutes.
•    A three-time Horizon League Freshman of the Week last year, Edwards posted four 20-point games during his freshman campaign, including a career-high 26 point effort at Detroit.
•    Edwards is averaging 14.5 points and 3.0 rebounds per game this year, while shooting .900 (9-10) at the free throw line.

KASH DROPPING DIMES:
•     Freshman Kasheem Thomas leads the Horizon League with 8.0 assists per game.
•    Thomas’ 16 assists are the most by a League player this year. He had nine assists in the season opener vs. Kent State and handed out seven against Canisius.
•    Thomas has a 4.0 assist-to-turnover-ratio, committing just four turnovers to his 16 assists.

… AND HE’S JUST A FRESHMAN:
•     Kasheem Thomas is averaging 11.5 points and team-highs in rebounds (5.5) and assists (8.0) through two games.
•    He is shooting .500 (8-16) from the field and .556 (5-9) from three-point.
•    Thomas became the first CSU freshman to start a season opener since 2003-04 (Walt Waters) when he drew a starting assignment vs. Kent State (11/12).

FOR THREE:
•    CSU has hit a three-pointer in a school-record 568 consecutive games.
•    The Vikings have hit at least three three’s in 117 straight games.
•     The last time CSU failed to make a three-pointer was Feb. 21, 1998, when the Vikings were 0-for-8 in a 60-57 win over Detroit.

WORD UP:
•     Junior Bobby Word made his CSU debut on Saturday vs. Kent State. He sat out last season after transferring from Oral Robets.
•    Word scored a team-high 17 points against Kent State, hitting four three-pointers and 5-of-6 from the free throw line.
•    As a sophomore at ORU, Word averaged 8.4 points and was tops on the team with 56 three’s.
•    He scored in double figures 14 times, including a career-high 22 points in the second round of the CBI against Loyola (Ill.).

THE LONE SENIOR:
•     Demonte Flannigan is the lone senior on this year’s 17 player roster. He has missed the first two games of the season (ill).
•    Last season, Flannigan ranked second on team in scoring (11.4) and rebounding (5.4).
•    He was also 10th in the League in blocked shots (0.9), 13th in field goal percentage (.485), 16th in rebounding, 21st in scoring.
•    Posted five double-doubles as a junior and poured in a career-high 30 points in a win at Youngstown State (Feb. 13).

CAREER NIGHT FOR SLOAN:
•     With Demonte Flannigan out of the lineup to start the season, junior Derek Sloan has been inserted into the starting lineup.
•    Sloan has responded well, averaging 6.0 points and 4.5 rebounds, while shooting .667 (6-9) from the field.
•    Sloan set career highs in points (10) and rebounds (7) in Tuesday’s win over Canisius, hitting five of his seven shots from the floor in just 17 minutes.

ALL IN THE FAMILY:
•     Sophomore Jibri Blount is the son of NFL Hall of Famer and former Pittsburgh Steelers great Mel Blount who played 14 seasons for the Black and Gold.
•    Blount had a strong freshman season, averaging 5.7 points and 3.1 rebounds in 29 games, including five starts.
•    As a starting forward this year, he is averaging 9.0 points and 3.0 rebounds per game.

BIG SHOT JAMARCUS:
•     Junior Jamarcus Hairston had a strong debut in the season opener vs. Kent State, totaling 13 points (4-7 FG) and two rebounds.
•    Hairston hit a three-pointer from the corner with 2.6 seconds to play that tied the contest at 66-66 and sent it into overtime.

EVAN ALMIGHTY:
•     Freshman Evan Clayborne has provided the Vikings with a spark as one of the first big men off the bench this year.
•    He is averaging 2.0 points and 3.0 rebounds per game with two blocks and two steals, while also providing a defensive presence around the basket.
•    Clayborne played 32 minutes in the season opener vs. Kent State and grabbed four rebounds.

JACKSON RETURNS TO UT-MARTIN:
•     CSU assistant coach Cornelius Jackson will return to UT-Martin on Friday night. He spent four years (2009-13) as an assistant coach at UT-Martin, including the final two years as the assistant head coach and recruiting coordinator.

UP NEXT:
•    The Vikings return to action on Wednesday (Nov. 23) with a 1:00 pm contest at No. 2 ranked Kentucky.