Vikings Begin Swing Through Wisconsin at Green Bay on Thursday Night

GAME #22
Cleveland State (5-16, 2-6 HL) at Green Bay (8-15, 3-7 HL)  ***per CSU***

Thursday, January 25, 2018 | 8:00 pm ET
Green Bay, Wis. | Resch Center
Live Stats | ESPN3 | AM 1420

PDF GAME NOTES
Cleveland State at Green Bay

GAME PREVIEW:
•     Cleveland State begins its two-game swing through Wisconsin with an 8:00 pm ET contest at Green Bay on Thursday (Jan. 25) night at the Resch Center.
•    The Vikings are 5-16 overall and 2-6 in the League this year following Saturday’s 87-80 setback at home to UIC.
•    Green Bay enters the game with an 8-15 overall record (3-7 HL) and fell at home to Northern Kentucky, 77-65, on Saturday.
•    Thursday’s game will be broadcast live on AM 1420 and AM 1440 with Al Pawlowski providing the play-by-play.
•    The pre-game show with Ed Daugherty begins at 7:30 pm ET.
•    The game will also be shown live on ESPN3 and the WatchESPN app.

THE GREEN BAY SERIES:
•     Green Bay leads the all-time series with Cleveland State, 46-30. The 76 games are the third most against an opponent in school history (Youngstown State: 87; UIC: 83).
•     The Phoenix have won 10 of the last 13 overall in the series against CSU.
•    Green Bay had won five straight games in the series until CSU snapped the streak with an 80-79 victory over the Phoenix at the Wolstein Center on Jan. 4.
•     CSU is 10-27 all-time in Green Bay with the Vikings last win a 66-61 overtime victory during the 2014-15 season.

GAME 21: UIC 87, @CSU 80 (1/20/18):
•     Cleveland State had four players in double figures and UIC held off a late rally by the Vikings to defeat CSU, 87-80.
•    Tyree Appleby led the Vikings with 19 points, six rebounds and a career-high tying seven assists. It is the fifth game this year that he has dished out seven assists.
•    Jamarcus Hairston scored 16 points – hitting 4-of-7 from three point – and added seven rebounds and a blocked shot.
•    Kasheem Thomas finished with 13 points and five rebounds. He went 11-of-12 at the free throw line, both career-highs.

IMPROVING AT THE LINE:
•    CSU has shown continued improvement at the free throw line since going 13-of-37 (.351) over the first two games.
•    The Vikings are shooting 211-of-284 (.743) at the charity stripe since then.
•    In Horizon League play, the Vikings have hit 104-of-129 (.806) from the free throw line
•    CSU is shooting .698 (224-321) at the line this year.

CARDIAC VIKINGS:
•    The Vikings have played in eight one possession games this year, posting a 3-5 mark in those games.
•    Four of CSU’s Horizon League games have come down to the final possession as the Vikings fell to Youngstown State (80-77), defeated Green Bay (80-79), lost at Detroit Mercy (85-84) and defeated IUPUI (70-67).
•    CSU played in three straight one poessession games from Nov. 20 through Nov. 29, falling at ECU, 72-69 (Nov. 20), losing to Central Conn., 74-73, (Nov. 24), and toping Arkansas State, 75-72 (Nov. 29).
•    It was the first time CSU played three straight one poessession games since the 1999-2000 season when CSU fell at St. Bonaventure, 71-69, (12/30/99), and won at Loyola, 70-68 (1/6/00) and at UIC, 91-89 (1/8/00).
•    The Vikings also played a one possession game at Niagara (L, 79-77 on Dec. 19).

HAIRSTON EARNS FIRST CAREER START:
•     Jamarcus Hariston earned his first career start at CSU vs. Green Bay (Jan. 4). He totaled two points, four rebounds and two steals in 26 minutes.
•    In eight League games (seven starts), Hairston is averaging 7.6 points and 5.5 rebounds, while shooting .523 (23-44) from the floor.
•    He scored 16 points – hitting 4-of-7 from three-point – with seven rebounds vs. UIC (Jan. 20).
•    Hairston posted six points and set career-highs in rebounds (8) and steals (4) in a win at IUPUI, playing a career-high 32 minutes. His tip-in with 22 seconds left gave CSU the lead for good (68-67).
•    He had 14 points (5-6 FG) with six boards at Detroit (Jan. 10).
•    Hairston scored a career-high 17 points at Niagara (Dec. 19), hitting 7-of-9 from the field, adding five boards and two assists.

CLAYBORNE’S BIG NIGHT:
•    Evan Clayborne scored a career-high 10 points and tied his career-high with seven rebounds in a win over IUPUI (Jan. 18).
•    He added two steals and a block in 24 minutes off the bench.
•    Clayborne has slowly worked his way back from a knee injury suffered at Kent State (Dec. 2), which forced him to miss seven games.

WORD UP!:
•     Senior Bobby Word has started all 53 games during his CSU career.
•    He is 23rd in the League in scoring this year (11.0), while ranking fourth in the League in three pointers (2.4).
•    Word scored a career-high 26 points – hitting a career-best seven threes – at Michigan State (Dec. 29).
•    He followed that up with a 24 point effort vs. Youngstown State (Jan. 1), which included nine points in the final 49 seconds. His three-pointer with nine seconds left tied the game at 77-77 before the Penguins won it with a buzzer beater.
•    Word is the top returning scorer from last year’s team (11.1).

WORD HITS 1,000 CAREER POINTS WITH DOUBLE DOUBLE:
•    With his 11 point effort vs. Green Bay on Jan. 4, Bobby Word reached 1,000 career points.
•     Word scored 487 points during his two seasons at Oral Roberts and has 576 points during his CSU career for 1,063 career points.
•    Word also notched his first career double-double vs. Green Bay.
•     He scored 14 points and added a career-high 10 rebounds. His old career-high was seven rebounds.

KENIC SCORES CAREER-HIGH:
•    Stefan Kenic scored a career-high 15 points at Detroit Mercy (Jan. 10).
•    He hit 6-of-10 from the floor and his three-pointer from the top of the arc with 3.9 seconds left gave the Vikings an 84-83 lead before UDM won the game at the buzzer.
•    Kenic is averaging 8.6 points and 3.1 rebounds this year, playing in all 20 games with 17 starts.

CARPENTER GOING TO WORK:
•     Senior Kenny Carpenter is enjoying his best season to date.
•    He ranks 17th in the Horizon League in scoring (13.0) and 14th in rebounding (5.2), while adding 2.3 assists.
•    Carpenter is also 13th in the League in field goal percentage (.477).
•    He has three, 20-point games this year and has 15 double figure scoring games.
•    Carpenter also has three double-digit rebounding games.
•    Carpenter scored a career-high 26 points against Coppin State (Nov. 17), bettering his old career-high of 24 points set at UIC as a sophomore.
•    He scored 24 points in the first half vs. Coppin State and finished the game 10-of-17 from the field, including 6-of-11 from three-point.
•    The six three-pointers are tied for the fourth most in a game in program history and the 17th time a CSU player made six three’s.
•    He became the first CSU player to make six threes since Charlie Lee hit six at Oakland on Feb. 6, 2014.
•    Carpenter has posted two double-doubles this year, the first two of his career.
•    Carpenter recorded his first career double-double with 11 points and a career-high 12 boards in the season opener at Akron (Nov. 11).
•    He posted a career-high 26 points and 11 rebounds against Coppin State (Nov. 17).

APPLEBY APPEALING:
•     Tyree Appleby is averaging 11.2 points, 2.3 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 1.6 steals in his first season of college basketball.
•    He ranks third in the League in steals, fifth in assists and is 21st in scoring.
•    He is a three-time Horizon League Freshman of the Week, earning the award in back-to-back weeks (Dec. 4, Dec. 10) and again on Jan. 15.
•    Appleby earned the first award after averaging 10.0 points, 2.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.5 steals vs. Arkansas State and at Kent State, shooting .562 (9-16) from the floor.
•    Appleby picked up his second straight honor after averaging 18.0 points, 3.5 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 3.5 steals, while shooting .800 (12-15) from the field, including 5-of-6 (.833) from three-point at Western Michigan and vs. Notre Dame College.
•    He won his third award after averaging 16.5 points, 7.0 assists, 3.5 rebounds, and 2.5 steals in games at Detroit Mercy and Oakland.
•    Appleby has dished out a career-best seven assists in five games this season.
•    Appleby scored a career-high 24 points at Western Michigan (Dec. 6), hitting 8-of-10 from the field, including 4-of-5 from three-point and all four free throws, while adding three rebounds, three assists and three steals.
•    It was the most points by a CSU freshman since Rob Edwards scored 26 points at Detroit Mercy on Jan. 4, 2016.

VIKINGS TIE THREE POINT MARK WITH 14 MAKES:
•     The Vikings have tied the single game school record with 14 made three-pointers three times this year.
•    CSU was 14-of-32 from three-point against Coppin State (Nov. 17) and went 14-of-39 from long distance against Notre Dame College (Dec. 10).
•    The Vikings were 14-of-31 from three at Detroit Mercy (Jan. 10).
•    CSU has hit 14 three’s in a game seven times in school history.

THE FELTON FILE:
•     First-year head coach Dennis Felton earned his first victory at CSU with an 80-56 win over Coppin State (Nov. 17).
•     Felton, who made his CSU regular season debut on Nov. 11 at Akron, was named the 15th head coach in CSU history on March 24.
•    Felton, a coaching veteran with more than 30 years of experience, is in his 12th season as a head coach, having spent five years at Western Kentucky (1998-03) and five-plus seasons at Georgia (2003-09).
•    During his time on the sidelines Felton has amassed 189 victories, won seven conference championships and led six of his teams to the postseason, including four NCAA berths.

FOR THREE:
•    CSU has hit a three-pointer in a school record 618 straight games.
•    The Vikings have hit at least three three’s in 167 straight contests, extending the streak with eight threes against UIC on Saturday.
•    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.

THE WRIGHT STUFF:
•     Anthony Wright recorded his first career double-double on Dec. 2 at Kent State.
•    Wright scored a career-high 21 points, hitting 8-of-11 from the field, including a career-best four three’s (in six attempts). He also had a career-high tying 11 rebounds.
•    Wright is averaging 7.6 points and ranks 10th in the League with 5.8 rebounds.
•    Wright is shooting .806 (25-31) at free throw line and has made his last 11 free throws.
•    After coming off the bench in the first two games, Wright started 14 straight games. He has missed the last three games with injury.

KASH IS MONEY:
•     Kasheem Thomas has had a strong start to Horizon League play, averaging 7.9 points and 3.3 assists.
•    Thomas scored a season-high 11 points with six assists against Youngstown State (Jan. 1).
•    He had eight points with six assists at Detroit Mercy (Jan. 10) and posted 10 points and six assists at NKU (Jan. 15).
•    Thomas scored 13 points against UIC (Jan. 20), setting career highs in free throws made (11) and attempted (12).
•    Thomas started 39 consecutive games to open his career, including all 31 last year, the most by a freshman in program history.
•    Thomas has a career assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.8 (148 assists to 81 turnovers).

UP NEXT:
•    CSU concludes its trip through Wisconsin with a 2:00 pm ET game at Milwaukee on Saturday (Jan. 27).
•    The Vikings return home for two games next week, hosting Wright State on Thursday (Feb. 1) at 7:00 pm and Northern Kentucky at 3:00 pm on Saturday (Feb. 3).