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VikingsFrontTest.bm)
Mieskoski's Weekly News and Notes
By: Tom Mieskoski
During Horizon League games Cleveland State men's basketball team has played like two completely different teams at home and on the road.
At home, the Vikings are tough to beat at 5-1 in Horizon League games, with their only loss coming to Butler on a game-winning shot by Zach Hahn at the buzzer.
On the road, the Vikings have struggled, going 1-4, with their only win coming at last-place Detroit.
Which makes this week's road trip to Chicago two must wins if CSU is going to have a chance to lock up a two-seed, or a three-seed, in next month's Horizon League Tournament.
Starting with tonight's game at Illinois-Chicago (8 p.m.) and Saturday's game at Loyola (4 p.m.), both games will be televised by SportsTime Ohio.
"I got to take this team on the road this week and use this as a stepping stone because the majority of the games are on the road," said Waters. "Our aspirations haven't changed because I knew before the season (started) to get to the NCAA's you need to win the tournament."
To win on the road, Waters said there are three things you have to do: defend without fouling; make your free throws and control the tempo of the game.
One problem, the Vikings have had on the road is getting off to slow starts. In their four losses, CSU has trailed early in the first half by 13,12,12 and 9. In CSU's only win at Detroit, the Vikings led by 14 at the half.
"We have put a major emphasize on counter-punching, " said Waters, "We got to go right at these guys immediately. A lot of it comes from we are not hitting shots. What was happening, we missed and teams would run right down our throats.
"What I might have to do is go inside more. I expect UIC to start off with a zone to make us shoot it."
One area, Waters says CSU needs to improve on is being more of a balance offensive attack rather then two guys carrying the scoring load.
The Vikings (15-8, 6-5 Horizon League) should get a boost from the presence of D'Aundray Brown who returns to the bench tonight after being out since Dec. 30 with a stress fracture of the ribcage.
Without Brown the Vikings went 5-4.
Waters said he will ease Brown back into the lineup and it could take about two weeks for him to get back into playing shape.
CSU should also get a boost off the bench from Renard Field, who has been recovering from a knee injury.
"We have been missing Renard for about a month," said Waters. "When he got hurt I thought that really set us back because we were limited to three post players. With Renard back we now have four.
"One thing that hurt us when Renard being out was that J'Nathan had to play major minutes. I think down the stretch J'Nathan didn't have enough to give us. Now he will have more to give us down the stretch."
To have a chance to win both games Waters said he needs George Tandy and Chris Moore to step up. "We are a better team when George Tandy comes to play. Now when we have both George Tandy and Chris Moore we are hard to handle," he said.
Who's hot:
Sophomore guard Norris Cole is averaging 20 points over his last four games, shooting 57.1 percent (32-for-56) from the field and 50 percent (8-for-16) from 3-point distance.
Quote of the week:
"We made a major mistake on that guy. It was just when I took over the job and he was very much under the radar. There is a long history dealing with him committing to another school. We let that go and maybe we shouldn't have.
"To Cleveland State's credit they got back in the mix and convinced him to come here. He's a great player. We are not the only one's who missed out on him. He could play for Dayton, too."
~Wright State head coach Brad Brownell on Norris Cole
CSU Drops in Mid-Major poll:
Despite, winning both of its home games last week, CSU dropped two places to No.25 in CollegeInsiders.com Mid-Major Top 25.
RPI Update:
According to Realtime.rpi.com, CSU's RPI is 95. Only Butler (nine) and Green Bay (65) have higher RPI's. Overall, the Horizon League has the 11th best conference RPI in the country.
Anderson update:
CSU recruit Kevin Anderson (6-10, center) is averaging 8.8 points, 9.4 rebounds and 5.6 blocks through five games at Technical Career Institutes (JUCO). Anderson is hurt again, according to Waters and should return shortly.
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