A Week Later, The Vikings Face Trouble

A week ago, the Cleveland State Men’s Basketball team was riding high at 20-3, awaiting their biggest weekend, or so we thought at the time. First place Valparaiso and Butler, their nemesis, were coming to town for two enormous games. It was also the start of three games in five nights against top quality conference opponents. This had the potential to make their season and put the program in the drivers seat for the Horizon League title and #1 seed in the conference tournament, which comes with a double-bye and home court advantage.

Now we sit six days later and instead of being two and a half games ahead of the closest competitors, they are essentially in a three-way tie for first place.

Thursday’s big win over Valpo was a great start. Unfortunately, the momentum lasted just one day. Saturday, in front of their first sellout crowd in years, the Vikings laid an egg against an angry Butler squad who was coming off a head-scratching loss to Youngstown State. Butler controlled the game from the beginning and came away with a 73-61 win.

Credit Butler coach Brad Stevens for this one. As much as I love Gary Waters, Stevens schooled him on this day. The Bulldogs set out to make sure CSU’s All-League PG Norris Cole wouldn’t beat them. From the opening tip, they ran two defenders at Cole every time he touched the ball, forcing him into one of his worst games of the season (4-13 shooting). Waters never figured out how to solve this riddle.

To make matters worse, he went away from the full court pressure style that his team had played all year. During the first meeting between the two teams, Butler broke the CSU press with ease on their way to a 23-point blowout win. Waters went straight man to man and was killed not only in the post, but on the perimeter as well. That strategy wasn’t working, yet Waters never turned back to the pressure.

“I went away from something we should have never done,” Waters said after the game.

I felt bad for the program after leaving the Wolstein Center that day. They finally had the spotlight to themselves – a 21-3 record, 8.500 people show up to support them, all wearing Black, and they couldn’t capitalize on it.

To make matters worse, the two-game lead they enjoyed on Valparaiso was completely erased after Monday night’s loss at Detroit. This was a tough bounce back game for the Vikings, going on the road against a talented Titans club. Detroit is not a great matchup for the Vikings because of their size. Eli Holman, UDM’s Center, is one of the best back to the basket big men in the league, but what makes him even tougher is Nick Minnerath, the rugged 6’9 true power forward next to him.

While Holman(17 points and 11 boards) was abusing Aaron Pogue, Minnerath was eating Tim Kamczyc for dinner.

“He killed us,” Waters said of Minnerath.

Kamczyc is more of a small forward than a true big, and Minnerath used his strength advantage to abuse him for 26 points. It turned into a dunk-fest for the Titans. While Cole did his absolute best to keep the Vikings in it (27 points, seven assists, six rebounds) and Pogue played well on the offensive end (12 points, eight rebounds), CSU came up short for a second straight time, losing 81-78.

So here we are a week after seemingly having the Horizon League in hand, in a tie for second place with Wright State at 10-4. Valparaiso is percentage points ahead at 9-3. With CSU’s back to back losses, the League has become very jumbled. After the top three, Butler and Milwaukee sit a game back at 8-5. Detroit is also right there at 8-6 and playing with great confidence. Every game remaining has become a must-win for the Vikings if they plan on winning the league.

Finishing in the top two is a must because it gives the Vikings a double-bye into the conference tournament semifinals.

CSU plays Saturday at home against 2-12 Youngstown State. The Penguins have suddenly become a tough out after beating Butler and losing in OT to Valpo last week. Tomorrow night’s highlighted games include Wright State at Butler and Detroit at Valparaiso. On Saturday, these four teams switch opponents from Thursday’s games.

Keep an eye on the Horizon League folks, its going to be a fun finish all the way down to the wire. The shame of it all is that CSU had their destiny in their hands and they no longer do.

Photo via John Kuntz/PD