The Cleveland State men's basketball team is currently in the midst of a three-game winning streak that has also seen the Vikings win five of their last seven games, evidently not many people are taking notice.

Monday afternoon the pairings for the ESPNU BracketBusters were released and head coach Gary Waters' squad was paired in a non-television game with Toledo. The Rockets have dropped their previous 11 contests heading into their game tonight at Bowling Green and hold an unimpressive record of 3-18.

The BracketBusters weekend gives mid-major teams an opportunity to not only show the NCAA Selection Committee that they belong in the 'Big Dance' but also serve as a measuring stick to see where a team is at come late February.


Head coach Gary Waters and the Vikings are just 10-12 overall on the season, but a tough non-conference schedule is proving it worked as CSU sits in the top tier of the Horizon League at fourth with a record of 6-4.

Last season CSU traveled to Wichita State as part of the ESPNU BracketBusters and lost to the Shockers, however it gave Waters and the Vikings an idea of where they were before making their run through the Horizon League Tournament and then upsetting Wake Forest in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

It seems as if this Feb. 20 home showdown with the Rockets is a lose-lose situation for CSU, where if the Vikings lose it's a terrible upset, but if they win it is what they were supposed to do.

Despite the poor draw, Cleveland State is currently fourth in the Horizon League standings behind No. 15 Butler, Detroit and Wright State.

Next up for CSU is a two-game road trip to Chicago where the Vikings face two teams they have beaten already in Illinois-Chicago and Loyola.

- Nick Camino

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- Norris Cole had 20 points and 10 assists, and Cleveland State defeated Youngstown State 70-48 on Saturday night for its first Horizon League victory of the season.

Jared Cunningham added 13 points and Jeremy Montgomery had 12 for the Vikings (5-10, 1-2). The Vikings outrebounded Youngstown State 44-31, behind a game-high 16 boards by Aaron Pogue. D'Aundray Brown added 10 rebounds.

The Vikings, who have four losses to top-15 teams, jumped out to a 42-19 lead. Cleveland State led by 16 points or more the rest of the game and held its biggest advantage at 63-39 on a 3-pointer by Montgomery with 7:38 to play.

The 48 points allowed was the fewest given up by the Vikings in 21 games.

Sirlester Martin led the Penguins (5-8, 0-4) with 15 points. DeAndre Mays and Kelvin Bright each added 11 points.

CLEVELAND -- Gary Wallace scored 14 points off the bench and Robert Morris defeated Cleveland State 78-70 on Tuesday night.

Tied at 42-42, Robert Morris (4-5) went on a 15-1 run to lead 57-43 on Jimmy Langhurst's 3-pointer with 8:58 left to play.

The Vikings (4-7), who shot 36.7 percent in the second half (11 of 30), wouldn't get any closer than seven the rest of the way.

Robert Morris trailed 29-28 with 2:19 left until halftime, before outscoring the Vikings 6-3 to end the half. Brad Piehl capped the run with two straight baskets and the Colonials led 34-32 at halftime.

Robert Morris, which averaged 9.2 3-pointers in the past five games, was 5 of 7 from long range against the Vikings.

The Colonials shot 53.7 percent from the field (22 of 41).

Norris Cole led the Vikings with 22 points. Trevon Harmon added 17 and D'Aundray Brown scored 11 for Cleveland State.

DETROIT -- Xavier Keeling scored 24 points Saturday to lead Detroit to a 69-62 Horizon League victory over Cleveland State.

The Titans (6-2, 2-0) also got 18 points from Thomas Kennedy, 10 points from Woody Payne and a game-high 11 rebounds from Chase Simon.

The Vikings (3-6, 0-2) placed four players in double figures, led by Trevon Harmon's 15 points. He was backed by 12 from Nigel Ajere and 11 each from Norris Cole and Jeremy Montgomery.

Detroit blew out to a 12-0 lead before Cleveland State scored. Eulis Stephens' dunk gave the Titans a 25-6 edge, their largest lead of the first half, with 11:08 to go. Detroit led 26-15 at the break.

The Titans did not let up, scoring the first five points of the second half for a 31-15 advantage.

The lead reached 20 at 58-38 on Kennedy's layup with 5:18 left, and Detroit was never in trouble.

DAYTON, Ohio -- Cooper Land scored 14 points and Cory Cooperwood tallied a double-double, leading Wright State to a 73-64 win over Cleveland State in the Horizon League opener for both teams on Thursday night.

Cooperwood scored 13 points and added 10 boards, and Land hit three of Wright State's four 3-pointers in the win. Vaughn Duggins, Scott Grote and Troy Tabler scored 10 points apiece for the Raiders (4-2).

The Raiders took an eight-point lead into the locker room and outscored the Vikings (3-5) 37-36 in the second half to hold on.

Wright State outrebounded Cleveland State 29-23.

The Raiders shot 51.2 percent from the floor (21-for-41) compared to just a 44.2 mark (23-for-52) for the Vikings.

Norris Cole paced the Vikings with 18 points, Jeremy Montgomery had 13 and Trevon Harmon added 10.

CLEVELAND -- Toure Murry scored 15 points and had a career-high 11 rebounds to lead Wichita State to a 69-54 victory over Cleveland State on Saturday.

Murry had all of his rebounds on the defensive end, and the Shockers (4-1) shot 62.5 percent from 3-point range (5-for-8) in the first half to take a lead they never relinquished.

Murry, Graham Hatch and Clevin Hannah each hit 3-pointers in the opening minutes for a 9-5 lead, and Aaron Ellis' layup gave the Shockers a 13-5 advantage with 14:21 left in the first half. The Shockers stretched the lead to 27-13 on Murry's 3-pointer with 8:26 remaining.

Wichita State shot 43.5 percent from the field (20-for-46) for the game compared to Cleveland State's 25.8 percent (16-for-62).

Hannah led Wichita State with 16 points and Garrett Stutz added 13 points.
Trevon Harmon led the Vikings (3-4) with 23 points and Aaron Pogue added 16.

CANCUN, Mexico -- Once John Wall gained his footing, not even a warped court could slow down Kentucky.

The heralded freshman found his form in the second half and proved too much to handle in the open floor as the No. 5 Wildcats raced past Cleveland State 73-49 on Tuesday in the Cancun Challenge at the Moon Palace Resort.

Wall scored a team-high 15 points, including 11 after halftime, as he zipped in and out of the Cleveland State defense. The nation's top-rated recruit last year repeatedly took charge with the ball, drawing trips to the free-throw line or setting up teammates for open looks at the basket.

"They had to go help and didn't have any choice because John was driving in there and getting everyone looks," Kentucky forward Darius Miller said. "It changes everything because everybody has to help and if they don't it's an easy layup for him. It just creates so many open opportunities for everyone else."

Wall did most of his damage from the foul line, going 9 of 10 while taking only five shots from the field. When he didn't finish or draw a foul himself, he found open teammates with kick-out passes against a Vikings defense stretched thin.

"Our team started making shots and our big men were running, so that opened lanes for me," Wall said. "Every time they collapsed when I penetrated, I was kicking out to shooters and they were making shots. It was being more patient and finding the open people."

The game was played in unconventional surroundings, with the resort's main ballroom being converted into a makeshift gymnasium.

Chandeliers hung from the low ceiling, two electronic scoreboards were connected to the ceiling by wire cables, and a food buffet sat just a few feet off the end of one baseline. Sections of the hardwood floor had gaps several inches wide and the baseline was a jagged line where the floor did not match up.

The game was chippy and ragged from the start, with both teams talking trash and officials whistling 24 fouls in the first half. A late 3-pointer by 6-foot-10 forward Josh Harrellson stemmed a late Cleveland State run and gave Kentucky a 35-27 lead at the break.

Kentucky (5-0) took control early in the second half when freshman forward DeMarcus Cousins hit a 3 as the shot clock expired, then made five free throws on one possession, aided by an intentional foul called on D'Aundray Brown for grabbing Wall and pulling him to the floor on a breakaway.

"When teams watch film they think we're soft and try to push us around," Wall said. "We got tired of it and started to push back and the game got really physical. They can think that if they want to, but I'm not going to be soft."

By the time Cleveland State (3-2) called a timeout with 13:08 remaining, Kentucky had outscored the Vikings 18-4 in the second half to open a 22-point advantage.
Cousins was whistled for a technical foul for throwing an intentional elbow at Cleveland State's Jared Cunningham with 3:25 left after an official warned Cunningham for shoving Cousins in the back seconds earlier.

Cleveland State coach Gary Waters said his squad's philosophy is to try and take the fight to the opponent, but he wasn't thrilled with the way the referees handled the physical game. The Vikings were called for 25 fouls and attempted 15 free throws to Kentucky's 35.

At one point in the second half, Cleveland State had been whistled for seven fouls while the Wildcats had not been penalized a single time.

"That's how we play," Waters said. "We're aggressive and defend really hard and when you start getting those fouls you have to let up on how hard and physical you play a team. If they would have just gotten out of the way and let that game be played -- and I won't tell you who needed to get out of the way -- the game could have been interesting. I don't know if we would have won, but I thought we could have played much better. I think we could have stayed in that game if we had been allowed to play our defense the way we do."

Kentucky won despite preseason All-American Patrick Patterson finishing with only nine points and five rebounds, both well below his season averages of 19 points and 12.3 rebounds. Patterson played just one minute in the second half because of what coach John Calipari called a slight ankle injury.

Cleveland State was led by Brown and reserve Jeremy Montgomery, who scored 10 points apiece.

Cousins had 14 points and seven rebounds for Kentucky, while Miller added nine points and eight rebounds.