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Men's Hoops Continue Road Swing At UIC
Jan. 13, 2005
Contact: Brian McCann
Complete Release in PDF Format
GAME 13 SETTING THE SCENE: The Vikings continue their current four-game road swing when CSU travel to Chicago to face Illinois-Chicago on Saturday, Jan. 15 beginning at 7:00 p.m. CST in the UIC Pavilion. The Vikings, who snapped a seven game losing streak with a 78-62 win over Youngstown State on Jan. 8, are coming off a difficult 81-76 loss at UW-Green Bay on Tuesday night (Jan. 11). CSU carries a 4-8 overall and 1-3 Horizon League record into the game. UIC, which was picked to finish second in the league this year, has struggled against a difficult schedule, owning a 7-7 overall and 2-2 league mark. The Flames have not played since beating Pennsylvania, 57-47, last Saturday (Jan. 8). PREVIEWING UIC: The Flames may have the most-talented starting lineup in the Horizon League this year, but depth has been the problem for UIC as only five players have seen action in all 14 games and only eight average double figures in minutes played. The Flames, who have made three NCAA appearances in the last six years, are 7-7 overall and 2-2 in conference play this year, reeling off consecutive wins over Youngstown State (62-56), Loyola (64-58) and Pennsylvania (57-47). Senior Cedrick Banks (15.0 ppg, 4.9 rpg), a first team all-league choice last year, leads the team in scoring. Senior forward Armond Williams (10.0, 6.3), a first team preseason all-league choice this year, has worked his way back after missing the first five games of the year for academic reasons. The rest of the starting unit features forwards Jovan Stefanov (9.9, 5.5), Elliott Poole (9.4, 5.3) and Justin Bowen (8.6, 6.1). OH MY!, OMARI: Omari Westley went from hot to red hot this week when he poured in a career-high 38 points at UW-Green Bay to shatter his personal scoring best and, in the process, take over the Horizon League scoring lead. He was 14-of-20 from the field and nine-of-11 from the line against the Phoenix, scoring 19 points in both the first and second halfs. The scoring total was the sixth-highest single game total in CSU history and the most since Damon Stringer tallied 47 points at UW-Milwaukee on Jan. 29, 2000. Westley is tied with UW-Milwaukee's Ed McCants for the highest single game total in the Horizon League this year (McCants scored 38 points against Detroit on Jan. 3). He is leading the league with a 16.8 scoring average, taking the lead from McCants, who is second with a 16.6 average. WESTLEY IS ON A ROLL: Omari Westley has been a dominant player at both ends of the court since Horizon League play began, averaging 23.0 points and 9.5 rebounds a game, shooting .640 from the field (32-50) in the four league contests. After a 3-for-10 shooting effort at Loyola on Jan. 3, he has gone 70-percent or better in three straight games, going 7-for-10 at Wright State, 8-for-10 vs. Youngstown State and 14-for-20 at UW-Green Bay. He has raised his field goal percentage from .406 (41-101) after nine games to .496 (70-141) overall, ranking him eighth in the league this year. . . . MORE ON THE ROLL: After leading the team in scoring in just one of the first six games (16 at Utah Valley State), the North Carolina game turned out to be an awakening for Omari Westley as he scored a then-season high 18 points against the fourth-ranked Tar Heels. In the five games since (counting UNC), he has averaged 22.0 points, leading the team in scoring every time. He went from averaging 14.0 points after seven games to a league-best 16.8 points heading into Saturday's game. WESTLEY PASSES HIS BOARDS: Omari Westley is well on his way to claiming his second straight Horizon League rebounding title as the senior is more than two rebounds a game ahead of his closest competitor. Westley, who has grabbed 10 or more rebounds six times this season, is averaging 9.3 rebounds a game, putting him well ahead of second place Adrian Tigert from UW-Milwaukee, who is averaging 7.3 rebounds a game. Westley also leads the league with 4.0 offensive rebounds a game. He led the league in both offensive (3.1) and total rebounds (8.6) a year ago. . . . WESTLEY LOVES THE DOUBLE-DOUBLE: Omari Westley has made a habit of turning in double-double performances -- double figure totals in points and rebounds -- during his career. He has six of them in just 12 games this year, to easily lead the Horizon League. In fact, there have only been 19 other double-doubles in the league this year with only UW-Green Bay's Javier Mendiburu (3) having more than two double-doubles. In 40 career games, Westley has 14 double-doubles. WESTLEY FROM THE LINE: Omari Westley used a nine-for-11 effort from the foul line on Tuesday to take over the Horizon League lead for free throws attempted. Westley, who ranked third with 175 attempted free throws last year, has gone to the line 90 times in 12 games this year (7.5 per game). He and Wright State's DaShaun Woods (85 attempts) are the only players to attempt more than 70 free throws this season. Westley has attempted 10 or more free throws in a game seven times during his career, including three this season. ROAD TRIP ANYBODY?: The UIC game is the eighth game in a stretch that has the Vikings playing nine out of 10 games over a span of five weeks away from the Convocation Center. The nine road contests will cover six different states in three different time zones over a 35-day period. The first half of the road trip consisted of a five game swing that had CSU facing Utah Valley State on Dec. 18, Eastern Michigan on Dec. 23, North Carolina on Dec. 30, Loyola on Jan. 3 and Wright State (Jan. 6). After playing the lone home game during the stretch against Youngstown State on Saturday, the Vikings started the second half of the road trip with an 81-76 loss at UW-Green Bay on Tuesday (Jan. 11) before travelling to Illinois-Chicago (Jan. 15), UW-Milwaukee (Jan. 20) and Youngstown State (Jan. 22). If you were to drive the entire road trip -- which fortunately the Vikings will not have to do -- it would cover 8,866 miles. This week's trip to Chicago covers 688 miles roundtrip. . . . HOME SWEET HOME: Although the Vikings will be at a disadvantage playing away from home over this five week span, they will also benefit from extended home stands. CSU opened the season with four of its first five games at home with the lone road contest being a 40-mile trip to Akron on Dec. 8. The Vikings close the season with 7 of their last 10 games at home. CSU is 4-1 in home games this year. THE STARTING LINEUP SHUFFLE: In an effort to find a combination that will get the Vikings started quickly, CSU head coach Mike Garland has used eight different starting lineups in the 12 games this year. The Vikings used the same starting combo in three of the first four games (Chavis, Morris, Moss, Westley & Tatham) with the lone change coming in the Norfolk State game when Raheem Moss came off the bench after being sick for several days before the game. The lineup has changed often since then as Moss, Patrick Tatham and Frashon McGee have each been sidelined with injuries. Ten of the 11 Vikings regulars have started a game this year with Amadou Koundoul the lone player kept out of the starting lineup. Last year, CSU used 10 different starting lineups in 29 games. A TURNAROUND FROM THE LINE: The last nine games has seen the Vikings correct one of its Achilles Heels from a year ago. . . free throw shooting. Cleveland State, which ranked last in the Horizon League a year ago with a .646 team free throw percentage (411-636), started off the year shooting .609 from the stripe in its first three games (42-69). The Vikings have found their range since then, going 129-of-173 (.740) to move from ninth to second in the league standings with a .707 mark (171-242). CSU set season highs for free throws made (24) and free throw percentage (.857) against Youngstown State last Saturday (Jan. 8). No player has exemplified the improvement better than Justin Henderson, who was three-of-nine in the first three games but has gone 16 of 19 since (.842). Mike Redell leads the team and ranks third in the Horizon League with a .828 percentage (24-29). As a team, seven of the 11 players who have attempted free throws this year are shooting .700 or better. . . . BUT THE VIKES COULD USE BETTER FREE THROW DEFENSE: Viking opponents have set a blistering pace from the free throw line this year, making 74 percent of their charity tosses, well ahead of the school season record. In 12 games, CSU opponents have made 199 of 269 free throws (.740) with only four opponents shooting less than .700 in a game with the other seven shooting better than .750. Eastern Michigan was the best foul-shooting team against CSU this year, making 33-of-38 (.868) on Dec. 23. The Viking school record for best free throw percentage by opponents during a season is .718 (443-617), set in 1989-90. . . . ESPECIALLY DOWN THE STRETCH: Viking opponents have been even better from the foul line late in games, making 65 of their 81 free throw attempts (.802) in the last five minutes of games. The breakdown is an interesting one as CSU opponents are just six-of-10 (.600) in the four Vikings wins and 53-63 (.841) in the seven losses. Loyola (13-14, .929) was the best from the foul line in the final five minutes with Wright State (7-8, .875), Utah Valley State (7-8, .875) and Eastern Michigan (12-14, .857) also turning in strong efforts. WESTLEY & MORRIS OWN STARTING STREAKS: Senior Omari Westley and sophomore Victor Morris currently own the two longest active starting streaks on the team. Westley has started all 40 games that he has played in since joining the team last year, while Morris has 32 straight starts going back to December of 2003. REDELL WARMS TO THE STARTING ROLE: Since being inserted into the starting lineup against North Carolina on Dec. 30, freshman guard Mike Redell has really excelled in his four starts. He has averaged 7.3 points, 3.5 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game, scoring in double figures twice. His first start came in front of 18,537 fans against the fourth-ranked Tar Heels and he responded by setting then-career highs for assists (4), rebounds (5) and minutes played (24). In his second start at Wright State on Jan. 6, he made five-of-nine three-pointers to score a career-high 15 points and then followed that up with 10 points, and a career-high six assists and five rebounds against Youngstown State on Jan. 8. . . . REDELL CAN SCORE WITHOUT FIELD GOALS: The first three double figure scoring efforts by Mike Redell have led to a statistical oddity as he has accomplished them without the benefit of a two-point field goal. His career high 15 points came at Wright State on Jan. 6 when he made five treys while his 10 points against both Kent State and Youngstown State came completely from the foul line. REDELL'S FREE THROW STREAK ENDS AT 19: A first half miss from the foul line at UW-Green Bay on Tuesday brought to an end a string of 19 consecutive free throws made by freshman Mike Redell. Redell, who tied a school record for free throw percentage in a game with a 10-for-10 effort against Youngstown State on Jan. 8, leads the team and ranks third in the Horizon League with a .828 free throw percentage (24-29). His effort against the Penguins was the seventh time in school annals that a player was perfect on 10 or more free throw attempts in a game with Clinton Ransey holding the record for most attempts with a 16-for-16 performance against Akron on Feb. 4, 1985. MORRIS PICKS UP HIS PLAY: After struggling to find his offensive game early in the season, sophomore guard Victor Morris has found his range recently, averaging 8.8 points and shooting .489 from the field (22-45) over the last six games. Included in his recent scoring run were a career-high 18 points at Eastern Michigan on Dec. 23, going 8-of-13 from the field to lead CSU in scoring for the third time in his career. In the first four games of the year, Morris averaged 4.0 points a game, shooting .261 from the field (6-23). THE BENCH BUNCH HAS COME THROUGH: Most head coaches like to construct their playing rotation so that they have at least one player coming off the bench who is capable of providing an offensive spark. Mike Garland has taken that concept almost to an extreme this year as the CSU bench is having a definite impact. Through 12 games, the Viking reserves are averaging 28.8 points, including 30 points or more six times with a pair of 50-point efforts, while the starters are averaging 40.1 points a game. Raheem Moss (11.0 ppg) and Modibo Niakate (10.2 ppg) each averaged in double figures as reserves while Steve Gansey (5.3), Justin Henderson (5.1) and Mike Redell (5.3) have come off the bench to score in double figures at least once. The reserves had their worst game of the year at UW-Green Bay, scoring a season-low six points . . . AND WHAT A DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES: The offensive production from the Viking bench this season has been in stark contrast to last season when CSU reserves averaged only 12.4 points a game, including a mere 5.7 points over the last 14 contests. SCORING BALANCE: As anticipated, the Vikings have shown a good scoring balance this year. Through the first 12 games of the regular season, the Vikings have had five different players lead the team in scoring. Omari Westley has led the team in six of the last seven games. Patrick Tatham (Hillsdale & Kent State) and Modibo Niakate (Norfolk State & Akron) have each led the team in scoring twice while Raheem Moss (Clarion) and Victor Morris (Eastern Michigan) have accomplished it once each. Only four players led the team in scoring last year. HENDERSON PREFERS A RESERVE ROLE: After scoring just seven points as a starter in the previous four games, junior Justin Henderson returned to reserve duty against Youngstown State and his scoring returned. Henderson tallied 10 points against the Penguins, his third double figure scoring game of the year, each coming off the bench. In seven games off the bench, Henderson is averaging 7.7 points and 2.9 rebounds a game, shooting .552 (16-29) from the field. That is quite a contrast from the 3.0 points, 2.2 rebounds and .385 shooting (5-13) in his five games as a starter. VIKINGS INK ONE ON SIGNING DAY: The Vikings received an added bonus on Nov. 11 when Flint (Mich.) Northern High standout J'Nathan Bullock signed a national letter of intent to attend CSU and play basketball beginning next fall. Bullock, a 6-4 forward, averaged 17.3 points and 10.1 rebounds a game as a junior last year, shooting .545 from the field to earn first team all-city and all-region honors. He also received first team all-city accolades as a freshman and sophomore along with being a second team all-region choice as a sophomore. A nominee for the 2005 McDonald's All-America team, he is ranked as the 28th best player in the state of Michigan by Prepspotlight.com and was voted the League MVP and All-Star Game Runnerup MVP at the 2004 Cage Scope/Blue-Chip Basketball Camp in Georgetown, KY. LOOKING AHEAD: The Vikings end their current four-game road swing next week with road contests at UW-Milwaukee (Jan. 20) and Youngstown State (Jan. 22).
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