Men's basketball to fight for first-place in HL

After 19 victories and only four losses*, Cleveland State University's men's basketball team is sitting atop the Horizon League standings.

Although the squad holds an impressive overall record and are 9-2 in the HL*, their schedule only gets tougher from here on out.

On Thursday, Feb. 9, the Vikings will fight for the top spot in the HL as they host the Valparaiso Crusaders (16-8 overall, 9-3 Horizon)* at 7 p.m. A Vikings victory will put CSU two games ahead of Valparaiso; a loss will place both teams in a first place tie.

The Crusaders will come into the Wolstein Center averaging a high 71 points per game. Vikings defense is going to have to play tough, and based on what they've shown in the past, that will not be a problem.

Head coach Gary Waters prepares the Vikings to play extremely physical defense. Unfortunately, defense costs them at times for being too aggressive, and they tend to find themselves in early foul trouble.

When playing Youngstown State University on Jan. 28, which ended in a 67-47 blowout by CSU, the Vikings tried something new instead of their usual line-up. Freshman Anton Grady, a 6-foot-8 forward, found himself on the floor at the same time as 6-foot-9 forward Aaron Pogue. The Vikings' offense and defense benefitted from the change-up, allowing them to be more physical in the paint.

Grady finished the game posting 14 points and 11 rebounds.

Good play on the interior resulted in a good perimeter game as CSU shot 8-of-15 from 3-point range.

The Vikings will likely apply this same strategy against their long-time rivals, the Butler Bulldogs, who they will host Saturday, Feb. 11.

Butler will arrive in Cleveland during a mediocre season after playing in back-to-back National Championship games. Standing at 13-11 overall and 7-5 in the HL*, the team has created a huge target for itself, and teams have been cashing in.

In order to pick up the win, CSU is going to have to knock down shots from the outside.

When both teams met on Jan. 13, the Vikings shot 8-of-21 from beyond the arc, en route to a 76-69 win.

As for their inside game, Butler plays well around the basket, which will challenge Pogue and the Vikings.

CSU looks to set a similar aggressive pace for Butler as they did in January to get the win.

The game will be nationally televised on ESPN2 with tip-off at 11 a.m. Any students interested in watching the Vikings take on Youngstown and/or Butler get free admission with a valid CSU ID.

*Records adjusted as of Saturday.