The home date with the Butler Bulldogs in front of the most energized Cleveland State crowd in recent history a few weeks ago would have been a great opportunity for Gary Waters and his Vikings to capitalize on the momentum his program has begun to generate under his watch.
They didn’t win though. They lost for the second time this season to their big brothers from Butler 73-61.
The officiating was epically horrible that game to be sure, but the few thousand extra people who strolled into the Wolstein Center that day walked out thinking this Norris Cole guy and these Cleveland State Vikings really aren’t as good as we’ve been hearing they were. People would be wrong to think that, but the reality is it is extremely difficult to convince for a pro sports minded town who also pays homage to the Ohio State Big Ten Buckeyes that a mid major team in the Horizon League is worth their attention.
So while that one would’ve been big in that respect, the game today up in Milwaukee is even more so. Beat Butler tonight and Norris Cole and his Vikings are well on their way back to the NCAA tournament. Norris Cole deserves that stage and so do Tre Harmon, Jeremy Montgomery, and the rest of the Vikings.
D’Aundray Brown deserves it too, and the difficult thing for people who’ve paid attention to CSU Hoops over the last few years is that if D’Aundray was healthy it’s hard to say they would’ve lost to Butler twice this season. It’s also hard to say they wouldn’t have an even better chance for that tourney win tonight, but you gotta roll with what you got.
What the Vikings do have is a consesus NBA draft prospect in all-league senior guard Norris Cole. They’re starting five matches up okay with Butler’s too when you go down the line to Harmon, Montgomery, and the others as compared to Howard, Mack and the rest of the Butler starters too.
The problems are two-fold though for Gary Waters’ club tonight, frontline play and depth.
The frontline and the ability to guard Howard and Andrew Smith is a problem. The foul proned, but improved, big man Aaron Pogue and the undersized Tim Kamczyc will be charged with that assignment. If they overachieve there, the Vikings have a great shot.
The other challenge the Vikings will have to overcome is depth off the bench.
Butler can go about nine deep, and brings in a guy in Khyle Marshall off the bench who’s been tough for the Vikings to handle this season. CSU is pretty thin after that starting group, and Josh McCoy, Charlie Woods, and Joe Lattas will need to deliver solid minutes tonight.
Beyond that though, Norris Cole will have to be simply far and away the best player on the floor tonight. Howard, Smith, Mack, and the others will need to be contained as much as possible, and Cole will need to be great. I think he’ll need to get thirty if the Vikings are going to pull this conference tournament upset off, but I also think he’s capable of that.
Besides Cole just getting thirty, Montgomery and Harmon will also need to score around 15+ each if the Vikings hope to win this one.
I think all those things could happen though. I think the Vikings could rise to the challenge. If they do, it will certainly be huge for the program, and maybe they’ll even manage a way to get their games televised locally next season.
Tonight’s game will be on ESPN 3, tape delayed on ESPNU, and on the radio in Cleveland on WHKW 1220 AM.
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Breaking down the numbers of both Butler games this season:
January 7th, at Butler. Butler 79 – CSU 56.
Cleveland State:
Norris Cole – 26 points, 10 rebounds, 2 assists.
Trevon Harmon – 7 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists.
Jeremy Montgomery – 5 points, 0 rebounds, 4 assists.
Aaron Pogue – 11 points, 4 rebounds, 0 assists.
Tim Kamczyc – 7 points, 5 rebounds, 0 assists.
Not one other Cleveland State Viking scored a point, seriously.
Butler:
Matt Howard - 17 points, 6 rebounds, 0 assists.
Andrew Smith – 22 points, 10 rebounds, 0 assists.
Shelvin Mack – 6 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist.
Ronald Nored – 13 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists.
Shawn Vanzant – 2 points, 1 rebound, 3 assists.
Three bench players scored for Butler, Khyle Marshall had 11.
February 5th, Butler 73 – CSU 61
Norris Cole - 15 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists.
Trevon Harmon - 4 points, 5 rebounds, 0 assists.
Jeremy Montgomery - 18 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assists.
Aaron Pogue - 6 points, 6 rebounds, 0 assists.
Tim Kamczyc - 12 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assists.
Josh McCoy scored 4 and Joe Lattas scored 2 off the bench.
Butler:
Matt Howard - 14 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist.
Andrew Smith - 13 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists.
Shelvin Mack - 11 points, 6 rebounds, 7 assists.
Ronald Nored - 1 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists.
Shawn Vanzant – 10 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist.
Butler’s bench scored a total of 23 points, led by Khyle Marshall’s 12.