Cleveland State takes its annual trip to
Chicago for two games this weekend, beginning with a 9:00 PM EST contest
tonight against Loyola-Chicago at the Gentile Center. Cleveland is 7-2 straight
up in their last 9 games on the road.
The NCAA basketball odds opened with the
Vikings favored by -11.5 and the total at 114.5.
Cleveland State (18-4 SU, 9-9-1 ATS) shares the
Horizon League lead with Valparaiso at 8-2 entering Friday’s action. They’ll be
facing a Loyola team that has an overall record of 5-15 (8-11 ATS) and is 0-10 and
in last-place in the conference.
These teams have met once this season with CSU routing Loyola, 69-48 on January
7 in Cleveland.
Both teams enter the game on modest ATS runs.
The Vikings are 6-1 SU and 5-1-1 ATS in their last seven games including the
victory over the Ramblers. Loyola has lost nine in a row overall but has covered
its last three games including a ‘moral victory’ against Butler losing 63-57
but getting the ATS win as a 7.5 point home dog.
Last
time out
Cleveland State is coming off a 64-47 victory
over Youngstown State on Saturday. The victory marked the fifth time this year
that CSU held a team under 50 points with Penguins joining Rhode Island (45),
Wright State (43), Sam Houston State (45) and Loyola (48). CSU is first in the
league and 19th in the nation in scoring defense (59.0).
Strong defense has always been a staple under
head coach Gary Waters and this year has been no different. CSU is
ranked first in the league in scoring margin (+8.0), turnover margin (+3.5),
steals (8.8) and scoring defense (59.0) and second in three-point field goal defense
(.291). The Vikings have held 16 of their 22 opponents to under 45-percent
shooting from the field.
Offensively CSU has plenty of room for
improvement. They rank 199th in the nation with an average of 67
points per game. Meanwhile the Ramblers are among the most offensively
challenged teams in the country. Loyola is the fifth-lowest scoring team in the
nation (54.5 PPG) and is coming off a 41-point performance. To make matters
worse, it’s likely they’ll be without the team’s second-leading scorer Walt
Gibler (13.4 ppg) who is questionable with a shoulder injury.
Road
Warriors
The Vikings have proven their mettle away
from home this season, posting a 10-3 record. CSU is 9-2 in "true"
road games and 1-1 in neutral site contests. The nine "true" road victories
are second most in the nation while the Vikings 10 wins away from home are the
third most in the country. The school-record for road conquests in a season is
13, set in 2008-09.
Coaching
Milestone
Waters will be on the sideline for the
500th time as a head coach when he takes the court tonight. The 16-year veteran
is 289-210 overall including a 92-60 record in five years at Kent State and a
79-75 ledger at Rutgers. Waters is 118-75 in six years at Cleveland State and
has led nine of his teams to the postseason. The Vikings are looking for just
their third March Madness trip ever, most recently in 2009.
The
Series
The Ramblers lead the all-time series with
CSU, 22-18, but the Vikings have won nine of the last 10 meetings, including
eight straight.
Cleveland State is 4-0 SU and ATS the last
four meetings overall, winning 81-70 last year in Chicago as 3-point favorites.
Trends
The ‘over’ is 10-1 in the Vikings’ previous 11
games and 24-9-1 in their last 35 Horizon League tilts. However Loyola-Chicago
is 14-5 to the low side this season including 4-2 at home while Cleveland State
is 8-4 to the ‘under’ as a visitor.
Harvey’s Take: Repeat after me; dribble, shoot, CLANK, That’s a
description of a typical offensive possession by these two teams. What I’m
getting at is play the ‘under’ in your NCAA basketball picks and don’t be surprised when the total ends up
somewhere in the 90’s.
Good
luck!