Cleveland State at Western Michigan Game Preview

*** Cleveland State University Press Release***

GAME #8
Cleveland State (2-5) at Western Michigan (4-4)

Wednesday, December 6, 2017 | 7:00 pm
Kalamazoo, Mich. | Fieldhouse/University Arena
Live Stats | ESPN3 | AM 1420

PDF GAME NOTES
Cleveland State at Western Michigan

GAME PREVIEW:
•     Cleveland State concludes a brief two-game road swing with a 7:00 pm contest at Western Michigan on Wednesday (Dec. 6) night.
•    The Vikings are 2-5 this year after a 72-62 setback at Kent State on Saturday night.
•    WMU is 4-4 this year and is coming off a 78-72 loss at home to Oakland on Saturday.
•    Saturday’s game will be broadcast live on AM 1420 and AM 1440 with Al Pawlowski on the call.
•    The game will also be shown live on ESPN3.

THE WESTERN MICHIGAN SERIES:
•     Wednesday will be the seventh all-time meeting between the two schools with the series tied at 3-3.
•    The Vikings have won two straight in the series, including an 85-62 win last year at Quicken Loans Arena.
•    CSU is 2-2 all-time in Kalamazoo, Mich., including an 86-56 win in the last meeting at WMU in the first round of the 2015 CollegeInsider.com tournament.

GAME 7: @KENT STATE 72, CSU 62 (12/2/17):
•     The Vikings rallied from a 19-point first half deficit to within one point late in the second half, but fell at Kent State.
•    Anthony Wright posted his first career double-double with a career-high 21 points and career-high tying 11 rebounds. He also tallied two blocked shots. Wright hit 8-of-11 from the field, including a career-high four three-pointers in six attempts.
•    Kenny Carpenter scored 14 points – all in the second half, while Tyree Appleby scored 13 points with three rebounds.
•    Evan Clayborne had a career-high seven rebounds.

CARDIAC VIKINGS:
•     The Vikings played in three straight one poessession games from Nov. 20 through Nov. 29.
•    CSU fell at ECU, 72-69 (Nov. 20), lost at home to Central Connecticut, 74-73, (Nov. 24), and knocked off Arkansas State, 75-72, on Nov. 29.
•    It’s the first time CSU has played in three straight one poessession games since the 1999-2000 season when CSU fell at St. Bonaventure, 71-69, (12/30/99), and won at Loyola, 70-68 (1/6/00) and at UIC, 91-89 (1/8/00).

APPLEBY NAMED HL FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK:
•     Tyree Appleby was named the Horizon League Freshman of the Week on Monday (Dec. 4) for the first time in his career.
•    Appleby averaged 10.0 points, 2.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.5 steals in two games last week, shooting .562 (9-16) from the floor.
•    In Wednesday’s win vs. Arkansas State, Appleby scored seven points and dished out a career-high seven assists, adding two rebounds and two steals. On Saturday at Kent State, he poured in 13 points, hitting 6-of-10 from the floor, adding three boards and a steal.

THE WRIGHT STUFF:
•     Anthony Wright recorded his first career double-double on Saturday night at Kent State.
•    Wright scored a career-high 21 points, hitting 8-of-11 from the field, including a career-best four three’s (in six attempts). He also had a career-high tying 11 rebounds.
•    Wright is averaging 8.7 points and ranks sixth in the League with 7.3 rebounds per game.
•    After coming off the bench in the first two games, Wright has drawn a starting assignment in each of the last five contests.

CARPENTER NETS CAREER HIGH:
•     Senior Kenny Carpenter scored a career-high 26 points against Coppin State (Nov. 17), bettering his old career-high of 24 points set at UIC as a sophomore.
•    Carpenter – who scored 24 points in the first half – hit 10-of-17 from the field, including 6-of-11 from three-point.
•    The six three-pointers are tied for the fourth most in a game in program history and the 17th time a CSU player made six three’s.         •    Carpenter is the first CSU player to make six three’s since Charlie Lee hit six at Oakland on Feb. 6, 2014.

CARPENTER DOUBLES UP (x2):
•     Kenny Carpenter has posted two double-doubles this year, the first two of his career.
•    Carpenter recorded his first career double-double with 11 points and a career-high 12 boards in the season opener at Akron (Nov. 11).
•    He posted a career-high 26 points and 11 rebounds against Coppin State (Nov. 17).

… AND BEGINS SENIOR YEAR STRONG:
•     Through six games – he missed the game at ECU due to illness – Kenny Carpenter leads the team in scoring (14.2) and assists (3.0) and ranks second in rebounding (7.2).
•    Carpenter ranks eighth in the League in scoring, seventh in rebounding and 12th in assists. In addition, he is shooting .556 (35-63) from the field, which is second best in the League. He is also second in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.6).
•    He ranks ninth in League in scoring, fourth in rebounding, 10th in assists and third in field goal percentage (.580).

HIGHSMITH MAKES CSU DEBUT:
•     Dontel Highsmith made his CSU debut at ECU (Nov. 20) after missing the first three games of the season.
•    He posted nine points, nine rebounds, three assists and two steals at ECU.
•    He scored a team-high 17 points vs. CCSU (Nov. 24), going 8-of-12 from the floor.
•    Highsmith is a graduate transfer from Northern Illinois where he spent the 2013-17 seasons, missing two years (2014-16) with knee injuries. He started all 32 games last year, averaging 6.9 points, 2.5 rebounds and 1.7 assists.

JUST A KID FROM BELGRADE, SERBIA:
•     Freshman Stefan Kenic has had a strong start to his collegiate career, ranking second on the team in scoring (10.0) and adding 3.1 rebounds.
•    He scored in double figures in each of his first five games.
•    Kenic tallied career-highs in points (14) and rebounds (8) at ECU (Nov. 20).

APPLEBY HAS STRONG START TO FRESHMAN YEAR:
•     Freshman Tyree Appleby has also had a solid start to his collegiate career, averaging 9.9 points, 1.7  rebounds and 2.5 assists, while leading the team with 10 steals.
•    The Arkansas native dished out a career-high and CSU season-high seven assists in a win over Arkansas State (Nov. 29).
•    Appleby scored a team-high 13 points in the season opener at Akron (Nov. 11) and tallied a career-best 15 points – all in the second half – at ECU (Nov. 20).

WORD UP:
•     Senior Bobby Word is the top returning scorer from last season as he averaged 11.1 points per game, while also ranking seventh in the League with 2.1 three’s per game.
•    He scored a season-high 17 points at ECU (Nov. 20), hitting 6-of-12 from the field, including three three-pointers.
•    Word nailed 5-of-6 from three-point vs. Central Connecticut (Nov. 24) for 15 points.

THOMAS IN THE STARTING LINEUP:
•     Kasheem Thomas has started all 38 games in his CSU career.
•    He started all 31 games as a freshman last year, the most starts for a first year player in program history and has started all seven games this season.

VIKINGS TIE THREE POINT MARK:
•     The Vikings went 14-of-32 from three-point against Coppin State (Nov. 17), tying the single game mark for three’s made in a game.
•    It marked the fourth time in school history that CSU hit 14 three’s in a game and the first since Feb. 6, 2014 at Oakland.
•    CSU hit 13 three’s vs. Central Connecticut (Nov. 24), tied for the second most in a game in program history.
   
FOR THREE:
•    CSU has hit a three-pointer in a school record 604 consecutive games.
•    The Vikings have hit at least three three’s in 153 straight contests, extending the streak with eight trifectas at Kent State on Saturday night.
•    The last time CSU failed to make a three-pointer was Feb. 21, 1998, when the Vikings were 0-for-8 in a 60-57 win over Detroit.

UP NEXT:
•    CSU returns home to host Notre Dame (OH) on Sunday (Dec. 10) at 2:00 pm.