With CSU sitting alone on top of the Horizon League, every team wants to dethrone the best. With a tough matchup against Northern Kentucky and a rematch against IU Indy, CSU had their work cut out.
Home Game vs. Northern Kentucky (9-9, 4-3 HL)
NKU came to Cleveland on a two game losing streak against Youngstown State and Oakland. Watching warm-ups, everyone could see that the Norse were ready to prove themselves against the conference’s best.
CSU started their normal five (Tevin Smith, Tahj Staveskie, Ebrima Dibba, Reece Robinson, and Dylan Arnett) against a Norse team led by Trey Robinson, Sam Vinson, and Josh Dilling.
NKU came out swinging as Vinson and Robinson combined for six points to put the Norse up 6-2 early. Staveskie also started off hot as he scored a quick five points (including his first three of the evening). After the game he talked about playing this year after being injured most of last season with Canisius. “I’m a completely different player from the first ten games than I am now. Everything. Physically. Mentally. IQ-wise.”
Reece Robinson helped get the Vikings going with a strong offensive rebound and layup, but the Vikings and Norse traded baskets for the first nine minutes before an NKU three made it a two-point game.
A foul by Trey Robinson right before a timeout led directly to a Chase Robinson bucket that tied the game before Debrick and Reece Robinson made baskets to take the lead for the Vikings. They would not relinquish this lead the rest of the game.
A slew of turnovers, steals, fouls, missed shots, and overall sloppy basketball occurred for both sides before Trey and Reece Robinson traded baskets to still have the Vikings up 21-17.
A Vinson three was negated as Arnett had two points on the possession right before and right after the basket and the Norse just could not stop the Vikings.
The Norse made a jumper, so Staveskie made a jumper. The Norse hit another jumper, so Abidde hit a three. The Norse hit a three, so Staveskie hit a jumper and a three.
The Vikings were picking apart the Norse on both ends of the floor and NKU was forced to call a timeout after the Staveskie three. It was 35-28 Vikings with 1:37 to go in the half and that would be the score going into half as well.
The second half was more of the same as Staveskie hit another three about two minutes in to make the lead double-digits for the Vikings.
The Norse tried to make their way back in the game but the Vikings kept getting to the line and converting (they scored seven of their points from the line in a row). Directly after this free throw barrage, Staveskie hit another three and Chase Robinson followed it with a jumper to put the Vikings up 13.
The Norse made it a nine-point game a few times, but CSU was able to overcome any momentum and get buckets from everyone and everywhere.
One person not mentioned much so far is Tevin Smith. He didn’t score until there was just under three minutes left in the game. Even without their leading scorer active at the basket, the Vikings dominated.
Dibba put the finishing touches on a well-rounded game with two jumpers and the Vikings won handedly 76-58.
Key Takeaways:
- As mentioned above, Smith barely scored (four points) but the Vikings leaned on everyone else. Staveskie finished with 20 points while playing over 39 minutes and both Robinsons plus Arnett scored in double figures. Chase Robinson talked a bit about the mentality he brings off the bench after the game, “Coming in as an older guy, veteran, I just want to come in and if we’re discombobulated any time in the first half or if we’ve got intensity and we’re rolling it’s my job to keep it up or bring more energy.”
- CSU scored 23 points (nine for NKU) off turnovers. In a game that was super close at the beginning, the ability to steal the ball plus take care of the ball on offense was invaluable.
- Reece Robinson finished with 10 rebounds to go with his 11 points. Since moving to the starting role, he’s grown a lot every game. His ability to shoot a jumper and three opens up the Vikings offense tremendously.
- Outside of field goal percentage, most stats were similar for the two teams. Shot selection and ball movement definitely has played a huge part in the Vikings’ success so far. They make other offenses uncomfortable while not being rattled themselves. Head Coach Daniyal Robinson talked a bit about the offense continuing to compete with their best scorer only scoring four points, “It felt the same because Tevin [Smith] doesn’t have an ego. He’s a total team guy. It just felt like business as usual out there.” He continued, “The guys took what the defense gave them. We fought like heck on the glass.”
- The Norse looked to warm-up at full speed before the game. They took this energy into the first five minutes of the game but then it seemed to dissapate quickly. One can wonder if that was due to playing the top team right now. Whatever it was, after about five minutes, CSU was able to stay consistent while NKU slowed down.
Away Game at IU Indy (6-13, 2-6 HL)
Just like the Youngstown State game the previous week, IU Indy gave CSU everything they had for 40 minutes. With a close game played between the two in Cleveland recently, the Vikings were set to play a team that is much better than their record suggests.
CSU won the tip with their regular starters but were unable to convert on the offensive end (a frequent occurrence throughout the first half). An immediate full court press by the Vikes almost forced a five second violation by the Jaguars but on their second attempt, the Jaguars got the ball in and Reece Robinson committed a foul to help start the scoring. IU Indy made one of the two free throws to take the lead 1-0.
Starting the game’s scoring for CSU was a Staveskie three after CSU grabbed an offensive rebound. Surprisingly, this was Staveskie’s only made field goal of the day.
Yet again, the Jaguars split another set of free throws and the game was off to an incredibly slow offensive start at 3-2, advantage Vikings. Arnett was fouled and went to the line (where he has been struggling a bit) but he made both shots to extend the Vikings lead.At this point, the Jaguars finally made shot from the field with a layup but a beautiful cut and dunk by Reece Robinson made the score 7-4 Vikings.
The Jaguars tied the score at seven with a three but a turnover by IU Indy and a Smith bucket put the Vikings right back on top by two. The Vikings committed yet another foul and another two free throws tied the game. The Jaguars continued their high energy defense and the usually careful Vikings turned the ball over and gave up a three to find themselves losing.
One of the weirdest plays in basketball happened during this time as Isaac Abidde blocked an IU Indy shot between the rim and backboard. The block resulted in the ball wedging itself up there and created a jump ball. Even this strange play wouldn’t help the Vikings as IU Indy hit another three to go up 16-9.
A gorgeous dunk by Adbidde cut the lead to 5 before (another!) three by the Jaguars out of a timeout put the Vikings on the ropes early down 19-11. With Smith dealing with fouling issues plus Staveskie and Arnett struggling to score, CSU was in trouble.
In stepped KJ Debrick. A nice move down low for a bucket then an offensive rebound, basket, and free throw (all by Debrick) got the Vikes right back in the game. Added to Debrick’s run, the Vikings defense reached another level at this junction of the game. Chase Robinson took a charge and on the next possession, the Jaguars traveled.
Chase Robinson also got in on the offensive side with his typical straight on three before Debrick was fouled on the defensive side of the floor. He walked down for the one-and-one where he made both to tie the game at 21. In that 10-2 run, Debrick had seven points to go with Chase Robinson’s three.
Stevenson didn’t want to be forgotten with Debrick going off as he put the Vikings back on top with a three. With Debrick back on the bench, Arnett (who was 0-5 from the floor to start the game) finally hit a shot and was fouled for a traditional three-point play. A short time later, Arnett showed another reason why he’s been incredible this season as he blocked a shot out of bounds while guarding a Jaguar on the perimeter.After the block, the Jaguars couldn’t get a good shot and a shot clock violation ensued.
After a bit of back-and-forth, IU Indy hit a three as the shot clock expired to go back up 33-31. Another shot clock violation for the Jaguars with 7.0 seconds to go in the half gave CSU the ball but they were unable to convert and IU Indy was up 33-31 at the half.
IU Indy started the second half with yet another three but CSU looked to respond as Dibba went to the line for two. He missed both shots and IU Indy came down and made another basket. Things were again looking like they might fall apart before Arnett converted another traditional three-point play.
Although CSU is known for its defense, their passing deserves more respect. On back-to-back plays, Dibba threw a beautiful transition pass to Smith for a bucket before Chase Robinson threw one to Arnett for a lay-in to cut the deficit to one.
Dibba is a great passer (as shown by that assist) but all of sudden he became a shooter. He made a runner to grab the lead back for the Vikings and then was wide open for a three. The Jaguars immediately called a timeout after the three went in. The timeout didn’t help much as CSU forced a turnover right after.
A perfect pass by Arnett for a Smith slam seemed to start putting the finishing touches on the game. By this point, the Vikings were coming at the Jaguars from everywhere. A steal on the inbounds plus a tie-up for a jump ball to keep possession after a missed three saw CSU out-hustling the Jaguars. Smith got a bit more into the offensive end with a beautiful isolation drive and layup to go up 47-39.
With the game getting out of hand, IU Indy’s head coach Paul Corsaro was issued a technical foul after arguing a call before he was immediately issued a second technical and thrown out of the game. Staveskie made all four free throws to go up 51-39 before Debrick came back in and got another bucket.
IU Indy actually cut the deficit to six at one point before another Debrick basket made it 58-50 with 6:19 to go. Like déjà vu, Indy cut it to five before Debrick hit a jump shot to go back up by seven. The Jaguars kept clawing back by making two free throws to make it a five-point game again but Smith missed two little shots and got two rebounds before he put in the third try.
Another Smith drive made it a ten-point lead and shortly after, Stevenson finished it off with a three to go up 14. Indy hit a three and called a timeout with 1:09 left but it was over. CSU won by a final of 73-62. The Vikings had won their 10th game in a row.
Key Takeaways:
- KJ Debrick finished with 13 points while only playing 10 minutes. He finished 5-5 from the field and 3-3 at the line. That sounds fairly efficient. After his last season was ruined by injury, this type of game is great to see. One shouldn’t be surprised to see him get more minutes the next few games.
- CSU outscored IU Indy 40-12 in the paint. Their impressive passing and offensive rebounding is taking the offense to new heights. On a day where they only made five threes, the Vikings found other ways to score.
- The Vikings went 16-19 at the line while the Jaguars went 19-30. Ironically, the Jaguars lost by 11 so they could’ve used those points. The Jaguars also went scoreless for four minutes and five minutes at separate times.
- Tevin Smith finished with 16 points after sitting most of the first half with foul trouble. He’s a dynamic scorer and has proved time and again that he can get points no matter how much he plays.
- CSU had 19 assists to IU Indy’s 10. Ebrima Dibba accounted for 8 of these. He is now averaging 5.4 assists a game in conference play. The next closest player in the conference is averaging 5.0.
Next up for the Vikings:
CSU (14-6, 8-1 HL) looks to stay red hot and win their 11th game in a row as Detroit Mercy (6-14, 2-7 HL) comes to town Wednesday at 7 pm EDT.
Originally published by the HoriZone Roundtable. Republished here with permission.This article appears in Jan 16-29, 2025.