Jawad Williams the Tar Heels Ready For CSU

For many years, UNC coaches have tried to schedule games near the hometown of Tar Heel playesr. Next month, Carolina will play UNC-Wilmington in Myrtle Beach, S.C., as a homecoming game for sophomore point guard Raymond Felton, a native of Latta, S.C., who played at Latta High School.

Cleveland State is 2-0 this season, coming off a 97-88 win at Florida A&M on Tuesday night. The Vikings opened their 2003-2004 season on Nov. 22 with 76-63 win over Central State in Cleveland.

Saturday's game at Cleveland State will be the first-ever meeting between the Tar Heels and Vikings.

Offensive Numbers Are Up

Carolina scored 90 and 91 points, respectively, in its first two games this season. This is the first time that UNC has reached 90 points in consecutive games since the 2001-02 season (when Carolina scored 92, 104 and 92 points in wins over St. Joseph's, N.C. A&T and Texas A&M).

Through two games, the Tar Heels are shooting 58.8 percent from the floor as a team (67-for-120), led by Jawad Williams at 88.2 percent (15 of 17) and Jackie Manuel at 90 percent (9 of 10).

A look at the opposition courtesy of CSU Sports Information

Reviewing Florida A&M

CSU rallied from an 11-point second half deficit to pull away for a 97-88 victory over Florida A&M on Tuesday night in Tallahassee. The two teams combined for 82 fouls, two short of the NCAA record, and 11 free throw attempts in a game that took two hours and 45 minutes to play. Trailing 66-55 with 13:20 left, Omari Westley and Percell Coles keyed a 23-8 run with nine points each as the Vikings took the lead for good. CSU set a school record with 64 free throw attempts, making 40. Jermaine Robinson led the Vikings with 24 points while Westley, who made his final 13 free throw attempts during a 14-for-19 night at the line, added 18 points. Pape Badiane scored 15 points with 11 rebounds and four blocks and Coles came off the bench to add 11 points.

Trying To Beat The Odds

With 10th-ranked North Carolina invading the Convocation Center this week, the Vikings will be trying to snap a 14-game losing streak against ranked opponents. A few notes on the history of CSU basketball against teams ranked in the Associated Press top 25 at the time of the game:

CSU is 1-21 all-time with the lone win being an 83-79 decision against No. 16 Indiana in the first round of the 1986 NCAA Tournament.

The Vikings are 0-6 at home against the AP 25 with the last game being a 62-45 loss to No. 20 Butler on Jan. 7, 2002.

North Carolina will be the second-highest ranked team that CSU faces at home. Michigan was ranked No. 7 when CSU set a Convo attendance mark of 13,055 on Dec. 7, 1991.

CSU is 1-2 against the top 25 at neutral sites and 0-13 on the road.

Taking Attendance

With pre-sale for Saturday's North Carolina game over the 9,000 mark, the contest will rank as one of five largest crowds in CSU history. The Convocation Center record of 13,055 saw CSU face Michigan on Dec. 7, 1991. The largest crowd to see a Viking game in Cleveland came in 1998 when 15,314 attended the Gatorade Rock-N-Roll Shootout at Gund Arena, one of five crowds in excess of 10,000 for the event during the years that CSU participated. The top five crowds for games played in the Convocation Center are:

13,055 vs. Michigan (12/7/91)

10,123 vs. Michigan (11/30/96)

9,568 vs. Georgetown (11/23/96)

9,106 vs. Valparaiso (2/20/93)

8,106 vs. Cincinnati (1/13/93)

Here's To You, Mr. Robinson

Senior Jermaine Robinson has picked right up in the first two games where he left off in the preseason, averaging 26.0 points this year. He scored a career-high 28 points with 13 rebounds in the opener against Central State and came back on Tuesday night to add 24 points against Florida A&M. They were the 11th and 12th games of 20 or more points by Robinson in his career. Robinson, who was singled out by Mike Garland during the summer as one of the players who needed to play well for the Vikings to achieve success this year, has been nothing short of spectacular. A fifth-year senior who averaged 10.5 points a game last year, Robinson exploded for 25 points against the WBA All-Stars and 26 vs. Reality Sports to lead the squad in scoring in the exhibition season. He enters the North Carolina game with 892 career points, needing 108 points to become the 16th player in CSU history to score 1,000 career points.

Seeing Double-Doubles

The aggressiveness on the boards against Central State led to a statistical oddity as three Vikings posted double-doubles - double figures in points and rebounds - in the game. Jermaine Robinson (27 points, 13 rebounds), Omari Westley (12, 10) and Walt Waters (11, 10) each accomplished the feat. When you add in the 15-point, 11-rebound performance by Pape Badiane against Florida A&M on Tuesday, CSU has had four different players record a double-double this year, equalling the four double-doubles that Viking players had during the entire 2002-03 season. Badiane, who had one in 2001-02, was the only CSU player with a double-double heading into the year. The Vikings had two double-doubles in each of the exhibition wins this year.

The O-Show Premeires To Stong Reviews

After almost 20 months on the sidelines, junior Omari Westley has finally received the chance to play in regular season games and the results have been outstanding. He scored 12 points with 10 rebounds and a pair of blocks against Central State and came back to add 18 points, on 14-for-19 shooting from the line, against Florida A&M. Westley, who had not played since the end of his sophomore year (2001-02) at Barton County CC, enrolled at CSU in the fall of 2002 and sat out last season to meet NCAA transfer guidelines and was not allowed to practice with the team. He has quickly shaken off the rust from the inactivity and has played up to the ability that had him ranked as one of the top six junior college forwards in the nation as a sophomore. He averaged 13.5 points and 11.5 rebounds in the two exhibition games, posting double-doubles in both contests.

A Viking Block Party

Cleveland State has blocked 17 shots in the first two games, including a school record 12 blocked shots against Central State. Some interesting notes about the shot blocking performance:

The Central State performance topped the old school record of 11 set against IUPUI on Nov. 16, 2002.

Pape Badiane rejected five shots against Central State, tying him for the fourth-highest single game total in school history. Three players blocked seven shots in a game, including Badiane vs. Butler last year, and Badiane's performance against Central State marked the 16th five-block game at CSU.

Five different Vikings blocked at least one shot, the most since five players accomplished it against IUPUI in the first game of the 2001-02 season.

With four more blocks against Florida A&M, Badiane has now blocked nine shots this season. He has 11 career games of four blocks or more and 28 games with multiple blocks.

. . . And The Blocked Shot Records Could Fall Again

The 17 blocks in the first two games gives Viking fans reason to believe that the school record for blocks in a season will fall again for the third time in the last four years. CSU set the school record with 130 blocks in 2000-01 and then narrowly missed resetting the mark with 128 blocks in 2001-02. The record fell again last year when the Vikings swatted away 132 shots to lead the Horizon League.

Badiane Reaches Block Mileston

A four-block effort against Florida A&M allowed senior Pape Badiane to become only the fourth player in school annals to total 100 blocked shots in a career. Badiane enters the North Carolina game with an even 100 blocked shots, joining Darren Tillis (1978-82), Tahric Gosley (1999-03) and Shawn Fergus (117) in the elite company. Badiane led the Horizon League with 57 blocked shots last year, the second-highest total in school history. Darren Tillis holds the school record with 197 blocks. In an interesting note, Badiane's younger brother, Moussa, who is a junior at East Carolina, blocked five shots in the Pirates' season opener on Saturday night. Moussa Badiane blocked 82 shots last year.

Promising Waters

When freshman Walt Waters elected to enroll at CSU this fall, he gave the Vikings a physical inside presence that had been lacking. His debut was a promising one against Central State as he turned in a double-double, scoring 11 points with 10 rebounds and three blocked shots. He was five-of-eight from the field (.625) and he turned his five offensive rebounds into seven points (3 FG, 1 FT). A starter in all three games this year, Waters averaged 7.5 points and 9.0 rebounds in the two exhibition games.

A Good Start For Garland

The wins over Central State and Florida A&M allowed first year head coach Mike Garland to become the second head coach in school history to win his first two games on the Viking bench. He joins Basketball Hall of Fame inductee John McLendon, who accomplished the feat during the 1966-67 season. The 13th head coach in school history, Garland was just the fourth coach to win their CSU/Fenn debut, joining George McKinnon (1945-46), George Rung (1949-50) and McLendon. No Viking coach has won their first three games.