Cleveland State moves to 3-0 in the Horizon League with a comfortable win over Loyola.
Gary Waters' CSU Vikings are off to a 14-1 start.The roll continues for Cleveland State, and once again the Vikings were not seriously challenged. They built a comfortable lead by halftime over the Loyola Ramblers then cruised like a drop top Cadillac in a summer breeze to a 73-55 Horizon League victory before a second-straight solid crowd, 4,044, Thursday night in the Wolstein Center.
The Vikings did this with leading scorer Norris Cole, nursing a stinger in his shoulder, scoring just 12 points, well under his 21.5 scoring average. Taking up the slack was center Aaron Pogue. The 6-9, 265-pound pivot had his way in the paint from beginning to end scoring 16 points to tie his career high. This was bolstered by another six points from freshman post Devon Long as the Ramblers offered absolutely no physical resistance inside.
This came on the heels of a one-on-one talk with CSU head coach Gary Waters where he told the Pogue, "now it's time for them to know who you are," Waters said. "And he did it."
Pogue was 8-of-11 from the field and also had 12 rebounds. Waters said the center from Dayton is finally rounding into good physical shape and the sky suddenly seems to be the limit.
"Not many people can guard me one-on-one," Pogue said. "I feel I can destroy any man one-on-one."
The Vikings (14-1, 3-0) started slow, and did not score until nearly five minutes into the game when Pogue scored inside. That triggered a 7-0 run that gave the Vikings a 7-5 lead. The lead grew to 13-6 as CSU's pressure defense began to tighten and the fast-break layups began to fall through the hoop. And when CSU found itself in its half-court offense, the Vikings found Pogue.
"I was more than disappointed the way we competed against him inside," Loyola head coach Jim Whitesell said.
The Vikings went from cold to hot in a hurry after the slow start, making six of their next seven in that flurry. But just when the Ramblers looked to be on their heels, they regrouped and closed within 17-15. No matter. The defensive press and trap for Cleveland State delivered once again, leading to more layups and a 28-15 cushion.
The CSU lead grew to 18 and the Vikings lead at halftime, 41-24. But Pogue and Co. gave the Ramblers more of the same in the second half as the Vikings lead grew to 71-40 with more than six minutes to play before CSU put the top up and parked it for the night.
Guard Trey Harmon followed Pogue in scoring with 14 points while Jeremy Montgomery added another 12. The Vikings also had a 38-32 rebounding edge. The Vikings now get a one-day break before hosting Illinois-Chicago at 2 p.m. Saturday. Illinois-Chicago lost Thursday night at Youngstown State, 71-69.
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