So far this season, the Horizon League has named three players of the week, and Norris Cole has won it twice.
View full sizeNorris Cole earned his second Horizon League player of the week award on Monday, just another prize for a Cleveland State team that has stormed out of the gate this basketball season.CLEVELAND, Ohio -- If Cleveland State's Norris Cole has designs on being the 2010-11 Horizon League men's basketball player of the year, he sure has started the season the right way.
The senior guard from Dayton on Monday was named the league's player of the week. So far this season, the league has named three players of the week, and Cole has won it twice.
In last week's wins over Robert Morris, Green Bay and Milwaukee, Cole averaged 23 points, four rebounds, 5.7 assists and three steals per game. Against Robert Morris, the defending Northeast Conference champion, Cole went 10-for-18 shooting from the field and had a season-high 29 points. He also had five steals.
At Green Bay, Cole went 15-for-16 from the free-throw line to help lead the Vikings past the Phoenix, 83-75. He finished with 26 points despite playing just 29 minutes because of foul trouble.
Cole was a first-team All-HL selection last season.
Heading into Tuesday's home game against West Virginia Tech, Cole ranks 24th in the nation in scoring (21.2) and 43rd in steals (2.3).
On the rise: The Vikings' school-record 10-0 start is starting to earn them some attention in the national polls.
In Monday's Associated Press Top 25 poll, CSU was 31st, with 13 votes. Last week, the Vikings had one vote. In the coaches poll, CSU is 33rd, with seven votes.
The Vikings are the first Division I team to notch 10 wins. After sweeping their Wisconsin trip for the first time since 1999-2000, CSU is No. 17 in the most recent RPI rankings.
They also are ranked No. 1 in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25, moving up from No. 5 last week.
Making history: If the Vikings win Tuesday, they will tie the school record of 11 wins before Jan. 1, set during the 1992-93 season.
Also, the 10-0 start is CSU's fourth-longest win streak in school history. It also is the longest since the 1992-93 team matched a school record with 14 in a row. The 1985-86 team also won 14 straight.
Stat watch: The Vikings are in the top 50 in seven categories.
They rank No. 1 in winning percentage (1.000), 16th in field goal defense (.369), 23rd in three-point defense (.270), 25th in scoring defense (58.4), 41st in turnover margin (+4.1), 43rd in turnovers (12.2) and 49th in scoring margin (13.3).