Horizon League Tournament: Wisconsin-Milwaukee v. Cleveland State

Who will WIN this matchup?

Wisconsin-Milwaukee Panthers (10-11)

Cleveland State Vikings (17-7)

Current odds:

Wisconsin-Milwaukee Panthers: (+145)

Cleveland State Vikings: (-165)

• The line for this game is Cleveland State by 3.5 points.

• The teams split the 2020-21 series, with MKE claiming an amazing comeback (down 14 with 2:46 to play) in its win.

• DeAndre Gholston scored a career-high 31 points and Milwaukee overcame a 24-point deficit in the final 6:26 of regulation to claim a stunning 94-92 victory over Wright State in overtime March 2 at the Nutter Center.

• Gholston came up huge all night, hitting the game-tying three-pointer to force overtime with 1.8 seconds left in regulation, as well as going 6-for-6 from the free throw line in the final 38.7 seconds of overtime to help Milwaukee claim a comeback for the ages. Gholston scored 26 of his 31 points in the second half and overtime, adding nine rebounds.

• Te’Jon Lucas finished with 25 points, adding five assists. Josh Thomas was also in double-figures with 14, including a key late three-pointer that helped set up the shot to force overtime.

• Cleveland State was the talk of the Horizon League early, starting the conference slate at 9-0 (the best in school history) before finally suffering its first loss. That nine-game win streak was also its longest in a decade for the program. The Vikings would eventually finish 16-4 in conference, earning the No. 1 seed. CSU then needed triple-overtime to get past Purdue Fort Wayne in the Horizon League quarterfinals, earning the thrilling 108-104 victory. Second-year head coach Dennis Gates claimed Coach of the Year for the second straight season after leading the Vikings to a share of the regular-season title for the first time since 2010-11 (after being picked seventh in the poll) and that No. 1 seed heading into the Horizon League Basketball Championship for the first time in program history.

• This winter, the Vikings rank second in both field-goal defense (.428) and points allowed (70.9) in the league. The offense is led by a trio of players averaging double-figures, paced by Torrey Patton at 14.6 ppg. D’Moi Hodge is close behind at 10.3 ppg while Tre Gomillion adds 10.0. Patton also leads in rebounds with 7.8 per contest and was named First-Team All-Horizon League.

• The Cleveland State men’s basketball team continues #REACHtheHORIZON Tournament play with a semifinal matchup against Milwaukee at Indiana Farmers Coliseum in Indianapolis. Cleveland State, which earned the top seed in the 12-team bracket, survived its quarterfinal matchup against 10th-seeded Purdue Fort Wayne in triple overtime, winning 108-104 thanks to late heroics by Torrey Patton (30 pts.), Tre Gomillion (22 pts.) and Algevon Eichelberger (20 pts.). Both Patton and Gomillion reocrded double-doubles, marking the first pair of Vikings teammates to accomplish the feat in the same game this season.