When you jump out to a 9-0 lead, and then go on to beat a team by 15 that was ranked #1 in the country at one point in the season, you can go ahead and shatter that whole glass slipper notion on the curb outside the Big Dance.
This isn’t a fluke, and its not a fairy tale either.
Cleveland State is solid basketball team, and their win last night against Wake Forest was a wire-to-wire domination.
On the defensive end of the floor, CSU was simply too much for the Demon Deacons. Specifically, too much for George Teague. And the Wake Forest star did not have an off-night either, so don’t go there. He got completely locked-up, and manhandled by CSU Sophomore Guard Norris Cole (who also had a game high 22 pts). From there, the Vikings cut the Wake Forest attack off at the proverbial head, and were left to do whatever they wanted offensively.
Cedric Jackson led the charge for the Vikings on that end of the floor, and he was the best player on the court last night. He’s a big time player, and his game last night, while it will come as a surprise on the national level, shouldn’t really shock anyone if you knew the path his career has taken to get here.
As a prep star, he was highly recruited by the Big East coming out of New York, and when CSU coach Gary Waters was at Rutgers, he was after Cedric Jackson back then. Waters ended up coming down to having one scholarship left, and he was going to either give it Jackson, a highscool senior at the time, or Quincy Douby. He gave it to Douby, and Quincy went on to be a 1st round NBA draft pick – out of Rutgers? – and is still currently playing in the NBA. Jackson, as a result, took a scholarship offer from St. John’s, and transferred to CSU a few years later for his Junior season, upon Gary Waters taking the job that he has now.
After last night, you can say it worked out in the end for all parties involved.
Cedric Jackson was special last night, going for 19 points, 8 assists, and 7 rebounds, and he played 
the perfect game from the PG position. He is going to be a handful for Arizona in the next round. And speaking of Arizona, you gotta think that CSU can’t really be that much of an underdog against this perenial power either – as crazy as that sounds.
This season, Cleveland State has beaten three teams that are better than Arizona, the “last team in” the tournament according to most pundits. Oh, and CSU beat them all away from home. That list includes a win over Syracuse at the Carrier Dome, Buter at Butler, and now Wake Forest on a neutral floor. The second round should get interesting. I expect J’Nathan Bullock (21 points) to be a tough match-up for the Arizona front line, and he will give Chase Budinger and company fits around the basket.
Stay tuned for Sunday, Gary Waters’ club is just starting to break a sweat.
———-
Brendan Bowers is a featured columnist at Midwest Sports Fans who also runs Stepien Rules (and formerly ran Shaver Sports), where they discuss everything you ever wanted to know about the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Brendan Bowers’ contributions to Midwest Sports Fans are sponsored by BigTimeGameBoards.com, the company that helps you tailgate like a champion with our high quality cornhole boards, sets and accessories. And if you don’t know what cornhole is, you aren’t a Midwesterner.
