GAME NOTES: A pair of teams that have faced nationally-ranked Louisville in the last week now tangle with each other on Friday night, as Cleveland State visits Marshall as part of the Global Sports Showcase.

The Vikings and Thundering Herd both lost to the Cardinals in a week span, although it was Cleveland State that put up a surprising result. The Vikings held the sixth-ranked Cardinals to only 45 points on Wednesday night, but ended up losing by 12. As for the Thundering Herd, they were 85-67 losers to Louisville on Nov. 21, and Marshall then lost at home to Morehead State on Wednesday night.

This will be the sixth all-time meeting between Cleveland State and Marshall. The teams have not played since an 81-79 Marshall win during the 1990-91 season.

Cleveland State had a 26-22 deficit at the half of their game at Louisville. The Cardinals then outscored the Vikings 19-11 over the final 20 minutes. Trey Lewis kept CSU in it by pouring in 24 points, but the team as a whole made just 25 percent of its field goal attempts in another top-notch effort by the Cardinals defense. Lewis also had five rebounds, tying Marlin Mason and Vinny Zollo for tops on the Vikings, who made 10 steals. The problem for Cleveland State was that Louisville blocked 11 shots.

Mason has had a strong start to his senior campaign, as he ranks 20th in the Horizon League in scoring (10.8 ppg) and is 10th in rebounding (6.0 rpg). Mason also paces the league in field goal percentage at .679. Lewis paces the team's scoring effort with 17.6 ppg, while 6-foot-8 junior forward Anton Grady contributes 11.2 ppg and 6.2 rebounds per contest. Sophomore guard Andre Yates (9.0 ppg) and junior backcourt mate Kaza Keane (7.4 ppg) are also in the starting lineup.

Ryan Taylor had a double-double for Marshall in Wednesday's loss, as he tallied 13 points and 10 rebounds. Austin Loop and Shawn Smith each had 10 points. Taylor (16.4 ppg, 10.6 rpg) leads the team in both scoring and rebounding, while Smith (12.0 ppg) is the only other player averaging double figures in scoring. Forward Cheikh Sane (9.8 ppg, 7.8 rpg) is tied for the team lead with seven blocks and is shooting 56.7 percent from the field. Loop (9.2 ppg) leads the team with 12 3-pointers.

Marshall seems to have more balance offensively than the Vikings, and with two straight defeats and a brutal schedule of non-conference matchups coming up against South Carolina, Penn State and West Virginia, the Herd need to avoid falling into a hole for a third straight contest. The Vikings may be emotionally spent after Wednesday's solid defensive effort.