The Cleveland State men's basketball team ran into a buzzsaw Saturday morning in its BracketBusters game at the Wolstein Center, as Drexel led wire-to-wire in an 69-49 decision.

"We are playing pretty average right now," said CSU head coach Gary Waters. "We have young kids that don't know some stuff. Right now we're in limbo and got to find a remedy to the problem."

It's the Vikings (20-8) fourth straight loss and third straight loss at home. Drexel (23-5) hasn't lost since Jan. 4 and have won 15 in a roll.

"It's already in their heads," said Waters. "You can't lose and not struggle, that's life."

The Vikings played again without senior guard D'Aundray Brown, who has missed four of the last five games with a groin injury.

"These freshmen got to grow up here pretty soon because we are going to need them down the stretch," said Waters. "I don't know if (Brown) is coming back anytime soon."

Ten days ago, CSU were 20-4 and a top of the Horizon League standings with an outside shot at gaining an at-large bid.

Now CSU's chance of gaining the No. 1 seed in next month's Horizon League tournament are slim-to-none. Valparaiso only needs to win one of its final two games to clinch the No. 1 seed. And CSU's chances of an at-large bid are long gone.

Without Brown, CSU has played like a completely different team and has struggled on both sides of the floor.

Drexel shot 48.9 percent for the game and went 19-of-26 (73.1 percent) at the line.

"It's all about our defense," said CSU senior guard Trey Harmon, who led the Vikings with a game-high 23 points despite playing with a broken toe. "We have been scored on too easily and we need to get stops. Until we do that its going to be tough for us."

The Vikings offense had its own struggles as they shot 27 percent (17-of-63) from the field and were 7-of-28 (25 percent) on 3-pointers.

"Right now we are offensively challenged and we don't have enough guys producing for us," said Waters, whose team has failed to score 50 points in three of their last four games.

In all four losses, CSU has gotten off to slow starts in the first half and have trailed at the half. They trailed Valparaiso, 29-17;  Butler, 28-18; and Milwaukee, 50-41.

On Saturday, the Dragons scored the first six points and led 19-3 eight minutes into the game.

CSU would cut the lead down to eight (23-15) on back-to-back 3-pointers from senior guard Jeremy Montgomery and Harmon, but that would be as close as they would get to on this day.

A 9-1 run by Drexel pushed the lead back out to 16 (32-16) on sophomore forward Dartaye Ruffin's jumper. The Dragons led by as much as 19 in the first half and took a 38-22 advantage at the break.

"I don't know it's puzzling to me," said Waters on why CSU has come out slow in the first half in each of the four losses. "We missed our first two shots and then on it clutches up."

In the first half, Drexel shot 50 percent and outscored CSU 20 to 6 in the paint. Their defense limited CSU to 26.7 percent in the opening half as the Vikings missed 22 shots.

Drexel led by as many as 29 in the second half and never let the Vikings get closer then 19.

Freshmen guard Damion Lee led the Dragons with 18 points, 13 of them came in the first half. They also had strong performances from junior center Daryl McCoy (13 points, nine rebounds), sophomore guard Frantz Massenat (10 points) and junior guard Chris Fouch (10 points).

Harmon didn't get much help from his teammates. Montgomery, CSU's second leading scorer at 11.1 points per game, struggled against Drexel, going 2-of-8 for six points.

"If you take J-Mo away and he doesn't produce then you only have one entity," said Waters. "The person we got to try to get more out of is Anton Grady because he is the only other one that has the potential to score."

Grady, CSU's top reserve, also struggled, finishing with six points and eight rebounds in 23 minutes. He went 2-of-6 from the field.

Waters also said he needs to get more production out of senior Aaron Pogue, who has been in a season-slump and is averaging career-lows in points (6.0) and rebounds (4.2).

Pogue, a 6-9 center, had five points and eight rebounds against the Dragons. He only made one of six shots from the field and missed several lay-ups.

"Right now we are playing with four instead of five," said Waters on Pogue's struggles. "(Pogue's) got the ability. I know he's got the ability. He's got to find a way to pull out of it."

CSU finishes Horizon play next week with three games in five days. They travel to Green Bay (7-8 HL) on Tuesday and host Detroit (10-6 HL) Thursday and Wright State (7-9 HL) Saturday.

The Vikings (10-5 HL) need to win them all to secure the No. 2 seed in the tournament and get the automatic bye into the semi-finals.

"(We know these next) three games are the most important games of the season," said Waters. "What we got to do is get better if we want to perform in this tournament. And I got to find out what can get us to play better so we can perform in this tournament."

Photo: courtesy of Cleveland State athletics

Today, on ESPN's Mike & Mike In The Morning program, the Mikes discussed the Cleveland Browns offseason needs in their "Two-A-Days" segment.

Here is the keen insight they provided:

1. The Browns were a disappointment in 2011. (no shit)

2. The Browns need to address the QB position by either staying with Colt McCoy or getting a different QB. (no shit)

Then they read an e-mail from a supposed Browns fan that stated that no QB could succeed in Cleveland behind their Offensive Line, which is the kind of bitter babbling bullshit you will find from the special needs cases that watch ESPN on a regular basis.

That was the entirety of their review. 

Which actually should be considered in-depth analysis from the great sports minds at ESPN.  At least they didn't make it into a song.

God bless the Worldwide Leader In Sports (For Fans of the Cowboys, Jets, Patriots, Lakers, Heat, Knicks, Red Sox, Yankees, Tiger Woods, and Tim Tebow).

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In Cleveland sports, it seems as if every team has one player that fans love to ... well, hate is too strong a word ... so let’s say kvetch about.

With the Browns that player is generally the quarterback, or at least every quarterback that has lined up behind center since Bernie Kosar last wore the Orange and Brown more than 20 years ago.

It is so bad for Browns fans at the quarterback position that we found ourselves in a discussion on Twitter the other night about the three best quarterbacks in franchise history. It’s telling that of the three, the one who had most recently taken a snap for the team last played along the lakefront in 1983.

But we digress.

For the Indians, the player on everyone’s list the past few years has been Matt LaPorta. That is understandable as LaPorta was the centerpiece of the C.C. Sabathia trade in 2008. LaPorta was supposed to hold down the first base job for years to come, as he reportedly could hit for power, get on base and drill line drives around the ball park.

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The Cleveland State men's basketball team has been one of the best road teams in the country this season, winning nine of their 11 road games.

The nine road wins are second most in the nation, trailing only Wagner (10).

CSU (18-4, 8-2 Horizon League) will go for road wins No. 10 and 11 this week as the Vikings make their annual trip to Chicago to face Loyola of Chicago on Friday night (9 p.m., ESPNU) and Illinois-Chicago on Sunday afternoon (2.p.m.).

The Vikings are currently tied for first-place in the Horizon League standings with Valparaiso (16-8, 9-3 HL).

Loyola (5-16, 0-11 HL) has dropped nine straight and have struggled offensively under first-year head coach Porter Moser, averaging a league-worst 54.5 points a game.

CSU has won nine of the last 10 meetings against the Ramblers, including eight straight.

In the first meeting, CSU defeated Loyola (69-58) at the Wolstein Center on Jan. 7.

UIC (7-15, 3-9 HL) is coming off a 72-62 home win over Youngstown State on Thursday and are 7-4 at the UIC Pavilion. Before the win, the Flames had lost four straight and eight of their last 10.

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Hold on, a paragraph from a post on this very here wire needs to be pasted.

"The first, the Indians could still go out and get Casey Kotchman if he continues to dangle out there without a team, and they could get him for cheap. Unfortunately it sets up the same situation for Canzler this year that he had in Tampa last year."

Yes, just a few days ago the Indians acquired Russ Canzler in exchange for cash from the Tampa Bay Rays. The immediate thought is that Canzler would compete for the first base job.

He could still do that, but after the Indians just agreed to terms with free agent Casey Kotchman, his road just got a little more difficult.

The Indians have been searching for that first baseman this offseason and have finally landed him in Kotchman. The deal is a reported $3 million for 2012 with incentives, making it a rather cheap pick-up for the Tribe.

Kotchman has spent most of his time in Los Angeles playing for the Angels, having his best year in 2007 when he hit .296 with a .372 on-base percentage. A year later the Angels traded him to Atlanta and a year later the Braves traded him to Boston. He spent 2010 in Seattle and then wound up signing a minor league deal in Tampa last year.

It was a bit of a return to form in Tampa where he eventually took over first base and hit above .300, slugged .422 and had an on-base percentage of .378, higher than his number in 2007. Kotchman's biggest asset though is his glove.

Matt LaPorta's career slugging number? .397.... Kotchman only has 29 more home runs in his career with eight years of experience. When you can't out-slug someone like Kotchman, maybe you don't deserve the first base job.

Paying someone a guaranteed salary that is as high as Kotchman's likely means that that player is going to get first crack at that job, if not have it all to himself. Kotchman can play first, a good first, which means the Indians have quite the solid defensive infield at the corners in Hannahan and Kotchman, and a stellar glove up the middle in Asdrubal Cabrera.

With Derek Lowe adding on to ground-baller Justin Masterson, perhaps it would off-set any potential lack of offense.

What made this signing possible? Heck, what took so long? If Prince Fielder signed quicker, maybe Kotchman would have signed quicker himself. The market for first baseman was Pujols, Prince, and then... everyone else. But everyone else technically should have not bothered signing because who knows, if a team missed out on Prince or Pujols, maybe they'd call up one of those other players.

Carlos Pena was also ahead of Kotchman, and he took a nice little one-year deal with Tampa himself after saying no to the Indians. Leaving Kotchman as the best option on the market and for the Indians, the right fit at the right price.

Much has been made about Kotchman's eye surgery that helped him re-plant his career with the Rays in 2011. If that's the case, then great, it's one less thing you have to worry about in signing Kotchman. Was it a fluke year? Maybe. Maybe the eye surgery worked and the Indians didn't quite get themselves the same bargain that Tampa did, but they sure as heck got a pretty good one.

One thing I do know... Russ Canzler is likely weeping somewhere and soon, he'll be weeping in Columbus.

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Creativity was always the strong suit of this regime. Between Mark Shapiro and Chris Antonetti, there never is a moment where the duo has not looked to be creative. With a limited budget, you almost have to search low and even lower if you want to find a way to fill your gaps.

Reaching out and trading for starter Derek Lowe and getting the Braves to absorb 2/3rds of his contract is creative. 

Signing a mess of bullpen arms that are far from ancient, have had some proven success, but are far from options you can count on is creative. 

And when it comes to filling your gap at first base, nabbing a guy who was on waivers in a cash transaction, who has yet to prove himself at the major league level, but certainly could is creative.

No one is saying any of these moves are good or will pan out, but you have to certainly give Chris Antonetti just due for doing what he can with what he has. 

Russ Canzler may or may not be the answer at first base. But if the Indians can't lure in a first baseman off the free agent market or through a trade that makes financial sense for them, this is the next best route.

The Indians are getting Canzler as he is coming off a International League MVP season in which he popped 18 home runs, but hit .314 and carried a healthy .401 on-base percentage. The Indians would ideally play him at first, but he has some versatility (or rather, lack of position?) in that he can play the outfield (which could make all the difference in him making the roster or not). 

The Indians missed out on Carlos Pena, not because of money but because Pena was set on Tampa and when Jeff Keppinger was signed, it pretty much put the Rays in a position where Canzler wasn't needed. Remember the last time the Indians got some of the Rays' scraps, Mitch Talbot was of some value to them, albeit for a little bit..

Antonetti has made it seem based off comments that Canzler will compete for the first base job, but his remaining options gives the Indians some flexibility. Two thoughts come with this.

The first, the Indians could still go out and get Casey Kotchman if he continues to dangle out there without a team, and they could get him for cheap. Unfortunately it sets up the same situation for Canzler this year that he had in Tampa last year.

The second, Russ Canzler is not the guy you thought the Indians would be plugging their first base hole with, but what if it works out? You have a guy in Matt LaPorta who comes in with the impressive college career, the home run numbers, the power potential, the minor league success, the prospect rankings.

And then you have some 26-year-old named Russ who I will likely be calling Crusty Rusty all season.

That's how baseball tends to work sometimes. 

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People have been wondering for a while who this mysterious new Offensive Coordinator would be, and today it was revealed to be the enigmatic Brad Childress.

Childress was the OC in Philly from 2003-2005 (he was QB Coach there from 1999-2002), where he worked with Tom Heckert and had Pat Shurmur as one of his assistants.  Then came a bumpy ride as Head Coach in Minnesota from 2006-2010, where he amassed a 39-35 record (including 2 trips to the playoffs and coming within one ill-conceived Brett Favre interception of reaching the Super Bowl) but was fired after a 3-7 start in '10 due to unmet expectations and some locker room unrest.

Despite his rugged good looks and his resemblance to Frank Oz, Childress probably isn't best suited to be a Head Coach.  But in his 8 years as OC and HC, his offenses have averaged 15th to 16th - hardly world beating, but rarified Offensive air for Cleveland.

Naysayers will point out that Childress only called plays for 1 of those 8 seasons, but it appears that he won't be calling plays here either, so that shouldn't be a factor.  His will be a voice that has actually fielded solid offenses trying to help out a guy who hasn't.

This hire ain't gonna get anyone tingly in the bloomers, but he is experienced and he knows the fellow Coaches/Front Office well, so there should be harmony amongst all the Powers That Be as they try to take us out of this ditch.  As any Clevelander will tell you, it likely won't work anyway, but having the whole crew on the same page certainly doesn't hurt.