Written by Tom Mieskoski

---

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.

In the first meeting, CSU handed UIC pretty easily (73-56) at the Wolstein Center on Jan.5.

Road wins: The school-record for most road wins in a season is 13 set by the 2008-09 squad. The Vikings can tie that mark if they win their four remaining road games.

CSU draws Drexel: The Vikings drew Drexel of the Colonial Athletic Association in a Sears BracketBusters X game.

CSU will host the Dragons (17-5) on Feb. 18 in a nationally televised game on ESPNU at 11 a.m.

The Dragons have won nine in a roll and 15 of their last 16 games and are tied for second place in the CAA at 9-2, one game behind George Mason.

CSU in Brackets: Most NCAA tournament experts are projecting CSU to win the Horizon League, but they all vary on what seed the Vikings could have.

ESPN's Bracketologist Joe Lunardi has CSU as a No. 15 seed, facing No. 2 Missouri.

Jerry Palm of CBSSports.com sees CSU as a No. 13 seed, facing No. 4 St. Mary's.

And the Sporting News sees CSU as a No. 14 seed.

RPI report: With a top 25 RPI win under its belt (Vanderbilt, RPI 24), CSU still has a slight chance of getting an at-large berth. The Vikings current RPI is 56. They're currently 3-1 against teams in the top 100.

News and notes:

* Tonight's contest against the Ramblers will be Gary Waters' 500th game as a head coach. Waters has compiled a record of 289-210 (.579) in 16 seasons as head coach of Kent State (1996-01), Rutgers (2001-06) and CSU (06-present).

* Freshman forward Anton Grady has scored in double-figures in six of his last seven games.

* The Vikings are 4-0 on Fridays and 3-0 on ESPNU this season.

* CSU women's basketball player Brandee Kelly received the 2011 Cleveland Clinic Courage Award at the Greater Cleveland Sports Awards on Thursday.

Kelly, a sophomore guard, has overcome lymphoma, a type of blood cancer that affects cells of the immune system.