# 2021–22 Cleveland State Vikings men's basketball team

The 2021–22 Cleveland State Vikings men's basketball team represented Cleveland State University in the 2021–22 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Vikings, led by third-year head coach Dennis Gates, played their home games at the Wolstein Center in Cleveland, Ohio as members of the Horizon League. They finished the season 20–11, 15–6 in Horizon League play to earn a share of the regular season championship for the second consecutive year. As the No. 1 seed in the Horizon League tournament, they defeated Robert Morris in the quarterfinals before losing to Wright State in the semifinals. As a regular season champion that did not win their conference tournament, they received an automatic bid to the National Invitation Tournament. They lost in the first round of the NIT to Xavier.

## Previous season

In a season limited due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Vikings finished the 2020–21 season 19–8, 16–4 in Horizon League play to finish as Horizon League regular season co-champions. As the No. 1 seed in the Horizon League tournament, they defeated Purdue Fort Wayne, Milwaukee, and Oakland to win the tournament championship. As a result, they received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, their first appearance since 2009 and the school's third bid to the tournament. As the No. 15 seed in the Midwest Region, they lost to Houston in the first round.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| October 30, 2021* 3:00 pm | | Case Western Reserve | W 100–56 | – | Wolstein Center Cleveland, OH |
| November 5, 2021* 7:00 pm | | Otterbein | W 74–33 | – | Wolstein Center Cleveland, OH |
| Regular season ||||||
| November 9, 2021* 10:00 pm | | at BYU | L 59–69 | 0–1 | Marriott Center Provo, UT |
| November 13, 2021* 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Ohio | L 56–67 | 0–2 | Wolstein Center (3,166) Cleveland, OH |
| November 16, 2021* 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Edinboro | W 75–61 | 1–2 | Wolstein Center (1,508) Cleveland, OH |
| November 20, 2021* 2:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Canisius Cerebro Sports Lake Erie Challenge | W 80–70 | 2–2 | Wolstein Center (1,492) Cleveland, OH |
| November 22, 2021* 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Coppin State Cerebro Sports Lake Erie Challenge | W 65–62 | 3–2 | Wolstein Center (1,572) Cleveland, OH |
| November 27, 2021* 3:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Penn State–Behrend | W 89–47 | 4–2 | Wolstein Center (1,333) Cleveland, OH |
| December 2, 2021 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Northern Kentucky | W 72–58 | 5–2 (1–0) | Wolstein Center (1,729) Cleveland, OH |
| December 4, 2021 3:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Wright State | W 85–75 | 6–2 (2–0) | Wolstein Center (1,721) Cleveland, OH |
| December 13, 2021* 8:00 pm, Big 12 Now | | at Oklahoma State | L 93–98 $^{OT}$ | 6–3 | Gallagher-Iba Arena (6,961) Stillwater, OK |
| December 18, 2021* 4:00 pm, ACCN | | at No. 2 Duke | Canceled due to COVID-19 issues | Canceled due to COVID-19 issues | Cameron Indoor Stadium Durham, NC |
| December 21, 2021* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Kent State | Canceled due to COVID-19 issues | Canceled due to COVID-19 issues | MAC Center Kent, OH |
| December 30, 2021 7:00 pm | | at IUPUI | Canceled due to COVID-19 issues at IUPUI | Canceled due to COVID-19 issues at IUPUI | Indiana Farmers Coliseum Indianapolis, IN |
| December 30, 2021 7:00 pm | | Purdue Fort Wayne | W 90–81 | 7–3 (3–0) | Wolstein Center (617) Cleveland, OH |
| January 1, 2022 4:12 pm, ESPN+ | | at UIC | Canceled due to COVID-19 issues at UIC | Canceled due to COVID-19 issues at UIC | Credit Union 1 Arena Chicago, IL |
| January 5, 2022 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Purdue Fort Wayne | W 65–58 | 8–3 (4–0) | Wolstein Center (1,642) Cleveland, OH |
| January 7, 2022 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Robert Morris | W 78–77 | 9–3 (5–0) | UPMC Events Center (542) Moon Township, PA |
| January 9, 2022 2:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Youngstown State | W 86–80 $^{OT}$ | 10–3 (6–0) | Beeghly Center (1,773) Youngstown, OH |
| January 13, 2022 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Oakland | L 65–70 | 10–4 (6–1) | Wolstein Center (2,312) Cleveland, OH |
| January 15, 2022 3:30 pm, ESPN+ | | Detroit Mercy | W 72–70 | 11–4 (7–1) | Wolstein Center (1,901) Cleveland, OH |
| January 21, 2022 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Youngstown State | W 64–61 | 12–4 (8–1) | Wolstein Center (2,290) Cleveland, OH |
| January 23, 2022 3:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Robert Morris | W 75–68 | 13–4 (9–1) | Wolstein Center (1,694) Cleveland, OH |
| January 28, 2022 9:00 pm, ESPNU | | at Wright State | W 71–67 | 14–4 (10–1) | Nutter Center (5,328) Dayton, OH |
| January 30, 2022 2:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Northern Kentucky | L 72–78 | 14–5 (10–2) | BB&T Arena (1,993) Highland Heights, KY |
| February 4, 2022 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Green Bay | W 85–69 | 15–5 (11–2) | Wolstein Center (2,111) Cleveland, OH |
| February 6, 2022 3:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Milwaukee | W 84–71 | 16–5 (12–2) | Wolstein Center (2,147) Cleveland, OH |
| February 10, 2022 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | UIC | L 75–76 | 16–6 (12–3) | Wolstein Center (2,175) Cleveland, OH |
| February 12, 2022 3:00 pm, ESPN+ | | IUPUI | W 83–45 | 17–6 (13–3) | Wolstein Center (4,002) Cleveland, OH |
| February 14, 2022 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Purdue Fort Wayne | L 98–102 $^{3OT}$ | 17–7 (13–4) | Allen County War Memorial Coliseum (1,165) Fort Wayne, IN |
| February 18, 2022 8:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Milwaukee | W 78–61 | 18–7 (14–4) | UW–Milwaukee Panther Arena (2,355) Milwaukee, WI |
| February 20, 2022 3:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Green Bay | W 79–67 | 19–7 (15–4) | Kress Events Center (1,845) Green Bay, WI |
| February 24, 2022 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Detroit Mercy | L 67–74 | 19–8 (15–5) | Calihan Hall (1,833) Detroit, MI |
| February 26, 2022 3:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Oakland | L 57–65 | 19–9 (15–6) | Athletics Center O'rena (3,149) Auburn Hills, MI |
| Horizon League tournament ||||||
| March 3, 2022 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | (1) | (10) Robert Morris Quarterfinals | W 83–67 | 20–9 | Wolstein Center Cleveland, OH |
| March 7, 2022 7:00 pm, ESPNU | (1) | vs. (4) Wright State Semifinals | L 67–82 | 20–10 | Indiana Farmers Coliseum Indianapolis, IN |
| National Invitation tournament ||||||
| March 15, 2022 9:00 pm, ESPNU | | at (2) Xavier First Round – Dayton Bracket | L 68–72 | 20–11 | Cintas Center (1,482) Cincinnati, OH |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern. ||||||
Sources