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CHICAGO - Four Chicago State Cougars reached double figures, but it wasn't enough as the visiting DePaul Blue Demons defeated the Cougars 74-64 at the Jones Convocation Center Wednesday (Dec. 5) night. Junior forward
Matt Ross (Dixon, Ill./Dixon) (Dixon, Ill./Dixon/Sauk Valley) led the doubled figured quartet with 20 points on 8-of-15 shooting and notched his second consecutive double-double with 10 rebounds.
Chicago State fed off the hot shooting of junior
Quinton Pippen (Hamburg, Ark./Hamburg) (Hamburg, Ark./Hamburg/Missouri State-West Plains CC) who scored 12 of his 14 points in the opening stanza on 5-of-5 shooting including a clutch 3-pointer at the buzzer to give the Cougars their biggest lead of the ballgame at 14 points.
The Cougars also benefitted from the play of their bench led by junior
Greg Tucker (Chicago, Ill./Lincoln Park) (Chicago, Ill./Lincoln Park/North Dakota State College of Science) who scored six points in a key stretch for Chicago State which saw them extend an early lead to five points ultimately heading to the locker room leading 44-30. Sophomore Clarke Rosenburg (Skokie, Ill./Evanston) also added 10 points for the Cougars.
A tough and talented Big East member, DePaul patiently climbed their way back into the contest opening the second half on a 15-2 run to close the gap to one. DePaul took their first lead of the second half at 51-50 on a pair of free throws by Cleveland Melvin at 8:32. It halted a streak of 18 consecutive minutes where Chicago State held the lead. It was a two-point game with less than five minutes before DePaul finished the game on a 11-4 run.
Defensively, Chicago State made life tough for DePaul's Melvin, who was held to just 12 points on 4-of-11 shooting. Melvin, a former BIG EAST Rookie of the Year, came into tonight's contest averaging just over 20 points per game. As a unit, the Cougars defense forced DePaul to shoot 38 percent from the floor while forcing 21 Blue Demon turnovers. Brandon Young led the way for DePaul with 21 points.
DePaul improves to 5-3 on the young season, while Chicago State falls to 2-8. Chicago State hosts Alabama State on Dec. 8. Tipoff is set for 2:05 pm.
