Tip-Off: The Chicago State University men's basketball team returns to action on Saturday at the Emil and Patricia Jones Convocation Center for its annual Homecoming game as it welcomes NJIT for a Great West Conference contest with a start time of 4:30 p.m., following the women's game featuring the two schools.
Scouting CSU: Chicago State heads into Homecoming with a season record of 2-19 and is currently 1-3 in the GWC standings. The Cougars were last in action on Jan. 28 when they dropped a 71-61 decision at North Dakota behind good performances from graduate student forward Lee Fisher (Dolton, IL/Northern Illinois) (20 points, eight rebounds) and senior guard Ardarius Simmons (Chicago, IL/Southeastern (IA) CC) (18 points, five assists). Leading the Green and White is junior forward Jeremy Robinson (Decatur, Ill./Eisenhower) with 14.7 points and 1.7 blocked shots per game while shooting 45 percent from the field. Fisher is second on the team in scoring at 12.4 points a game to go along with team-leading numbers of 7.8 rebounds and 1.7 steals per contest, while junior guard Matt Samuels (Washington, DC/South Suburban College) is the third CSU player averaging double digit scoring at 10.5 points a game and Simmons is dishing out a team-best 2.6 assists a game.
Scouting NJIT: NJIT heads into the Windy City with a season record of 9-12 that includes a 2-2 mark in Great West play after it dropped a non-conference contest at home to Colgate on Wednesday night by a close 79-74 margin. Senior guard/forward Isaiah Wilkerson paces the Highlanders with a GWC-leading 16.1 points, six rebounds and 1.9 steals per game in addition to connecting on 40 percent of his shots from three-point range. Junior guard Chris Flores is second on the team in scoring (13 ppg), rebounds (4.0 rpg) and steals (1.5 spg) while holding the team lead in assists with an average of three assists per contest, and senior center Ryan Regis leads NJIT in blocked shots on the year with 18 swats.
Series History: Chicago State currently holds a 5-3 advantage in the all-time series with NJIT, but the Highlanders have captured wins in three of the last four meetings since 2009-10. NJIT swept last season's series with the Cougars that included an 86-83 win at the Jones Convocation Center on Jan. 22, 2011.
Up Next: The Cougars step away from Great West competition on Tuesday, Feb. 7 as they take on IPFW at the Jones Convocation center with the opening tip set for 7:05 p.m.
