Men's Basketball At Illinois On Friday On BTN

Chicago State (2-3) at Illinois (4-0)
Date	Friday, Nov. 22, 2013
Time	8:00 p.m. CT
Location	Champaign, Ill. - State Farm Center (16,618)
Television	BTN (Josh Lewin and Stephen Bardo)
Radio	WVON 1690 AM (Emil Williams Jr.)
Live Stats	www.FightingIllini.com
Social Media	@ChicagoStateMBB

Complete Game Notes (click to download pdf)

ALL TIME - Illinois leads the all-time series with Chicago State 10-0. The last meeting came Nov. 27, 2011 at what was then called Assembly Hall (now State Farm Center) when Illinois won 90-43. The only current Cougars who played in that game are Aaron Williams (Chicago, Ill./Chicago Vocational) (who is redshirting this year) and Clarke Rosenberg (Skokie, Ill./Evanston Township). Rosenberg scored nine points off the bench in the game.

IN B1G GAMES - Chicago State head coach Tracy Dildy is looking for his first victory over a Big Ten team. Previous Big Ten games under Dildy include:
Nov. 11, 2011 - at Iowa (L, 96-53)
Nov. 27, 2011 - at Illinois (L, 90-43)
Dec. 29, 2012 - at Ohio State (L, 87-44)
Nov. 08, 2013 - at Indiana (L, 100-72)

WHAT ARE PROBABLE STARTERS? - Chicago State used 15 different starting lineups last season.

CALL HIM THE ROCK - The lone name you can write in pen in the Chicago State lineup since the start of last season is senior Matt Ross (Dixon, Ill./Dixon). Since arriving last season as a junior college transfer, Ross has started in 37 of 38 Chicago State games. The only game he didn't start was Senior Night last season against Eastern Illinois when then senior Quincy Ukaigwe (Matteson, Ill./Rich Central) started for him instead.

FORCING MISTAKES - Dating back to last season, the Cougars have forced double-digit turnovers in 29 straight games. The stretch includes nine games of forcing 20 or more turnovers.

500 - Clarke Rosenberg (Skokie, Ill./Evanston Township) has 472 career points, needing just 28 more to reach 500 for his career.

20/20 VISION - The Cougars have already had four 20-point performances this season. Last year Chicago State didn't have a Cougar score 20 points in a game until Matt Ross (Dixon, Ill./Dixon) scored 20 vs. DePaul (Dec. 5, 2013), 10 games into the season. He was one of only five 20 point performances all season.

UP NEXT - The Cougars take more than a week off before returning on Saturday, Nov. 30 for a visit by Southern Illinois to the Jones Convocation Center. Tip is 2 p.m. CT.

WAC BESTS - The Cougars have several single-game WAC statistical bests so far on the young season. Clarke Rosenberg (Skokie, Ill./Evanston Township)'s 27 points at Indiana is the most points by a WAC player this year. Matt Ross (Dixon, Ill./Dixon)' six blocks at Indiana also stand as the most by a WAC player. Quinton Pippen (Hamburg, Ark./Hamburg) recorded eight assists at Alabama State, putting him in a tie with Seattle U's Isiah Umipig for most in a game. Umipig notched his eight assists against Cal State Fullerton.

REJECTED - The six blocks Matt Ross (Dixon, Ill./Dixon) recorded Nov. 8 at Indiana are the most for a Cougar in a single game during the Tracy Dildy era (2010-11-present).

QP IS A PRESEASON PICK - Quinton Pippen (Hamburg, Ark./Hamburg) was named to the Preseason All-WAC Second Team by a vote of the league's coaches.

RELATIVE GREATNESS - Quinton Pippen (Hamburg, Ark./Hamburg) is the nephew of former Chicago Bull Scottie Pippen. Not surprising, Quinton wears No. 33.

SENIOR LEADERSHIP X8 - The Cougars have eight seniors on the 2013-14 squad.

EDDIE IS READY - The final addition to the 2013-14 roster was senior Eddie Denard (Chicago, Ill./Foreman). The 6-6 forward played last year at New Orleans University but was allowed to transfer without sitting out a season due to New Orleans' APR penalties barring them from postseason play this year. Denard started all 26 games last season at UNO, averaging 5.4 points and 3.8 rebounds. Denard is from Chicago, Ill. and played high school basketball at Foreman HS. He attended UIC his freshman year of college.

DEFENSE! - Chicago State limited opponents to just 69.0 points per game last season. It was the best defensive performance for a Chicago State team during the NCAA Division I era (1984-85 - present).

TAKING IT AWAY - The Cougars ranked seventh in the nation in steals per game last season by averaging 9.4 swipes a contest. The last time the Cougars finished a season ranking in the top 10 in the nation in a category was in 2008-09 when CSU ranked third in both scoring (84.2) and steals per game (10.0).

AWARDS FOR NEWCOMERS  - Chicago State head coach Tracy DIldy made a name for himself as an accomplished recruiter during his time as an assistant coach. He's continued that success at Chicago State. Dildy's recruits took home Great West Conference Newcomer of the Year Awards in each of the final two seasons of the GWC. Jeremy Robinson (Decatur, Ill./Eisenhower) picked up GWC Newcomer of the Year honors in 2011-12 and Nate Duhon (Lansing, Mich./Sexton) earned the award last year.

FOREIGN TOUR - The Cougars traveled to Costa Rica August 10-16 to play three exhibitions against international clubs. As per NCAA rules the team earned 10 extra practices to prepare for the trip. In between basketball the team went rafting, ziplined and volunteered at a local school.