First Place Showdown On Tap For Thursday With New Mexico State

New Mexico State (14-5, 3-0 WAC) at Chicago State (7-9, 2-0 WAC)
Date	Thursday, Jan. 16, 2014
Time	7:05 p.m. CT
Location	Chicago, Ill. - Jones Convocation Center (7,000)
Internet Video	CSU.edu
Radio	WVON
Live Stats	www.sidearmstats.com/csu/mbball/media
Social Media	@ChicagoStateMBB

Complete Game Notes (click for entire PDF)

ALL TIME SERIES - Chicago State is 0-4 against New Mexico State since the Cougars joined NCAA Division I in 1984-85. This will be the first ever game against the Aggies at the Jones Convocation Center. The first ever meeting (Dec. 10, 2005) was at the University of San Fransisco in a neutral site contest. The Jan. 1, 2007 meeting was played at the Jacoby Dickens Center on CSU's campus. The two other meetings came at NMSU.
Dec. 10, 2005 - L 78-63
Dec. 1, 2006 - L 74-80
Jan. 1, 2007 - L 88-78
Nov. 30, 2007 - L 78-63

LAST TIME OUT - The Cougars picked up their second Western Athletic Conference win of the season on Saturday (Jan. 11) in a 68-66 victory at Kansas City. Quinton Pippen (Hamburg, Ark./Hamburg) recorded a career-high 23 points. His final two points were his most important. His running jumper in the lane with 1.7 seconds left was the game winner. It was the Cougars' second buzzer-beater in as many WAC games. The Cougars defeated Idaho 57-55 thanks to a layup by Matt Ross (Dixon, Ill./Dixon) in the final moments.

UP NEXT - The Cougars continue WAC play on Saturday when UTPA comes to the JCC for a 2:05 p.m. tip. The Cougars and Broncs know each other well. Both were part of the Great West Conference before joining the WAC.

HOPE FOR THE BEST - A win over New Mexico State would give Chicago State their first 3-0 conference start in program history. The 2004-05 team is the only other CSU club to also open conference play 2-0 which they did as a member of the Mid-Continent Conference.

FOR HOME OPENERS - Chicago State head coach Tracy Dildy is 1-2 in conference home openers as Chicago State's head coach.

HOME IS WHERE THE WINS ARE - Chicago State's 5-0 start at home this year was their best since 2008-09 when they also started 5-0.

DOUBLE DARE - Clarke Rosenberg (Skokie, Ill./Evanston Township) has scored in double-digits in 13 of the Cougars' 16 games this season.

FROM WAY DOWNTOWN - Eight different Cougars have made a 3-pointer this season.

BLOCK PARTY - Matt Ross (Dixon, Ill./Dixon) has 55 career blocks. He sits in 11th place in Chicago State NCAA Division I history and is close to the top 10. Cam-Ron Clay (2005-07) is in 10th with 56. Terrell Ingram (1994-96) is in 9th with 57.

QP FOR THREE - Quinton Pippen (Hamburg, Ark./Hamburg) owns 106 career 3-pointers, seventh all-time in Chicago State history. Pippen is within striking distance of sixth place Larry Simmons' (1993-95) 108. Kevin Jones (2004-08) sits in fifth place with 111. Pippen will definitely not catch Chicago State's all-time leader in 3-pointers, David Holston (2005-09). Holston made 450 3-pointers, second in NCAA history in career treys. Only Duke's J.J. Redick (457) made more 3-pointers than Holston.

FRESH LEGS - Chicago State's freshmen have played 354 minutes this season. Last season a freshman didn't play a single minute for the Cougars.

DOUBLE TROUBLE - Six Cougars finished in double-digits in Chicago State's victory over Southern Illinois on Nov. 30 at the JCC. The last time the Cougars accomplished this task was Nov. 20, 2008 in an 84-74 win over Central Michigan.

STARTING FIVE - The Cougars have used the starting lineup of Gray, Rosenberg, Pippen, Denard and Ross for the last seven games. It is the longest stretch of the same starting five all year. The Cougars have used six different combinations this year and had 15 combinations last year.  

START 'EM UP - Nine different Cougars have started at least one game this 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 48 of 49 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.

YEAR-BY-YEAR - Clarke Rosenberg (Skokie, Ill./Evanston Township) is shooting 49.4 percent (76-of-154) this season. Up from his 41.6 percent performance last season after his 34.6 percent shooting as a freshman. Additionally, he has 10 games this season where he finished with a 50.0 % or better shooting percentage.

TRYING FOR THREE - 10 times this season the Cougars have attempted 20 or more 3-pointers in a game.

NEARING 500 - Matt Ross (Dixon, Ill./Dixon), Clarke Rosenberg (Skokie, Ill./Evanston Township) and Quinton Pippen (Hamburg, Ark./Hamburg) have each passed the 500 career points mark this year.  

FORCING MISTAKES - Dating back to last season, the Cougars have forced double-digit turnovers in 39 straight games. The stretch includes 10 games of forcing 20 or more turnovers. This year the Cougars are averaging 7.9 steals per game, ranking 47th in the nation.

ON THE PLUS SIDE - The Cougars' +3.1 turnover margin is the best in the WAC. The total ranks 37th in the nation.

JUST TWICE - Only two times this season the Cougars have committed more turnovers than they have forced. (Alabama State and Illinois)

SENIOR LEADERSHIP X8 - The Cougars have a WAC-high eight seniors on the squad.

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 to present).

20/20 VISION - The Cougars have already had seven 20-point performances this season. The Cougars only had five 20-point performances all of last season.

QP IS A PRESEASON PICK - Quinton Pippen (Hamburg, Ark./Hamburg) was named to the 2013-14 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.
 
PRESEASON POLL - The Cougars were picked to finish sixth in the Western Athletic Conference Preseason Poll by a vote of the league's coaches.
 
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 High School. He attended UIC his freshman year of college.

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).

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.

THE FIRST SINCE - Chicago State's Great West Conference title last season was the first men's basketball championship for one of Chicago's Division I teams since UIC won the Horizon League Tournament in 2004.

THE WAC IS WHERE IT'S AT - Chicago State became an all-sport member of the WAC on July 1, 2013. The WAC is Chicago State's first conference with an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament since 2006 as a member of the Mid-Continent (now Summit League).