CSU Men Basketball Hosts UT Rio Grande Valley in WAC Opener on Thursday

Senior guard Clemmye Owens V and the CSU men's basketball team face off against UT Rio Grande Valley at home in Thursday's WAC opener

University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (8-9, 0-0) at Chicago State (4-12, 0-0)
Date	Thursday, Jan. 5, 2017
Time	7:05 p.m.
Location	Jones Convocation Center - Chicago, Ill.
Video	WAC Digital Network
Radio	WVON 1690 AM
Live Stats	http://www.sidearmstats.com/csu/mbball
Social Media	@ChiStateCougars (Twitter)

UTRGV Game Notes

CHICAGO -

OPENING TIP – Chicago State men's basketball makes its 2017 debut at the Emil and Patricia Jones Convocation Center on Thursday night as it welcomes the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley in the Western Athletic Conference opener for both teams with the opening tip set for 7:05 p.m. The game will be broadcast live online on the WAC Digital Network and in radio on WVON 1690 AM with Maya Akai (Play-by-Play) and Faruq Bashir (Analyst) calling the action.

SCOUTING CSU – CSU heads into the opening week of conference play with a record of 4-12 on the season and dropped its third consecutive game last Friday evening with a 90-82 loss at Central Michigan which closed out a 12-game road swing. Sophomore guard Fred Sims, Jr. (Chicago, Ill./North Lawndale) leads the Green and White with averages of 18.1 points and 1.2 steals a game while shooting 76 percent from the free throw line and 34 percent from three-point range. Senior guard/forward Trayvon Palmer (Milwaukee, Wis./Brown Deer) is recording team highs of 9.3 rebounds per game, 12 blocked shots and six (point-rebound) double-doubles on the year in addition to scoring 14.8 points a game. Palmer is also shooting 50 percent from the field and 38 percent from beyond the arc. Senior guard Clemmye Owens V (Toledo, Ohio/Rogers) is third in scoring with an average of 9.8 points per game on the year for the Cougars.

SCOUTING UTRGV – UTRGV brings a season record of 8-9 and has won six of its last seven contests since Dec. 7 which includes a 96-78 home win over NCAA Division II Texas A&M-Kingsville on New Year's Eve 2016. The Vaqueros are led in scoring by sophomore guard Antonio Green, last season's WAC Freshman of the Year award winner, at 18.3 points per game while leading the nation in made three-pointers with 75 and has also connected on 43 percent of his attempts from downtown. Redshirt junior guard Nick Dixon, a native of west suburban Hillside, Ill., is second in scoring with an average of 16.9 points a game in addition to recording team-leading numbers of 4.7 rebounds and 1.8 steals per contest. The team's assist leader is redshirt sophomore guard Lew Stallworth, who is currently dishing out 4.1 assists a game.

SERIES HISTORY – CSU and UTRGV (formerly the University of Texas-Pan American) have competed against each other on the hardwood 20 times through the Independent, Great West Conference and Western Athletic Conference ranks with the Vaqueros currently producing an 11-9 advantage in the series. UTRGV captured both games last season which included an 89-79 win on Feb. 28, 2016 at the Jones Convocation Center with sophomore Anthony Eaves (Louisville, Ky./Ballard) leading three Cougars in double figures with 18 points.

WAC SCORERS' BATTLE – Thursday's game will see the four of the WAC's top ten scorers do battle at the JCC in Green (third), Sims, Jr. (fourth), Dixon (fifth) and Palmer (10th).

COUGARS ON WVON – The UTRGV game will serve as the first of three games that will be broadcast on WVON this season. The station will also broadcast two additional home games on Jan. 18 against NAIA foe Roosevelt and Jan. 26 versus defending WAC tournament champion CSU Bakersfield with both games starting at 7:05 p.m.

AIMING FOR A GRAND – Owens V is aiming to score 1,000 points in his Division I career as he heads into Thursday's game with 894 points scored in his Division I career at CSU and Bethune-Cookman. He is now 106 points shy of achieving this feat.

UP NEXT – The Cougars welcome WAC leader New Mexico State to the Jones Convocation Center on Saturday afternoon in a conference battle beginning at 2:05 p.m.

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Players Mentioned

#5 Anthony Eaves: G; 6' 2"; Sophomore

#2 Clemmye Owens V: G; 6' 2"; Senior

#15 Trayvon Palmer: G/F; 6' 6"; Senior

#14 Fred Sims, Jr.: G; 6' 4"; Sophomore

Players Mentioned

#5 Anthony Eaves
: 6' 2"; Sophomore
: G

#2 Clemmye Owens V
: 6' 2"; Senior
: G

#15 Trayvon Palmer
: 6' 6"; Senior
: G/F

#14 Fred Sims, Jr.
: 6' 4"; Sophomore
: G

Scoreboard

Players Mentioned

Players Mentioned