Billy Montgomery

Men's Basketball 1/17/2018 11:53:00 PM Corey Miggins, Sports Information Director

Men's Basketball Faces Grand Canyon Thursday to Begin Three-Game Homestand

Freshman Cameron Bowles

Grand Canyon (12-6, 2-1) at Chicago State (2-18, 0-3)
Date	Thursday, Jan. 18, 2018
Time	7:05 p.m.
Location	Jones Convocation Center - Chicago, Ill.
Video	WAC Digital Network
Radio	CSU Radio Network
Live Stats	CSU Live Stats
Social Media	@ChiStateCougars (Twitter)

CHICAGO -

OPENING TIP: Chicago State men's basketball returns to the friendly confines of the Emil and Patricia Jones Convocation Center as it opens a three-game homestand Thursday night against Western Athletic Conference foe Grand Canyon in a live broadcast on the WAC Digital Network starting at 7:05 p.m.

SCOUTING CSU: The Cougars head into this week's action with a season record of 2-18 that includes a 0-3 mark versus conference foes after dropping a pair of conference road contests last week at Seattle (64-67) and Utah Valley (58-83). CSU is led by junior guard Fred Sims, Jr. (Chicago, Ill./North Lawndale) in scoring as he is averaging 14.5 points per game and has connected on 87 percent (47-of-54) of his chances from the free throw line. Senior guard Glen Burns (West Memphis, Ark./West Memphis Christian) leads the Green and White in rebounds (93 – 4.7 rpg), assists (79 – 4.0 apg) and steals (27 – 1.4 spg) while scoring 9.2 points a game and shooting 46 percent (56-of-123) from the field. Junior guard/forward Anthony Harris (Gary, Ind./Griffith (Ind.)) tops the team in blocked shots with 12 on the season.

SCOUTING GCU: Grand Canyon comes into Thursday's game with a 12-6 season record and is 2-1 in WAC play while winning three of its last five games since Dec. 27. Last week, the Lopes earned a split at the GCU Arena with a 7-59 loss to league-leading New Mexico State following an 84-71 win over the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. Redshirt senior guard Joshua Braun, the two-time Preseason WAC Player of the Year, leads GCU in scoring at 13.8 points per game. Senior guard Casey Benson is dishing out a team-high average of 4.4 assists per game to go along with scoring 9.6 points a game followed by sophomore forward Oscar Frayer producing 1.4 steals per game. Senior forward Keonta Vernon leads the team with 7.7 rebounds and 1.6 blocked shots a game while shooting 52 percent from the field and tallying 8.9 points per contest.

SERIES HISTORY: Thursday's contest marks the ninth all-time meeting between Chicago State and Grand Canyon since both teams joined the WAC in 2013-14 with the Lopes winning six of those games that included an 82-59 victory in Phoenix on Feb. 23, 2017.

WAC LEADERS: The Cougars currently lead the WAC in steals in conference contest with an average of 8.7 per contest. In addition, Burns ranks first in the league individually with three steals a game against conference opponents and freshman forward Cameron Bowles (Chicago, Ill./Kenwood) is tops in blocked shots with an average of 2.3 per game.

WAC TOURNEY TICKETS ON SALE: Tickets for the 2018 WAC Men's and Women's Basketball Tournament at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas are now on sale. The tournament starts on Wednesday, March 7 with the women's first round of play, followed by a full day of men's action on Thursday, March 8. The championship games will be contested on Saturday, March 10. Currently available for purchase are $135 and $85 all-session passes, which consist of entry into 14 games over six sessions. To purchase your all-session pass today, please contact the CSU Athletics Ticket office at (773) 995-3659 or gocsutix@csu.edu.

UP NEXT: The Green and White continue their homestand on Saturday afternoon with a WAC showdown against defending league champion CSU Bakersfield with a live WDN broadcast beginning at 2:05 p.m.

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Players Mentioned

#0 Glen Burns: G; 6' 3"; Senior

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

#21 Cameron Bowles: F; 6' 7"; Freshman

#10 Anthony Harris: G; 6' 5"; Junior

Players Mentioned

#0 Glen Burns
: 6' 3"; Senior
: G

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

#21 Cameron Bowles
: 6' 7"; Freshman
: F

#10 Anthony Harris
: 6' 5"; Junior
: G

Scoreboard

Players Mentioned

Players Mentioned