Men's Basketball Closes Homestand Saturday against UTRGV

Senior Deionte Simmons is second on the team in scoring at 10.6 points a game heading into Saturday's game against UTRGV

UT Rio Grande Valley (10-11, 2-3) at Chicago State (2-20, 0-5)
Date	Saturday, Nov. 27, 2018
Time	2:05 p.m.
Location	Jones Convocation Center - Milwaukee, Wis.
Video	WAC Digital Network
Radio	CSU Radio Network
Live Stats	CSU Live Stats
Social Media	@ChiStateCougars (Twitter)

CSU-UTRGV Game Notes

CHICAGO -

OPENING TIP: Chicago State men's basketball concludes its three-game homestand against the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley this Saturday at the Emil and Patricia Jones Convocation Center in a Western Athletic Conference showdown in a live broadcast on the WAC Digital Network with a start time of 2:05 p.m.

SCOUTING CSU: CSU heads into Saturday's showdown sporting a record of 2-10 on the season that includes a 0-5 mark against WAC opposition after opening its homestand last week with a pair of losses to Grand Canyon (58-86) and CSU Bakersfield (78-89). Junior guard Fred Sims, Jr. (Chicago, Ill./North Lawndale) is the leading scorer for the Cougars as he is averaging 13.8 points a game in addition to shooting 88 percent (50-of-57) from the free throw line. Senior forward/center Deionte Simmons (Detroit, Mich./Lewisville (Texas)) is grabbing a team-best average of 5.4 rebounds a game and has connected on 59 percent (68-of-115) of his field-goal attempts while scoring 10.6 points per game. Senior guard Glen Burns (West Memphis, Ark./West Memphis Christian) leads the Green and White in total rebounds (97 – 4.4 rpg), assists (87 – 4.0 apg) and steals (29 – 1.3 spg) to go along with his scoring average of 9.4 points a game.

SCOUTING UTRGV: UT Rio Grande Valley brings a season record of 10-11 into the weekend with a 2-3 mark in WAC play, but has dropped its last three contests in a row following home losses to Utah Valley (76-84) and Seattle ( 76-79 - OT) last week. Leading UTRGV offensively are redshirt senior guard Nick Dixon and sophomore forward Xavier McDaniel, Jr. Dixon, a native of west suburban Hillside, Ill., is averaging a WAC-best 20.9 points per game while connecting on 49 percent (130-of-281) of his shots from the field and 79 percent (140-of-177) from the free throw line. McDaniel, Jr. has tallied 109 total rebounds (5.5 rpg) and 21 blocked shots (1.1 bpg) to lead the team, and is second in scoring at 10.8 points per game. Redshirt junior guard Lew Stallworth ranks first on the team in assists as he is dishing out an average of 4.2 per contest.

SERIES HISTORY: UTRGV now holds a 13-9 advantage in the all-time with CSU while claiming victories in the last four meetings since 2016. The Vaqueros swept last season's series over the Cougars that included posting an 85-77 overtime win in Edinburg, Texas on Jan. 21, 2017 with Sims posting a double-double of 23 points and a career-high 12 rebounds to lead the Green and White.

SUITS & SNEAKERS WEEK: CSU head coach Tracy Dildy and the Cougars' coaching staff will participate in this week's Coaches vs. Cancer "Suits and Sneakers Week", a collaborative initiative of the American Cancer Society (ACS) and the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC), in Saturday against UTRGV as coaches from both teams will don sneakers as part of their dress attire for the 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.

START 'EM UP: The Green and White have produced seven different starting lineups so far this season which ranks them in a tie for 15th among NCAA Division I schools. CSU is one of four Illinois schools (Eastern Illinois, Illinois State, UIC) and one of four WAC programs (UTRGV, New Mexico State, CSU Bakersfield) to make the list.

UP NEXT: The Cougars head west next week for a two-game WAC road swing that start on Feb. 1 in California with a rematch at defending WAC champion CSU Bakersfield in a live broadcast on the WAC Digital Network with a start time of 9 p.m.

Print Friendly Version

Players Mentioned

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

#3 Deionte Simmons: F/C; 6' 8"; Senior

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

Players Mentioned

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

#3 Deionte Simmons
: 6' 8"; Senior
: F/C

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

Scoreboard

Players Mentioned

#0 Glen Burns

#3 Deionte Simmons

#14 Fred Sims, Jr.

Players Mentioned

#0 Glen Burns

#3 Deionte Simmons

#14 Fred Sims, Jr.