Cougars Open WAC Tournament on Thursday Night in Vegas against NM State

#8 Chicago State (3-28) vs. #1 New Mexico State (25-5)
Date	Thursday, March 8, 2018
Time	8 p.m.
Location	Orleans Arena - Las Vegas, Nev.
Video	ESPN 3
Radio	CSU Radio Network
Live Stats	WAC Live Stats
Social Media	@ChiStateCougars (Twitter)

CSU-NMSU WAC Tournament Notes

CHICAGO -

OPENING TIP: Chicago State men's basketball travels to Las Vegas this Thursday to compete in the Western Athletic Conference Tournament at Orleans Arena. The No. 8 seed Cougars will take on top-seeded New Mexico State in a quarterfinal showdown live on ESPN 3 with the opening tip set for 8 p.m., central time.

SCOUTING CSU: Chicago State heads into #WACvegas on a roll after snapping a 24-game losing streak last Saturday in its season finale thanks to a 96-82 victory over UMKC at the Emil and Patricia Jones Convocation Center with five players scoring in double figures. The Green and White are led in scoring by junior guard Fred Sims, Jr. (Chicago, Ill./North Lawndale) as he is averaging 14.2 points per game this season. Senior forward/center Deionte Simmons (Detroit, Mich./Lewisville (Texas)) leads the team with 6.0 rebounds a game and a .600 field-goal percentage while averaging 11.9 points a game and was named WAC Player of the Week earlier this week. The final player averaging double digit scoring for CSU is senior guard Glen Burns (West Memphis, Ark./West Memphis Christian) at 10.5 points a game in addition to producing team-high numbers of 3.5 assists and 1.3 steals per game.

SCOUTING NMSU: New Mexico State brings a 25-5 record into the quarterfinals following an 86-71 victory at UT Rio Grande Valley last Saturday to close the regular season. Graduate student guard Zach Lofton leads the Aggies with a scoring average of 19.3 points per game while shooting 46 percent from the field. Senior forward Jemerrio Jones is averaging a double-double with a WAC-leading 12.7 rebounds and 10.9 points per game in addition to dishing out 3.3 assists a game.

SERIES HISTORY: New Mexico State comes into Thursday's battle holding a 14-1 lead all-time over Chicago State while winning the last 10 contests in the series since 2014. This season, the Aggies won both regular-season meetings with the Cougars that include a 78-67 victory at the Pan American Center in Las Cruces two weeks ago on Feb. 22. Sims, Jr. led all scorers with 30 points and drained a career-best nine three-pointers for CSU in that game.

STRONG SEND OFF BY SENIORS IN HOME FINALE: The CSU men's basketball senior class of 2018 made a big impact in their final home game by scoring 68 of the Cougars' 96 points in the UMKC contest. Simmons posted 20 points and added 10 rebounds for a double-double. Burns (19 points), senior guard Montana Byrd (Chicago, Ill./Mount Carmel) (career-high 19 points), senior forward Jelani Pruitt (Gary, Ind./Merrillville (Ind.)) (seven points) and senior guard/forward Alex Dubovitskiy (Moscow, Russia/Marianapolis Preparatory School) (three points) all scored during the contest.

UP NEXT: With a win, CSU would advance to Friday's semifinal round where it would battle either No. 4 Seattle or No. 5 Texas Rio Grande Valley in another live broadcast on ESPN 3 starting at 10:30 p.m., central time.

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Players Mentioned

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

#32 Montana Byrd: G; 6' 4"; Senior

#5 Alex Dubovitskiy: G/F; 6' 6"; Senior

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

#2 Jelani Pruitt: G/F; 6' 5"; Redshirt Senior

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

Players Mentioned

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

#32 Montana Byrd
: 6' 4"; Senior
: G

#5 Alex Dubovitskiy
: 6' 6"; Senior
: G/F

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

#2 Jelani Pruitt
: 6' 5"; Redshirt Senior
: G/F

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

Scoreboard

Players Mentioned

Players Mentioned