Chicago State Closes Road Swing Saturday at Kansas City in WAC Opener

Christian Jacob and the Cougars open WAC play tomorrow at Kansas City

Chicago State (3-12, 0-0) at Kansas City (5-10, 0-0)
Date	Saturday, Jan. 5, 2019
Time	2 p.m.
Location	Swinney Recreation Center - Kansas City, Mo.
Video	WAC Digital Network
Radio	N/A
Live Stats	UMKC Live Stats
Social Media	@UMKCmbb (Twitter)

UMKC Game Notes

CHICAGO -

OPENING TIP – The Chicago State men's basketball team closes out a five-game road swing Saturday in the state of Missouri as it takes on Western Athletic Conference rival Kansas City at Swinney Recreation Center in the conference opener for both teams. The game will be broadcast live on the WAC Digital Network with a start time of 2 p.m.

SCOUTING CSU – CSU heads to the opening week of WAC play sporting a season record of 3-12 and returns to action after falling at Northern Illinois, 100-59, in its non-conference finale on Dec. 22 with senior guard Delshon Strickland (Minneapolis, Minn./Minnetonka) leading three players in double figures with 17 points. The Cougars have three players that are producing double figure scoring averages with senior guard Anthony Harris (Gary, Ind./Griffith (Ind.)) recording a team-best 14.7 points per game as well as leading the team in blocked shots with seven. Rob Shaw (Louisville, Ky./St. Xavier), another senior guard, is dishing out a WAC-best 5.5 assists a game while ranking second on the team in scoring at 11.2 points per contest. Junior forward Christian Jacob (Gary, Ind./Westside) is scoring 10.3 points a game in addition to grabbing a team-leading average of 6.1 rebounds per game.

SCOUTING UMKC – Kansas City opens conference play with a record of 5-10 but has earned a split over its last four games following an 89-53 loss at Creighton on Dec. 27. Junior guard Xavier Bishop leads the Kangaroos with season averages of 16.3 points and 4.5 assists per game to go along with shooting 47 percent from the field and has connected on 37 percent of his attempts from three-point range. Junior guard Rob Whitfield is shooting team highs of 45 percent from downtown and 82 percent from the free throw line while sitting second on the team with a scoring average of 13.1 points a game. UMKC's top rebounder is redshirt junior forward Danny Dixon as he is grabbing 4.7 boards per game.

SERIES HISTORY – Heading into Saturday's game, UMKC has produced a 32-12 advantage in the all-time series against Chicago State which includes a 7-3 record over the past four seasons. Both teams posted a split in last season's series as the Cougars snapped a five-game losing streak in the series on March 3, 2018 with a 96-82 home victory at the Emil and Patricia Jones Convocation Center. Deionte Simmons (Detroit, Mich./Lewisville (Texas)) tallied a double-double of 20 points and 10 rebounds for CSU in his final collegiate home game.

SHAW AIMS FOR CSU'S SINGLE-SEASON LEADERBOARD – Shaw looks to crack the school's Division I Top 10 leaderboard for most assists in a single season as he has dished out 83 assists so far this season entering the rest of this week's slate. He needs 30 assists to pass Ryon Malone's total of 112 assists for 10th place.

COUGARS GET WAC SPOTLIGHT GAME AT UVU – Chicago State will play in the WAC Spotlight Game of the Week on Feb. 21 at Utah Valley as part of a six-game package that will feature the league on ESPN+.

UP NEXT – The Cougars return home to the Jones Convocation Center on Saturday, Jan. 12 to battle WAC newcomer California Baptist in the first-ever meeting between the two schools live on the WAC Digital Network with a start time of 2:05 p.m.

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Players Mentioned

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

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

#1 Rob Shaw: G; 6' 0"; Senior

#13 Christian Jacob: F; 6' 8"; Junior

#2 Delshon Strickland: G; 6' 4"; Senior

Players Mentioned

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

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

#1 Rob Shaw
: 6' 0"; Senior
: G

#13 Christian Jacob
: 6' 8"; Junior
: F

#2 Delshon Strickland
: 6' 4"; Senior
: G

Scoreboard

Players Mentioned

Players Mentioned