Champaign, Ill. — The Chicago State Cougars return to action Thanksgiving Day at 11:00 a.m. CT from the State Farm Center in Champaign, where they'll face the 8th-ranked Illinois Fighting Illini.
Fans can watch on the Big Ten Network and listen to a live audio feed on the
WAC Digital Network with play-by-play voice
Sam Brief.
In Wednesday's season-opening 84-61 loss to Ohio, newcomers
Lou Demuth (Luxembourg City, Luxembourg) and
Jordan Polynice (San Clarita, Calif. /West Ranch/North Dakota Co. School) powered the Cougars offensively. Demuth, a 7-foot freshman, poured in 12 points and drilled two three-pointers. Polynice scored 11 points on 5-of-5 shooting. Meanwhile, another new face,
Aaris-Monte Bonds (Denver, CO/Martin Luther King Jr. Early College) led the way with seven rebounds, including three on the offensive glass.
Thursday, the Cougars meet in-state rival Illinois for the first time since 2015, in which the Cougars led by eight points at halftime but fell at the buzzer, 82-79. Wednesday, the Illini dismantled North Carolina A&T, 122-60.
Notes:
Welcome Back
The 2020-21 CSU men's basketball team returns eight players from a season ago. These eight players accounted for 75.45% of CSU's scoring in 2019-20. Additionally, the Cougars return nearly 65% of its rebounding, 80% of its assists, 72% of its steals and 63% of its blocks.
Jincho Rivera Signs With Cougars
Jincho Rivera signed a National Letter of Intent on Nov. 11, 2021, to join the Cougars men's basketball program for the 2021-22 season.
Rivera, a 6-foot-5, 195-pound forward from Carolina, Puerto Rico, attends St. Joseph High School in Santa Maria, CA, where he averaged a double-double as a junior, scoring 19.6 points per game while pulling down 11.1 rebounds per game.
"Jincho Rivera is a kid with high character that brings toughness and an unbelievable work ethic to Chicago State," Irvin said. "He's an athletic 6-5 wing that can score inside and outside. When my staff and I watched him play, we really loved his intensity and skill set. He played hard every play on offense and defense and is a fierce competitor on the court."
Rivera was voted the all-area MVP by the sports staffs of the Santa Maria Times, Lompoc Record and Santa Ynez Valley News after the Knights finished the 2019-20 season with a 25-8 record, including 8-2 in the powerful Central Coast Athletic Conference. St. Joseph advanced to the semifinals of the CIF Central Section Division 1 Playoffs while Rivera topped the 30-point plateau four times as a junior and shot over 60 percent from the floor in each of those games, scoring a season-high 36 points on 15-of-24 shooting (63 percent).
Graduation Success Rate
The NCAA released its annual Graduation Success Rate (GSR) data Nov. 17 and Chicago State achieved a class average of 80 percent, based on the cohort starting during the 2013-14 academic year and who graduated within six years. Six CSU teams accomplished a GSR of over 80 percent, including three teams, men's tennis, women's golf and women's soccer, which recorded a perfect 100 percent graduation rate. The other three teams accomplishing an 80 percent or higher mark included women's volleyball (86 percent), women's cross country/track & field (88 percent) and men's basketball (90 percent). The men's basketball team total ranked third in the Western Athletic Conference while the women's team also ranked third (tied) in the conference at 75 percent. Over- all, CSU's 80 percent GSR ranked fifth in the league.
