SERIES HISTORY VS. NORTHWESTERN
Record: Northwestern 13, Chicago State 0
Last Meeting: Dec. 17, 2018 (Northwestern 88, Chicago State 46)
STORYLINES
• Spreading the sugar: Junior transfer Jordan Polynice (San Clarita, Calif. /West Ranch/North Dakota Co. School) is Chicago State's leading overall scorer despite only tying for the team lead in scoring just once in the first four games. Polynice connected on his first nine shots of the season, spanning over the first game and a half, with his first miss coming on a full-court shot at the end of the first half at Illinois. In four games this season, the Cougars have featured a different high scorer each game: Lou Demuth (Luxembourg City, Luxembourg) vs. Ohio, Xavier Johnson (Dallas, Texas/Hopkins H.S.) vs. Illinois, Jordan Polynice (San Clarita, Calif. /West Ranch/North Dakota Co. School) and Rajeir Jones (Baltimore, Md./St. Frances Academy) tied for game high honors vs. NC A&T and Isaiah Lewis (Romulus, Mich./) and Levelle Zeigler (Oakland, Calif. /Ridgeview HS) with 11 at Eastern Illinois
• Happy returns: Just two of the top 10 scorers in the Western Athletic Conference from last year are back. Grand Canyon's Alessandro Lever ranked third last season at 15.7 ppg while Chicago State's Xavier Johnson (Dallas, Texas/Hopkins H.S.) led the Cougars and was sixth at 15.4 ppg.
• What a difference a year makes: Chicago State 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 percent of its rebounding, 80 percent of its assists, 72 percent of its steals and 63 percent 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.
Complete Chicago State Game Notes
