Box Score The Chicago State men's basketball team dropped an 81-71 decision to the Illinois State Redbirds Saturday afternoon at the Jones Convocation Center in Chicago. The loss was the first for the Cougars at home this season while the road win was the first for the Redbirds.
Four Cougars scored in double figures, led by Jahsean Corbett who had 17 points while Coreyoun Rushin and Favour Chukwukelu both added 13 and Brandon Betson 10. Rushin added nine rebounds to lead all players while ISU's Antonio Reeves led all scorers with 28.
The Redbirds jumped out front first, scoring the first four points of the game before Coreyoun Rushin put the Cougars on the board with a layup, sparking a modest 8-0 run over the next three minutes on hoops by Teddy Bayi Ba Mendeng, Jahsean Corbett and Brandon Betson.
Following an Illinois State three, Noah Bigirumwami converted his first three pointer of the season for CSU and Favour Chukwukelu followed with another from long range for the Cougars to double up the Redbirds early, 14-7, with 13:43 remaining in the first half.
ISU scored the next six, four from the free throw line, to cut the lead to one, 14-13. Rushin and Bayi Ba Mendeng scored to extend the lead to four, 17-13, before the teams exchanged scores until it was 23-21 Cougars with 5:28 to play. At that point, Chicago State's only points came from the free throw line on three separate trips while Illinois State made two threes along with a bucket for an 8-3 run and 29-26 lead.
Betson scored a pair of hoops in the final 1:13 while the Redbirds converted a pair of free throws and a three to take a 36-32 lead into the locker room at halftime.
The Redbirds heated up early in the second half. Following a Corbett basket, ISU's Josiah Strong made back-to-back three pointers to extend the ISU lead to six, 42-36. The Cougars then made their next four points from the charity stripe and a Betson jumper capped a quick 6-0 run to knot the game at 42-42 with 14:40 remaining to play.
Illinois State countered with a 10-2 run of their own, leading 52-44 just two and a half minutes later, leaving CSU to play catch up the rest of the way.
The Illinois State lead was 12 with 6:53 remaining in the game when when Rushin scored, followed by an Alexander three to cut the lead to seven, 66-59, one minute later. The teams exchanged a pair of buckets before the Redbirds went on another 5-0 run to push the lead back to 12, 73-61 with 3:05 remaining.
Rushin scored, then Corbett converted a pair of free throws to pull within eight, 73-65 and had possession with 1:54 to go and an opportunity to inch closer, but a Chukwukelu three was off the mark and the Redbirds made their free throws down the for the eventual 10-point win, 81-71.
