The Chicago State men's basketball team will play their second consecutive road game, which is also their second-to-last non-conference game of the season, traveling to Des Moines, Iowa to take on Drake on Sunday, Dec. 19 at 2 p.m. at the Knapp Center.
Following Sunday's game, the Cougars will travel to Ames, Iowa and face Iowa State Tuesday, Dec. 21 to wrap up non-conference play. CSU will open Western Athletic Conference play at Grand Canyon (12/30) followed by a trip to New Mexico State (1/1/2022).
The Cougars are seeking their second consecutive road win Sunday, facing a Drake team which is currently 7-4, including 6-0 at home. Chicago State is coming off a win at IUPUI last Thursday (12/16) and are seeking their first two-game road win streak since the 2013-14 season when the Cougars beat Idaho in Moscow, Idaho on Jan. 4, 2014 (57-55), then beat Kansas City on the road on Jan. 11 (68-66).
Drake is undefeated in the all-time series with Chicago State, holding a 9-0 advantage dating back to 1991. Each of the nine games have been played in Des Moines, including a 111-67 Bulldogs win last season.
Information on how to follow the Cougars below:
| Chicago State Cougars at Drake Bulldogs |
| Date | Time |
Sunday, December 19 | 2:00 p.m. CT |
| Location |
Knapp Center | Des Moines, Iowa |
| Television |
ESPN+ |
| Live Stats |
Live Stats |
| Game Notes |
Chicago State Game Notes |
|
Last time out...at IUPUI...
Dominique Alexander played a season high 33 minutes which translated into a season- and game-high 17 points. He established new season highs in field goal attempts (10), three pointers made (3) and attempted (8), free throws made (6) and attempted (6), rebounds (7). Alexander also tied a season high with four field goals made.
Coreyoun Rushin led the team in rebounds with nine at IUPUI. He also had two blocks and set a season high with three assists.
Teddy Bayi Ba Mendeng has started the last six games in a row and during that time he has averaged 6.3 rebounds per game. Coming off the bench during the first five games of the season he averaged 2.0 rebounds per game. He also had a career- and season-high four blocks against the Jaguars.
Brandon Betson scored 15 of the Cougars 27 first-half points in the win at IUPUI, helping CSU through a cold-shooting start. Betson made 5-of-10 first half shots (50 percent) as the rest of the team connected on just 4-of-21 (19 percent). Betson attempted (and missed) just one second-half shot, a three pointer and his 15 points ranked second on the team and he also pulled down a season-high six rebounds.
Jahsean Corbett struggled shooting from the field against IUPUI, making just 1-of-5 three-point attempts and 4-of-12 overall from the field. He did get to the free throw line where he converted 5-of-7 attempts (71.4 percent) and was one of just three Cougars in double figures scoring against IUPUI with 14. Corbett has scored in doubles figures in eight of 11 games this season.
After not playing in the previous three games, Carlo Marble came off the bench and established season highs in minutes played (12), field goals made (2) and attempted (4), three-point field goals made (2) and attempted (4) and points (6).
Previously...
Favour Chukwukelu came off the bench and established several season highs at Loyola Maryland. He played a season-high 29 minutes (previous high was 14) and, after converting only one three-point field goal in the previous six games, was 4-of-8 from beyond the arc for a season-high 12 points. Chukwukelu also had a season high two rebounds, two assists and two steals.
Freshman Bryce Johnson who has not played in the last five games, put together a pair of impressive scoring efforts earlier this season. After not scoring in the first game against St. Thomas extending into the first half against SIUE, Johnson scored 17 second-half points to key the win. In a span of one minute, he nailed a three-point field goal (13:58), converted a traditional three-point play with a put back, foul and free throw and nailed another three pointer (12:57) to turn a one-point deficit into a seven-point Cougars lead. A little over a minute later, after SIUE cut the lead to five, he hit another three to account for 12 of CSU's 13 points in a two-minute span. Then, after being held scoreless in the first half at Pacific, he scored a game-high 24 second-half points on 8-of-13 shooting, including 5-of-9 three-point field goals.
Brandon Betson was named the TicketSmarter Western Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Week for November 8-14. A junior guard from Hercules, California, he earned the honor leading the Cougars in scoring in their two season-opening wins. He opened the season with 22 points and four assists in a 77-72 win over St. Thomas, then added 18 points and three assists in a 67-56 win over visiting SIUE. On the week, he averaged 20.0 points per game on 14-of-27 shooting (.519).
Betson was an all-conference performer at each of his two previous stops, earning first-team All-Central Conference at Daytona State as a sophomore where he had seven 20+-point scoring performances with a season-high 30 and was named first-team IEAC at San Bernardino College as a freshman where he averaged 19.5 points per game with 12 20+-point scoring performances with a season-high 45 points. He also averaged 45.2 percent from the field, including 41.5 percent from beyond the three-point arc.
Senior Coreyoun Rushin is the only Chicago native on the Cougars roster. Rushin, a 2017 Chicago Sun-Times All-State, Chicago Public League All-City and Red-West All-Conference performer, transferred to Chicago State from Idaho State. He played in just two games last season as a transfer for the Cougars, gaining immediate eligibility based on an NCAA Division I Council vote which granted a blanket waiver to allow all Division I transfers to play immediately in 2020-21. After just two games, CSU suspended the season.
Milestones...
Chicago State's season-opening win over St. Thomas was head coach Gerald Gillion's first as a collegiate head coach ... That win also snapped a 28-game Cougars losing streak, dating back to December 2019, an 89-81 win over SIUE in Edwardsville, Illinois ... The game against St. Thomas was the Cougars first action in nearly a year, last playing Dec. 20, 2020, in what turned out to be a nine-game, COVID-shortened 2020-21 season ... The Cougars win over SIUE (67-56) marked the Cougars first two-game win streak over Division I opponents since the 2014-15 season (Feb. 26 vs. GCU, W, 74-70; Feb. 28 vs. Utah Valley, 65-44) ... Chicago State won three straight home games for the first time since 2018-19 after winning the first three home games of the 2021-22 season ... The road win over IUPUI win was the Cougars first on the road this season and first road win since Dec. 4, 2019 at SIUE (89-81), a span of 24 games away from the Jones Convocation Center (includes two neutral site games).
Scouting the Drake Bulldogs...
For the first time on record, Drake was picked as the preseason favorite in the Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball race by a voting panel consisting of coaches, sports information directors and the media. Drake received 29 first-place votes and 411 points. Loyola earned 363 points, including eight first-place votes, to finish second in the poll followed by UNI, Missouri State, Southern Illinois, Bradley, Valparaiso, Evansville, Indiana State and Illinois State.
Drake started the season with a roster whose average age was at 21.82 (believed to be the second-oldest behind Eastern Kentucky at 22.02). Notably, Drake's starting 5 averages 24.06. Drake has won nine consecutive home games and 29 straight home non-conference games. Further, the Bulldogs are 24-4 in December under head coach Darian DeVries.
