Box Score The Chicago State men's basketball team lost to Bethune-Cookman 86-73 Thursday at the Moore Gymnasium in Daytona Beach, Florida. The Wildcats went on an 8-0 run to end the first half to open up a tight game and lead by 11 at the half. Bethune-Cookman led by as many as 16 in the second half after the Cougars closed the gap to six to open the half and to seven with just under eight minutes to play but B-CU held off the Cougars for the 13-point win.
Wesley Cardet was one of three players in doubles figures and he posted a game high 27 points.
Elijah Weaver had 14 and
Bryce Johnson 12.
Jahsean Corbett pulled down 11 rebounds and just missed his fifth double-double of the season with eight points.
Thursday's game was just the third all-time meeting between the two schools with each team winning on the road. The Wildcats changed that Thursday and now lead the series 2-1.
The Cougars will wrap up a busy week with their first home game in five games, hosting Southern Indiana on Sunday, December 4 at 2 p.m. at the JCC. The Cougars and Screaming Eagles have never faced each other on the hardwood as USI recently transitioned from NCAA Division II to Division I and are currently a member of the Ohio Valley Conference and will not be eligible to compete in the NCAA Tournament or the NIT until the 2026-27 season. This is their first year competing at the Division I level and they enter the week with a 3-3 record with a game at Western Illinois before coming to Chicago Sunday.
1st Half - Bethune-Cookman 39, Chicago State 28
The teams exchanged buckets to open the game before
Elijah Weaver drained a three to go up 7-3 with 17:25 remaining in the half
Chicago State extended the lead to 11-4 following a pair of Wesley Cardet free throws
The Wildcats went on a 4-0 run before Cardet coverted an "and one" to go up 14-8 at the 14:16 mark
Leading 16-10 following a Weaver layup, B-CU reeled off five points to get within one, 16-15, at 12:27
Cardet responded with a layup to preserve the lead, 18-15
The Wildcats mounted a modest 4-1 run to tie the score 19-19 at the 9:01 mark
B-CU converted a pair of free throws to lead 21-19 and Cardet tied the score with a jumper, 21-21
B-CU then went on a 6-1 run to lead 27-23
The Wildcats scored the last eight points of the half and outscored CSU 10-2 over the last 3:14 of the half to go into the locker room leading by 11 at the half
1st Half - Bethune-Cookman 39, Chicago State 28
2nd Half - Bethune-Cookman 47, Chicago State 45
The Cougars opened the second half with a 5-0 run to pull within six, 39-33
B-CU countered with a 5-0 run of their own to go back up 11, 44-33
Bryce Johnson converted a three to pull within nine, 46-37, at the 15:30 mark
The Wildcats surged to their largest lead of the game, 59-43 with 12:27 remaining to play
Another Johnson three pulled CSU to within 11, 65-54, at 9:20
A 4-0 Cougars run capped by a
Deshawn Jean-Charles layup put the score at 65-58 at 7:48
B-CU extended the lead to 79-66 on a 14-8 run with under two minutes remaining
Following a Cardet layup to close the gap to eight, 79-71, B-CU hit a three and finished the game with a 7-2 run for the 13-point win
Bethune-Cookman 86, Chicago State 73
About Chicago State
Chicago State University Athletics is comprised of 15 intercollegiate teams involving over 150 student-athletes that compete in basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, tennis, indoor and outdoor track and volleyball. CSU held memberships in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) and NCAA Division II before transitioning to NCAA Division I in 1994. Melvin Bland was the first CSU student-athlete to gain NAIA All-American status in 1974 as a wrestler. Fred Evans became the first black swimmer ever to win a national championship in 1975. In 1991, the Chicago State women's tennis team became the first all-black college team to amass an unbeaten season at the NCAA level. CSU's women's basketball team earned a spot in the 2011 Women's Basketball Invitational and CSU's men's basketball team won the 2013 Great West Conference Tournament title, also making an appearance in the CollegeInside.com Postseason Tournament (CIT). The Men's Outdoor Track & Field 4x100-Meter Relay team were 2019 Honorable Mention All-Americans and WAC Champions. Their feat marked the first time the Chicago State's men's track & field program was represented at the national meet. Chicago State volleyball recorded a historic season in 2021, with Yanlis Feliz becoming CSU's first volleyball All-American and head coach Tony Trifonov earning selection as WAC Coach of the Year. During that same season, three different CSU teams earned victories over Big Ten opponents with men's soccer beating Northwestern, women's basketball upending Wisconsin and volleyball, which established a school record 17 wins and hosted a post-season volleyball tournament for the first time in program history, swept Indiana in Bloomington.
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