Box Score The Chicago State men's basketball team suffered an 85-64 setback to the Grand Canyon University Antelopes Wednesday night at the Jones Convocation Center in Chicago. The Cougars shot 21.4 percent in the first half (6-of-28) while the Antelopes were 13-of-22 (59.1) from the field, including 4-of-7 from beyond the three-point arc en route to a 19-point halftime lead.
J.J. Harris was one of four Cougars in double figures and he led all scorers with 16 points.
Brandon Betson and
Jahsean Corbett each had 12 while
Coreyoun Rushin had 10, scoring seven of CSU's first nine points.
The teams traded hoops to open the game before Rushin converted a three to give Chicago State it's only lead of the game, 5-4. GCU countered with a 12-2 before Rushin made a pair of free throws and the Antelopes led 16-9 with 11:45 remaining in the first half. At that point the Cougars were held scoreless over the next three and a half minutes and GCU took advantage with a 10-0 run to increase their lead to 26-9.
Favour Chukwukelu nailed a three before GCU converted four straight from the free throw line and the score was 30-12 at the 7:02 mark.
Betson scored on back-to-back possessions for the Cougars but GCU was running again, this time at a 9-2 clip and led by 23, 39-16, with 4:20 remaining to play. Chicago State closed the half with a modest 9-5 run and went into the locker room at halftime trailing by 19, 44-25.
Both teams were casting from distance to open the second half with the Antelopes first 5-of-6 field goals coming from beyond the three-point arc while Chicago State attempted to keep pace with 4-of-6 shooting from three but GCU extended the lead to 24 points, 66-42 and led by as many as 27 during the stretch.
The game remained around that mark for much of the second half with GCU getting out by 30 on two occasions before Chicago State ended the game with a 13-4 run and the 85-64 final.
With the loss, Chicago State drops to 6-22 overall and 2-13 in the conference while GCU improves to 19-7 overall and 10-5 in the WAC.
The Cougars will wrap up the home portion of their schedule on Saturday, Feb. 26, welcoming New Mexico State to the JCC for a 2 p.m. tip. The Aggies are the WAC's preseason favorite in both the coaches and media polls and they've lived up to that billing and are tied for the top spot in the league standings with Seattle U with an 11-2 record and are 21-4 overall.
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.
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