The Chicago State men's basketball team wrapped up a busy week with a 78-61 win over Southern Indiana Sunday at the JCC. Chicago State overcame cold shooting early and erased a double-digit lead, converting 8-of-16 first-half threes while making a season high 13 threes in the game, contributing to the 17-point victory.
Brent Davis was one of four players in doubles figures and he led all scorers with 18. Jahsean Corbett added 16, Bryce Johnson 14 and Wesley Cardet 11. Elijah Weaver led CSU with eight rebounds and five assists and he added eight points in the win.
The Cougars and Screaming Eagles had 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.
With the win, the Cougars opened the home schedule with three consecutive victories for the second season in a row, an accomplishment CSU previously hadn't accomplished since the 2018-19 season.
The next action for the Cougars will be Sunday, December 11 at 1 p.m. at the University of Tennessee at the Kathleen and Tom Elam Center. UT Martin is 4-5 including a 4-0 record at home. Sunday's game will be the first-ever meeting between the Cougars and the Skyhawks.
1st Half - Chicago State 38, Southern Indiana 34
Southern Indiana scored the game's first six points and led 6-0 at the 16:48 mark
Jahsean Corbett got the Cougars on the board breaking a 4:27 drought to open the game
The Screaming Eagles went on an 8-0 run and led 14-3 with 12:26 to play
Kedrick Green hit a three to cut the lead to 14-6
USI hit a layup to go up 24-14 at the 7:55 mark
At that point, Chicago State hit four three pointers on consecutive trips to tie the score 26-26 at 6:09
Following a USI layup, Elijah Wever hit a three and Chicago State had its first lead, 29-28, at 5:15
Both teams failed to score for the next 2:30 until USI converted a pair of free throws and hit a three to lead 33-29 with 2:43 remaining to play
The Cougars went on a 9-0 run on buckets by Wesley Cardet and Brent Davis and free throws by Kedrick Green to lead 38-33 with 26 seconds left in the half
CSU converted 8-of-16 threes in the half and five different players converted from beyond the three-point line in the half
2nd Half - Chicago State 40, Southern Indiana 27
The Cougars scored the first four points of the half to extend the lead to its largest of the game, eight points, 42-34 at 19:20
USI responded with a 4-0 run before CSU countered with a pair of free throws and a layup
Following a Screaming Eagles free throw, the Cougars made three consecutive threes (Corbett, Weaver, Davis) and a layup (Davis) to go up 18, 57-39 with 13:23 left to play
USI went on a 5-0 run before Bryce Johnson hit a three and the lead was 17, 63-46
The CSU lead stayed around the 14-point range for the remainder of the game while USI pulled to within 12, 64-52, but the Cougars would convert 10 free throws for the stretch for the 17-point win
Chicago State 78, Southern Indiana 61
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.
Original source can be found here
Alerts Sign-up