Preview: Chicago State Men's Basketball Host SIUE Friday, Nov. 12 at 7 p.m.

The Chicago State men's basketball team will host SIUE on Friday, November 12 at 7 p.m. at the Jones Convocation Center on the CSU campus. CSU enters the contest with a 1-0 record after defeating St. Thomas Tuesday night 77-72 in head coach Gerald Gillion's debut as a college head coach. SIUE is 0-1, dropping an 88-77 decision at Marquette Nov. 9.

Series History
CSU and SIUE have faced each other nine times previously, with SIUE holding a slight 5-4 advantage in the series. The last time the two teams played was Dec. 4, 2019, with Chicago State earning an 89-81 victory which, until the CSU victory over St. Thomas in the 2021-22 season opener, was the Cougars last victory, a span of 28 games. SIUE holds a 2-1 advantage in games played in Chicago, the last being Dec. 19, 2017, an 88-76 SIUE victory.

New Faces
Only three players return from last year's squad (Andrew Lewis, Carlo Marble and Coreyoun Rushin) while three freshmen (Kedrick Green, Jr., Bryce Johnson and Jahsean Corbett) were in the starting lineup and a fourth, J.J. Harris, came off the bench and combined to contribute 45 percent of the team's 77 points in the season-opening win over St. Thomas.

Instant Impact
Junior transfer Brandon Betson made an immediate impact for his new Cougars team, leading the team with a game-high 22 points in the season-opening win over St. Thomas. Betson is a 6-1, 180-pound guard from Hercules, California and is a two-time first team all-conference performer at his previous two stops, spending his freshman season at San Bernardino Valley College and his sophomore season at Daytona State. His 22-point debut is the highest in a season-opening win dating back to just two seasons ago when Xavier Johnson netted 37 points against Judson in CSU's 103-60 2019-20 season-opening win.

Just the Stats
Senior Coreyoun Rushin, the lone returning starter to play for the Cougars last Tuesday night, continues to fill up the stat sheet for CSU. After not scoring in the first half, Rushin contributed 11 second-half points, pulled down six rebounds, dished out two assists and led the team with three blocked shots and two steals. The 6-foot-6, forward started his collegiate career at the College of Southern Idaho, scoring 9.5 points per game and 7.3 rebounds per game and shooting 63.5 percent from the field. Rushin was named honorable mention all-conference.

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. With the Bengals, he appeared in 29 games as a sophomore, starting eight, averaging 3.9 points and 3.2 rebounds in 19.3 minutes per game.

He played in just two games last season as a transfer for the Cougars, gaining immediate eligiblity 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.

Trending...the Cougars...

Last won its season opener: vs. Judson 103-60, 11/5/2019

Last two-game win streak: 11/19-20 vs. Purdue NW (97-77), North Park (79-66)

Last three-game win streak: 11/29-12/6/2018 vs. East-West U (90-67), Eastern Illinois (80-72), Trinity (84-82)

Last two-game win streak vs. DI opp: 1/11-16/2014: Kansas City (68-66), New Mexico State University (86-81)

Last three-game win streak vs. DI opp: 3/9-16/2013: Houston Baptist (71-58), UTRGV (63-55), Houston Baptist (75-60)

Next Up...
Chicago State will play its first road games of the season next week, staying in Chicago but traveling to the north side to face Loyola on November 16 at 7 p.m. Following that contest, a two-game road trip to California awaits, with a matchup at UC-Santa Barbara on Saturday, November 19 then at Pacific on Monday, November 22.

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. 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 and made 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. 

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