Tuesday, November 28, 2023 7:00 p.m.
Gentile Arena, Chicago, Ill.


The Chicago State Cougars head north to Rogers Park for a Tuesday night men’s basketball game at Gentile Arena. Loyola is 11-1 all-time against Chicago State in a series that dates back to 1986. Loyola is coming off a come-from-behind Thanksgiving Day win over Boston College, while the Cougars are recovering from a Saturday loss to Tennessee Martin.

Chicago State became a Division I program in 1984-85 under legendary Coach Bob Hallberg, who took the Cougars from NAIA Independent to Division I. Stunningly, Chicago State was over-.500 their first two seasons jumping up to Division I. In their first year they were 16-11, with wins over Wichita State, Akron, Green Bay (twice), McNeese State, Howard, and others. In year two, they went 22-6, knocking off Butler, Illinois State, Boise State, UIC, Green Bay (twice, again), San Francisco, Eastern Illinois, and Eastern Michigan. It was a feat that was quite amazing. Predictably, UIC lured Coach Hallberg away from Chicago State after three Division I seasons with a 49-34 record.

Through 10 head coaches in the 36 seasons since Hallberg’s departure, Chicago State has only managed one other season above .500—and that includes playing quite a few non-Division I opponents. Head Coach Gerald Gillion is entering his third season leading Chicago State. For the past two years, Chicago State has been Independent (not in a conference), playing a heavy schedule during non-con season and getting a few games in January and February. Still in November, tonight’s game will be CSU’s ninth contest of the season, and they’re set to play 19 games by New Year’s Eve.

The Cougars will likely start 6’6” junior guard Wesley Cardet, 6’3” junior guard Brent Davis, and 6’0” junior guard Kedrick Green. In the frontcourt are 6’7” junior forward Jahsean Corbett, and 6’7” sophomore forward Deshawn Jean-Charles. Cardet is a former Top 100 recruit from the Class of 2021, out of Ft. Lauderdale’s West Oaks Academy. After a freshman year at Samford, he transferred to Chicago State and has led the team in scoring ever since, averaging 16.6 ppg last year and putting up 18.9 points on average this year. Corbett has been the second leading scorer the past two years, putting in 12.3 ppg and leading in rebounds with 7.0 per game. Cardet and Corbett are also the team’s two best three-point shooters, at 37% and 34.8% respectively.

Davis averages 9.3 ppg, Green averages 8.4 ppg and 2.3 assists, and Jean-Charles averages 7.5 points to go with 5.4 rebounds, so every member of the starting five has potential to score in double digits. The two things to watch out for that Chicago State does pretty well is make steals (they’re ranked 36th in college basketball in steals percentage) and take care of the ball (they’re in the Top 100 in avoiding turnovers). In watching previous games, they really like to hang out in the passing lanes to pick off steals, and they have quick hands.

The top players off the bench are 6’5” junior guard Noble Crawford, 6’2” sophomore guard AJ Neal, 6’7” junior forward Cameron Jernigan, and 5’10” sophomore guard Tristan Arneaud. Freshman twins Matt and Ryan Bewley are 6’9” five-star recruits who have not played this season as they are suing the NCAA for eligibility. No one else on the roster is taller than 6’7”.

Loyola still might not have the services of top projected player Philip Alston two weeks after he strained his calf early in the loss to UIC. However, Loyola’s other banged-up players, Miles Rubin and Jayden Dawson, played very well in the trip to Kansas City. Rubin averaged 8.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, 2.5 blocks, and 19 minutes per game while shooting 70% from the field. Dawson played well on defense in the first game, but exploded with career highs of 14 points, 3 steals, and 4 made threes in the game against Boston College. Braden Norris and Des Watson also looked good.

Loyola really needs to string together some wins, refine the playing rotations and assignments, and get into rhythm for the conference season. This Rambler team has the potential for 20 regular season wins if the Ramblers can go 6-1 or better in the remaining non-con schedule.


Loyola game notes: https://loyolaramblers.com/documents/20 ... _-_CSU.pdf

Chicago State game notes: Pending

TV/Streaming video: ESPN Plus https://www.espn.com/watch/player/_/eve ... =401597841

Radio/Streaming audio: https://loyolaramblers.com/showcase?Live=157

Live stats: https://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=482148

Vegas odds: Loyola by 15.5

Lets build off the BC win and blow Chicago State off the court.

There are no excuses why this shouldn't be a beat down.. I guess one thing.. are the students on campus? They definitely have a huge impact on the energy in the building!

Five points through 10 min vs CHICAGO STATE. This is a disgraceful display of basketball.

Drew's gotta go

Classes resumed on Monday.

I say this to myself all the time, but in this particular game it's all the more obvious -- this team rarely gets open or easy shots.

Drew has set the program back. The fan support tonight is abysmal & honestly who can blame them. Things need to turn around fast and changes need to be made. The current trajectory of the program beyond the on court results is concerning.

Their players, bench and coaches have A LOT more energy and enthusiasm than we do. Looks like we presumed we could sleep walk to a win this game. Think I'm getting on board the "Drew has got to go" train.

I'm wondering/hoping that there's a bug going around. The lethargy is obvious but the distribution of playing time feels like a big departure from what we've seen.

Absolute junk.

Stayed home tonight, wasn't able to attend.

This is not good from the sounds of everything.