Chicago State Cougars Earn 77-52 Season Opening Victory Over Urbana (Ohio)

CHICAGO, Illinois  -- Chicago State limited Urbana (Ohio) to 27.7 percent shooting (13-of-47) on Saturday (Nov. 9) evening in the Cougars' 77-52 victory over the Blue Knights. The home opener win moves the Cougars to 1-1 while Urbana is now 0-1.

It was homecoming for Chicago State but also a special night for another reason. The Cougars received their 2013 Great West Conference Tournament Championship rings in a pregame ceremony. The championship banner was also unveiled.

The Cougars never trailed on Saturday, jumping out to leads of 9-0 and 29-10. It was a balanced attack with eight Cougars tallying two or more points in the initial half.

The closest Urbana would get in the second half was 10 points at the 18:31 mark after Urbana scored the first six points of the second. Chicago State kept Urbana off the scoreboard for five minutes midway through the half as the home team turned a 44-31 lead into a 27-point advantage at 58-31.



Danny Goins had a game-high 17 points for Urbana.

A stifling Chicago State defense forced 27 Urbana turnovers. The Cougars turned those into 31 points. The Cougars also dominated inside, recording a 42-18 points in the paint advantage.

Chicago State finished 29-of-59 from the floor (49.2 percent).

"I thought we shot the ball well especially in the second half when you're talking about 16-of-27 (from the floor in the second)," Chicago State head coach Tracy Dildy said "Still not pleased with our 3-point shooting because I know we're a much better 3-point shooting team."

Offensively, senior Quinton Pippen (Hamburg, Ark./Hamburg) led the Cougars with 16 points. Junior Clarke Rosenberg (Skokie, Ill./Evanston Township) finished with 13 points, three steals two assists with no turnovers. 11 Cougars scored points with Kurt Karis (Northbrook, Ill./Glenbrook North ) (4), Jared Dimakos (Lincolnshire, Ill./Lake Forest Academy) (9) and Quron Davis (Chicago, Ill./Simeon) (2) each recording their first points as a Cougar.

Saturday's game came less than 24 hours after the Cougars played at No. 24 on Friday evening in Bloomington.

"We're going to take off tomorrow to get our legs some rest to get ready for Tuesday," Dildy said.

The Cougars return to action on Tuesday wit
h a visit by Jacksonville State. Tip-off on Tuesday is set for 7 p.m. at the Jones Convocation Center.

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