Idaho Is Chicago State Men's Basketball First WAC Opponent

Coach Tracy Dildy's Cougars play their first ever WAC contest
 on Saturday at Idaho.
(Courtesy Chicago State University Athletics)

Complete PDF Game Notes

ALL TIME SERIES - This is the first meeting between Idaho and Chicago State during the Cougars' 1984-95 Division I era.

LAST TIME OUT - The Cougars fell 90-58 at Creighton on Sunday. Chicago State nailed 10 3-pointers in the contest only to see Creighton make 16 from beyond the arc.

UP NEXT - The Cougars host UW-Green Bay on Tuesday (Jan. 7) in a non-conference game with the Horizon League Phoenix. Tip at the Jones Convocation Center on CSU's campus is set for 7 p.m.

HOME IS WHERE THE WINS ARE - Chicago State is 5-0 at home this year. It's the Cougars' first 5-0 start at home since 2008-09. Should the Cougars get a home win over UW-Green Bay on Jan. 7 the Cougars will own their best start at home since finishing the 1985-86 season 9-0 at home. The Cougars also went 7-0 at home in 1984-85, CSU's first year as a member of NCAA Division I.

DOUBLE DARE - Clarke Rosenberg (Skokie, Ill./Evanston Township) has scored in double-digits in 11 of the Cougars' 13 games this season.

FOUR IS MORE - Grand Canyon and Chicago State are the only two WAC teams with four individuals averaging 10 or more points per game.

FROM WAY DOWNTOWN - Eight different Cougars have made a 3-pointer this season.

DOUBLE TROUBLE - Six Cougars finished in double-digits in Chicago State's victory over Southern Illinois on Nov. 30. The last time the Cougars accomplished this task was Nov. 20, 2008 in an 84-74 win over Central Michigan.

FRESH LEGS - Chicago State's freshmen have played 295 minutes this season. Last season a freshman didn't play a single minute for the Cougars.

WHAT ARE PROBABLE STARTERS? - Chicago State used 15 different starting lineups last season. This season, the Cougars have already used six different combinations.

START 'EM UP - Nine different Cougars have started at least one game this season.

CALL HIM THE ROCK - The lone name you can write in pen in the Chicago State lineup since the start of last season is senior Matt Ross (Dixon, Ill./Dixon). Since arriving last season as a junior college transfer, Ross has started in 45 of 46 Chicago State games. The only game he didn't start was Senior Night last season against Eastern Illinois when then senior Quincy Ukaigwe (Matteson, Ill./Rich Central) started for him instead.

YEAR-BY-YEAR - Clarke Rosenberg (Skokie, Ill./Evanston Township) is shooting 52.8 percent (66-of-125) this season. Up from his 41.6 percent performance last season after his 34.6 percent shooting as a freshman. Additionally, he has 10 games this season where he finished with a 50.0 % or better shooting percentage.

Chicago State Cougars (5-8, 0-0 WAC) at Idaho Vandals (6-9, 0-1 WAC)
Date	Saturday, Jan. 4, 2014
Time	7:00 p.m. PT
Location	Moscow, Idaho - Cowan Spectrum (6,000)
TV	GoVandals.com
Radio	GoVandals.com
Live Stats	GoVandals.com
Social Media	@ChicagoStateMBB

TRYING FOR THREE - Nine times this season the Cougars have attempted 20 or more 3-pointers in a game.

NEARING 500 - Matt Ross (Dixon, Ill./Dixon) (472) is nearing the 500 mark for career points at Chicago State. Clarke Rosenberg (Skokie, Ill./Evanston Township) (577) and Quinton Pippen (Hamburg, Ark./Hamburg) (507) have already passed the 500 mark earlier this season.

FORCING MISTAKES - Dating back to last season, the Cougars have forced double-digit turnovers in 37 straight games. The stretch includes 10 games of forcing 20 or more turnovers. This year the Cougars are averaging 8.0 steals per game, ranking 32nd in the nation.

ON THE PLUS SIDE - The Cougars' +3.2 turnover margin is the best in the WAC. The total ranks 32nd in the nation.

JUST TWICE - Only two times this season the Cougars have comitted more turnovers than they have forced. (Alabama State and Illinois)

SENIOR LEADERSHIP X8 - The Cougars have a WAC-high eight seniors on the squad.

REJECTED - The six blocks Matt Ross (Dixon, Ill./Dixon) recorded Nov. 8 at Indiana are the most for a Cougar in a single game during the Tracy Dildy era (2010-11 to present).

QP FOR THREE - Quinton Pippen (Hamburg, Ark./Hamburg) owns 99 career 3-pointers, ninth all-time in CSU history (Division I era, starting 1984-85). He is within striking distance of eighth place Terrence West's (1998-02) 101 and seventh place Tony Weeden's (2003-05) 103.

20/20 VISION - The Cougars have already had six 20-point performances this season. The Cougars only had five 20-point performances all of last season.

QP IS A PRESEASON PICK - Quinton Pippen (Hamburg, Ark./Hamburg) was named to the 2013-14 Preseason All-WAC Second Team by a vote of the league's coaches.

RELATIVE GREATNESS - Quinton Pippen (Hamburg, Ark./Hamburg) is the nephew of former Chicago Bull Scottie Pippen. Not surprising, Quinton wears No. 33.

PRESEASON POLL - The Cougars were picked to finish sixth in the Western Athletic Conference Preseason Poll by a vote of the league's coaches.

EDDIE IS READY - The final addition to the 2013-14 roster was senior Eddie Denard (Chicago, Ill./Foreman). The 6-6 forward played last year at New Orleans University but was allowed to transfer without sitting out a season due to New Orleans' APR penalties barring them from postseason play this year. Denard started all 26 games last season at UNO, averaging 5.4 points and 3.8 rebounds. Denard is from Chicago, Ill. and played high school basketball at Foreman High School. He attended UIC his freshman year of college.

DEFENSE! - Chicago State limited opponents to just 69.0 points per game last season. It was the best defensive performance for a Chicago State team during the NCAA Division I era (1984-85 - present).

TAKING IT AWAY - The Cougars ranked seventh in the nation in steals per game last season by averaging 9.4 swipes a contest. The last time the Cougars finished a season ranking in the top 10 in the nation in a category was in 2008-09 when CSU ranked third in both scoring (84.2) and steals per game (10.0).

FOREIGN TOUR - The Cougars traveled to Costa Rica August 10-16 to play three exhibitions against international clubs. As per NCAA rules the team earned 10 extra practices to prepare for the trip. In between basketball the team went rafting, ziplined and volunteered at a local school.

THE FIRST SINCE - Chicago State's Great West Conference title last season was the first men's basketball championship for one of Chicago's Division I teams since UIC won the Horizon League Tournament in 2004.

TIME FOR MORE FIRSTS - Chicago State earned the program's first ever conference tournament championship and first ever postseason tournament berth last season by winning the Great West Conference Tournament and earning a berth in the CollegeInsider.com Tournament. The Cougars fell to crosstown rival UIC in the CIT first round 80-69.

THE WAC IS WHERE IT'S AT - Chicago State became an all-sport member of the WAC on July 1, 2013. The WAC is Chicago State's first conference with an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament since 2006 as a member of the Mid-Continent (now Summit League).

COURTESY CHICAGO STATE UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS MEDIA RELATIONS