I have continued following Chicago State since they left the WAC. This is a preview I wrote for the Chicago State board, but copied it over here so UTEP fans could see it as well. Virtually nobody could even find the Chicago State area if they tried.
In my mind, this is a winnable game for the Cougars. Chicago State has beaten several teams already with higher NET ratings. It’s just going to come down to who executes the best.
I don’t know a lot about UTEP, except Coach Golding was quite successful at Abilene Christian before taking on this job. He hasn’t replicated the same level of success so far. I watched them versus NM State, but that’s the only game I’ve actually watched them in this season.
UTEP is 8-7, 7-2 at home, and has lost their last 2 games. Their NET ranking is 250. Chicago is around 290 and has lost their last 5, all on the road. UTEP has 5 D1 wins, while Chicago State has 7, including their win over #25 Northwestern in Evanston.
The teams have only met once before, with Chicago State winning that matchup in El Paso in 2006.
The UTEP preview of the game is an interesting read, as it broadly notes where the Cougars rank nationally in a wide variety of categories. While it’s some interesting information to know, most of it isn’t very flattering. That’s nothing to do with the UTEP write up as they are merely reporting that the Cougars rank over 300 (out of 363 teams) in a high number of team statistics. But they do rank highly on some as well, with steals and turnovers forced, and 3 point defense among the highlights.
https://utepminers.com/news/2024/1/5/men...unday.aspx
For their part, one thing I noticed first is UTEP 3 point shooting is poor-only about 28% for the season. That’s probably about where CSU shoots as well. They score about 75 points a game average, but that is buoyed by a couple 120+ outings against lower level teams. Chicago is averaging 64, so I’d expect a game in the mid to high 60’s for both. Probably no big advantage to either side there as both will likely be comfortable with a similar pace.
UTEP is turning the ball over 14 times a game, which will likely benefit Chicago Stare who is lower than that on the season. I believe the Cougars have had 7 or less turnovers several times this season, and the turnovers have been lower than their average in their more recent games.
The Cougars looked really good against Kansas State and lead for a good part of the game, including almost the entire first half. It was a 5 point game with under a minute, so the Cougars were very much in that game. Offensively, they looked as good as they have all season.
The very next night at Oklahoma State, they came out very tired and flat and immediately got down by 20 points and pretty much sealed their fate early. Although they were down by 25 in the second half, they did go on a run and cut it to 15 with around 7 minutes to go with the ball. They then missed a 3, gave up a couple easy baskets and finished with a 19 point loss.
Chicago should be more rested on the 7th. If they can play as well as they did versus Kansas State they might get a win. Oklahoma States big men were dominant and gave Chicago a lot of problems. But despite that, they did make a run and actually played pretty well for a good part of the game. If they play as well as they did in the second half versus Oklahoma State, they could get a win.
Let’s see who shows up. Cardet will have to play like he did in Manhattan and run the offense better for them to have a shot. Oklahoma State played very good defense on him-the best I’ve seen all season, and held the leading scorer to a season low. He will likely be anxious to have another big night, more like his 30 point outing versus Northwestern. From what I saw, no one for UTEP was defending as well as Oklahoma State guys did.
