Thursday, February 13

Wagner @ Le Moyne LC wins 72-68
Chicago State @ FDU FDU wins 91-49
Saint Francis U @ Stonehill SU wins 79-74
Mercyhurst @ Central Connecticut CCSU wins 73-63


Saturday, February 15

Saint Francis U @ Central Connecticut CCSU wins 83-67
Chicago State @ Le Moyne LC wins 80-75
FDU @ LIU LIU wins 62-58
Mercyhurst @ Stonehill SC wins 85-73

How are some of the Cougars early season opponents doing you ask?

Wisconsin is 19-5 and #15 NET, while Illinois is even higher at NET #12
San Francisco is 20-6 and second in the WCC, ahead of Gonzaga
Grand Canyon is 17-6 and 2nd in the WAC
St Thomas is 19-7 and 2nd in the Summit
Eastern Kentucky is in 2nd in the ASun
Saint Louis is 3rd in the A10.
Northridge is 17-7 and 3rd in the Big West.
Texas is 15-9 and #31 NET

That’s a sampling. There are others doing very well in their leagues as well.

13 of the 15 are over .500, with Indiana State at 12-13 and Mercer at 11-14 after losing their last 3 games.

Not going to even talk about the FDU game.

I’m expecting a turnaround Saturday.

Every team has injuries and players out sick etc, but the Chicago State bench is getting thinner and thinner.

Starter Cam Jernigan hasn’t played since January 20, but logged only 3 minutes in 2 games since Jan 12.
Sub Greg Spate, a good 3 point shooter hasn’t played since December 19.
Sometimes starter Troy McKoy didn’t play versus FDU.

Only 10 players were dressed versus FDU.

Of course, players also get injured and come back like Quincy Allen. And what a different he makes. He’s had at least 8 in 4 of the last 6 games and has scored in double figures the last 3, including a season high 15 at FDU. As he gets back into shape, his production just keeps increasing. From points, rebounds, assists, blocks, he’s doing a bit of everything and looking pretty good doing it.

Good grief, the Le Moyne broadcast is bush league garbage. The game gets stuck in loops and just repeats for 10 minutes at a time. The announcers don’t know their mic is hot while they not only run down Chicago State, but their own team as well. I forgive the announcers, because they don’t know we can hear, but still…

No impressed. I watch a lot of college basketball on streaming in the NAIA in particular, but all the way down to Uscaa, NCCAA, acca, and even below that, and this is the worst production quality I have seen at any level.

Want to be D1? Get your crap together. This isn’t the first game. The season is almost over. Same thing when I tried to watch another Le Moyne game as well, just. Just as bad that time too. Unwatchable.

Another loss to a team they should beat, and already blew out once this year. Nothing specific comes to mind as to what went wrong. Nothing glaring, just didn’t go their way after clawing back with an 11-2 run late.

But the things that have held them back all season were very present- rebounding first and foremost, and along with that, second chance points; and as always, shooting percentage.

Defense was solid for the most part. Not great, and not without some lapses, but at a high level overall. Le Moyne struggled to get any shot on a lot of possessions. But as usual, we let some guy get hot from the 3 and it just kills us. They had to work to get this shots, but when they get them, they are really open.

Chicago defense gets a lot of steals, a good number of fast break points, and a lot of blocks consistently. Some of those open 3’s result from pressuring and are ok, but even limiting them would help because a lot of them are absolutely momentum killers.

Quincy Allen is the best player on the floor. So smooth. So talented. But Forrest is probably the gutsiest and the toughest. Very different styles. Sure wish Matthew Robinson could get hot more often, because he can really score. But as the season has progressed, we’ve seen too little of his abilities.