Cougars record is 7-9. 3-3 in road games to this point. 6-4 in their last 10. Won 4 in a row. Won 4 out of 5.

Chicago State enters an 8 game road stretch. Their next home game will he January 19

What to say? Wisconsin is a tall task, but it’s far from impossible.

One thing in the Cougars favor could be the timing. It’s around Christmas for one. And during the holidays , it’s just possible to be distracted more. Of course, that’s a possibility for the Cougars as well.

Second, the crowd should be smaller and quieter as well. The Cougars haven’t really played in front of a large or loud crowd this season.

The Cougars know they are capable of beating teams at that level. Put it this way, Wisconsin will have to play to beat Chicago. If they don’t, an upset is within the realm of possibility.

The Badgers are 24th in the AP Poll, 18th in the NET.

Here a Wisconsin preview of the matchup with Chicago State.

https://uwbadgers.com/news/2023/12/20/me...state.aspx

Wisconsin isn’t a big 3 point shooting team. They like to get inside and draw fouls. They get to the line about 20 times per game, so Chicago is going to have to just give them some gimmes inside to avoid the foul because the bench isn’t deep enough to lose, say Jahsean Corbet early in the game. And guys like Jean-Charles and Jernigan aren’t good at avoiding fouls.

But Jernigan can come from nowhere and block shots, so I wouldn’t be surprised to see him get at least a few game. And when a team throws it inside and a bigger guy works and maneuvers for a shot, it gives a guy like Jernigan time to get there and get blocks. And best of all, he doesn’t draw fouls doing that.

Fortunately, Tehshaundre Coke, who never even took the floor in the first part of the season, has come on and become a solid contributor in just a few games. He had 8 in one game and is big body inside who can rebound. He may be important in this game if fouls do indeed become an issue. He’s only listed at 6’5” but seems to hold his own inside.

I’d expect Brent Davis, AJ Neal and Noble Crawford get some good looks and hit some 3’s that might help the Cougars stay in this game. And Cardet will likely be at the line a lot. Wisconsin will likely have personnel who will try to play him more straight up than a team like Bethune-Cookman even tried to do, so that will actually give him a chance to to what he does and get some points.

So here’s to seeing if the Cougars can get another W. They are confident and have been winning a lot lately, so at least they will come in confident and ready for the challenge. Wisconsin has looked very good in some games, and a little shaky in some others, so it will be fun to see how each team shows out.

ESPN Analytics gives Chicago State a 1.7% chance of winning. But I think they are wrong, and it’s closer to 2% lol.

Man, I’m already really worried about these fouls on CSU. I said it above too, but now it’s happening.

Wisconsins announcers are a class act. Very knowledgeable and have extensive knowledge about Chicago State.

Man am I worried about all of these fouls though. It was 6 fouls in about three and half minutes. Wisconsin is fouling too, but they are an infinitely deeper squad.

And I’m glad they put Ked in at point, because Cardet cannot do it all and they need someone who is going to run an offense and at least try to others involved. Cardet is trying to do it all every time and it’s really kind of a disaster so far offensively for Chicago.

With the commercial at around 6 minutes to go, I’m liking g how things are going actually. Now that the offense has picked up, good things are happening. The fouls seem under control now and only being down 7 is amazing considering how bad things started.

With 2:45 to go, Corbet had a shot he just missed that would have taken it to 5. And then all of a sudden, a 3 and 2 at the other end and it become a 12 point game.

Im not impressed with Cardet at all tonight, or versus Bethune either. He needs to take himself down off his pedestal and play ball with the rest of the team. This season isn’t just a Wesley Cardet Jr NBA audition.

This game isn’t over though.

It’s been a very frustrating game so far for multiple reasons.

Cardet Jr has struggled immensely.

The officiating has not been that great at all either so far.

(12-22-2023 09:32 PM)joshadam84 Wrote:  It’s been a very frustrating game so far for multiple reasons.

Cardet Jr has struggled immensely.

The officiating has not been that great at all either so far.

Lots of frustrations watching this game. More than I can even go into.

I’m just a spectator, and I feel free to critique any player I wish, unlike some people who fear doing so.

Cardet stunk it up. His play cost any chance of winning or even staying in this game. For sure, the fault spreads wider than just him. However, when Cardet has the ball and seems absolutely determined to take a shot, no matter what on so many possessions, the fault is less theirs IMO.

He shot 4/22. And had 4 of the teams very low 7 total turnovers. Terrible. He took almost 40% of the teams shots and only hit 4. Pass the damn ball!

How did Brent Davis play 21 minutes, and only take 1 shot (which he made)? He’s a pretty decent shooter and scorer typically. He probably didn’t get a lot of great looks, which only drives home why they needed to run their offense instead of standing while Cardet dribbles for 10 seconds before driving in for her another wild shot. Since Davis plays more than Green, I wish he was more active and bit more of a drive and kick type guard.

Cam Jernigan played 20 minutes and only attempted 2 shots, 1 of which he made. But he was out there being active and hustling it seemed like.

Noble Crawford was active as usual. I wish he’d taken some more shots and tried to make some more plays when he had the ball.

Meanwhile, Ked Green, who has long been one of my favorite players anywhere, was 4/7 from the field in his 14 minutes. No other Chicago State player made more than 4 shots from the field for the entire game. He should have been in the game more IMO, because he was making plays and making moves in a game where the offense was absolutely stagnant and ineffective.

Cole impressed me with his play again. He got a silly foul or 2, but that’s an experience thing. He plays so much bigger than he is. He’s really coming along quickly I feel.