This game isn’t until January 31, so time will tell what Duquesne will look like at that point, but the Cougars should roll into Pittsburgh on a 4 game winning streak and well rested from no travel for a while.

Duq is currently 9-7, on a 4 game losing streak, and have fallen around 25 spots in the NET in the last few weeks to 101.

Between now and the Chicago State game, they have St Joe’s, St Bonaventure, and Fordham. They could realistically come in on a 7 game losing streak. I’m not sure what that would mean for the Cougars. Depends on the DU squad I suppose.

As mentioned in the above post, Chicago State will indeed be on a 4 game win streak when they meet the Dukes. But this will be a tough game to win. They may be on a 5 game losing streak, but that includes close losses to good teams like Dayton and Richmond, the current A10 leaders.

They still seem to have plenty of fight in them, but it has to be demoralizing to be 0-5 in the A10 when they were picked to finish much higher.

And even on a 5 game skid, their NET is still right around 100.

The Cougars have been better teams already, but this game will be a fight for Chicago State.

Ok, it’s finally game day for the Cougars again. I’m not sure how the lengthy period of time with no game will affect them. Doesn’t matter really. Either way, they will be well rested and well prepared for the Duqs no doubt.

After losing quite a few in a row and getting off to a very slow (and disappointing) A10 start, Duquesne has won their last two. So they aren’t mired in a losing streak or a period where they don’t have things “figured out.”

While Duquesne did lose 5 in a row, nearly all of those losses were to teams currently in the very top of the A10 standings, so I’d resist the idea that Duquesne was really in a big funk-more just playing better teams. And Duquesne is still a top 100 team in the NET.

https://www.cbssports.com/college-basket.../schedule/

I’m hopeful for the Cougars. They need this win, for sure. Every game is important at this point. .500 is within reach! The most wins in a long time is with if reach too.

I like the start of this game for the Cougars. They look sharp.

Except-except-except- they have already left at least 4 points on the board with a few blown fast breaks. They need either take advantage and get a score, or pull it back out.

Bone head play of the game- Noble Crawford, losing the ball on a very easy 2 on 1 fast break, then coming back and fouling a three point shooter. Unbelievably bad playing.

And Cardett barely drawing iron on about 3 shots at the rim.

But we are still ahead. Better than a poke in the nose.

And no one with two fouls yet.

Cardet is playing a terrible game so far.

(01-31-2024 07:29 PM)MICHAELSPAPPY Wrote:  Cardet is playing a terrible game so far.

He really is. But I’m sure there are a lot of double teams on him and a real focus from their D to contain him. Sometimes it hard to notice those off ball things while you are actually watching the action.

But when he’s been at the rim, he has done nothing.

Corbet says, “that’s ok, I got it.” It’s funny, because I’ve seen this before, where teams are hyper focused on Cardett, but something has to give somewhere…

I’m fairly pleased with Chicagos play. They’ve had some dumb turnovers, but not a crazy amount. Thekr defense has been very solid mostly, and rebounding has seemed strong.

I feel like Duquesne has really gotten most of what they are trying to do, it just isn’t effective ad they’d hope.

After seeing the halftime stats, I change my view on turnovers. 9 is a lot. I thought it was more like 6.

Also, 11 for 27 shooting- and 0/7 for Cardett. Yikes.

Corbett is having a monster game. Well, at least a very good one.

One thing about it, I think we have proven that we should be able to compete with anything the Northeast can throw at us, especially if everyone comes back next season.

It’s just over 10 minutes left right now. I feel like Chicago State can go on a run. They seem to be getting into a rhythm, and Duq doesn’t really seem to be playing all that well. And Duquesne isn’t shooting well, so I feel like if Chicago can get up a few scores, I think they can win this.

Well, the run didn’t happen. Tough loss considering the turnovers, missed free throws, and lack of anything meaningful from Cardett. They definitely could have won with just a little more of one of the things I mentioned.

Now that I’ve had a chance to look at the stats closely, here are things I noticed.

Cardet shooting 2/14 was a disaster. And a lot of his shots are hard to rebound too, so I’d guess there were less 2nd chance points on his shots than shots from anyone else. He did have 4 rebounds and 4 assists, so that’s something.

Corbett had a great game, however, his productivity faded down the stretch. He ended with 21 points, but not many of those came in the final 10 minutes.

Jernigan had one of his best games. He didn’t foul a ton, first and foremost. He had 9 points, 8 rebounds, 3 blocks and 2 steals. He did have 3 fouls and 3 turnovers, but all in all, a very nice stat line for him. He has progressed a lot this season. He brings a lot to the table and is so athletic.

Noble Crawford continues to impress me. He can do just about anything, and do it well. Such a great guy to have on the court anytime, in any position. He is fun to watch and continues to surprise me at times. He does have a few silly mistakes in every game, and today compounded one by immediately coming back and fouling someone on a 3 point shot. But hey, it happens. 10 points, 7 boards,

Brent Davis warmed up nicely in the second half and kept the Cougars in the game late with his threes.

AJ Neal played 13 minutes, but didn’t do a whole lot. He did hit 2 nice free throws when they were really needed. Jean-Charles also played 13 minutes and had 3 fouls, and not much else.

And only 7 players took the court for this game, so that’s it.

I’m not sure what to blame this loss on. Cardet didn’t help with his poor shooting. Corbet didn’t help by going 0/4 from the line. But both of those guys do so much, game in and game out, that it isn’t their “fault” but had an impact nonetheless. The rest of the team trails them in overall talent, so the team needed someone else to step up and have a huge game to have pulled this off, and that just didn’t happen tonight. The worst part is, Duquesne played and shot poorly (15% from 3) and were just primed to get picked off. It’s hard to believe Duquesne is almost 200 spots above the Cougars in the NET.

Hopefully, things go according to plan versus SC State, and then hope for an upset versus a good Eastern Kentucky team, before returning home again.