What to Count on: IU basketball hosts Chicago State – Contained in the Corridor
IU basketball begins a three-game homestead on Saturday afternoon in opposition to Chicago State. The Cougars are 2-10 and solely have one win in opposition to a Division I opponent.
Saturday’s tipoff is ready for 1 p.m. ET on B1G+.
Indiana will look to bounce again from an unsightly second-half efficiency at Kentucky final Saturday when it hosts Chicago State this weekend at Simon Skjodt Meeting Corridor.
The Cougars are ranked within the backside 20 in KenPom and are unlikely to supply any resistance. Will probably be the fifth all-time assembly between the 2 applications and the Hoosiers have received the primary 4 by a median of 34 factors.
MEET THE COUGARS
Chicago State is led by first-year coach Landon Bussie, who spent the final 5 seasons at Alcorn State earlier than accepting the job final spring.
Will probably be a tall order for Bussie to make the Chicago State program aggressive, even within the Northeast Convention, which ranks thirtieth out of 31 leagues nationally, based on KenPom. Chicago State hasn’t posted a profitable file because the 2008-09 season, when it went 19-13 as an impartial.
The Cougars are led in scoring by junior guard Doyel Cockrill. The 6-foot-3 native of Nashville, Tennessee, is averaging 15.1 factors and is 21-for-47 on 3-pointers. He’s solely began in three of the eight video games he’s appeared in.
The opposite two Cougars averaging in double figures are 6-foot-5 senior guard Marcus Tankersly, who adopted Bussie from Alcorn State, and 6-foot-6 senior wing CJ Ray.
Tankersly started his profession at Detroit Mercy, the place he performed two seasons, then transferred to Alcorn State for his junior season. In his last season of eligibility at Chicago State, he’s averaging 14.7 factors and capturing 45.1 p.c from the sphere in a team-high 31.7 minutes per recreation.
Ray is a 34.1 p.c 3-point shooter (41 makes an attempt) and averages 10.8 factors together with a team-high 4.3 rebounds in 27.3 minutes per recreation.
Freshman level guard Malek Robinson has began the final two video games and averages a team-best 1.7 steals in 13.3 minutes per contest. The 5-foot-11 Robinson is averaging 3.5 factors however is capturing solely 30.3 p.c from the sphere.
Like most low-major applications, Chicago State lacks legit dimension up entrance. Two rotation regulars up entrance embrace 6-foot-6 senior Dailliss Cox and 6-foot-8 senior Stephen Byard.
Cox, a Louisville native, had 19 factors earlier this season in a 108-86 loss at Saint Louis. He averages 4.4 factors and three.8 rebounds in 17.1 minutes per recreation.
Byard has scored in double figures 3 times, together with 16 factors in opposition to DePaul and 15 factors in opposition to Saint Louis within the first two video games of the season. Byard averages 9.4 factors however shoots simply 38.6 p.c from the sphere.
Chicago State has been with out its fourth main scorer, guard Braelon Bush, for the final 4 video games. The standing of the 5-foot-9 guard is unclear forward of Saturday’s recreation. Bush scored in double figures 4 instances within the first eight video games and made seven begins.
TEMPO-FREE PREVIEW
All stats are up to date by means of Wednesday’s video games.
The Cougars have taken some lopsided losses by means of their first 12 video games. Chicago State misplaced by 30 at DePaul, by 22 at Saint Louis, by 32 at Butler, by 39 at Iowa, by 23 at Youngstown State and by 42 at Illinois State. Their closest highway loss got here at Minnesota, the place they fell 66-54.
There’s no motive to anticipate Saturday’s recreation to be aggressive. Chicago State is permitting opponents to shoot 64.9 p.c from 2-point vary, which ranks second-to-last within the nation. The Cougars rank 353rd in defensive rebounding share and are permitting an opponent free-throw price of 40, which is 277th within the nation.
Offensively, Chicago State is capturing simply 29.7 p.c on 3s (297th nationally) and 42.8 p.c on 2s (353rd nationally). The Cougars are among the many lowest 3-point quantity groups within the nation, with a 3PA/FGA price of 27.4 p.c.
WHAT IT COMES DOWN TO
As Chicago State is the one IU opponent presently ranked beneath 300 on KenPom, there’s no expectation of a aggressive recreation on Saturday in Bloomington.
KenPom likes Indiana by 31 with over a 99 p.c likelihood for a Hoosier victory. Bart Torvik likes IU by 36 and likewise has higher than a 99 p.c likelihood for an IU win.
Saturday ought to be a possibility for the Hoosiers to go deep into their bench and restrict their starters’ minutes, with one other recreation to shut out non-conference play in opposition to Siena on Monday evening.
(Photograph credit score: Chicago State Athletics)
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