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Big Joe's Chicago State Preview by Joe Dlugosz In one of many "it can't get any worse than this" moments from last season, the Ramblers fell to the Cougars of Chicago State 78-76. The Ramblers actually had an opportunity to win or tie, but an inbounds pass clanked off the rafters to give the lowly Cougars the win. Loyola plays host to Chicago State this Saturday looking to avenge last year's loss. It should be a relatively simple chore; the Cougars come into the contest with just one win against a D-1 opponent. The Chicago State losses haven't been close, either. They have been getting thrashed for most of the season. A 53-point loss at Marquette, a 38-point loss at Northwestern and a 37-point loss at Wisconsin-Milwaukee are among the seven beat downs the Cougars have received. The Cougars two main weapons from a year ago, Tony Jones and Darell Johns, are both gone. That leaves the Cougars with just three players over 6'8" and an obvious lack of talent. Senior guard Danny Osby leads the Cougars in scoring. He connects on nearly 40% of his three point attempts. Terrence West, Jessie Shorts and Erick Cooley all see significant minutes in the backcourt. Shorts is the team leader in three-point and free throw percentage. He also leads the team in assists with a 2.7 average. Shorts and West also average more than a steal a piece. Junior forward Clark Bone is the Cougars toughest frontcourt player. The 6'8" 245 pound bruiser is averaging 11.8 points a game and grabbing a team high 6.9 rebounds a contest. Bone has, however, turned the ball over 20 times to just three assists. Kevin Smallwood is the team' second leading rebounder at 5.6 a game. He also scores at an 8.3ppg clip. The only Cougars that did anything against the Ramblers last season are all gone, and this year's Cougars team is the definition of brutal. In a very rare instance, more than half the competitors in my fantasy college hoops league have taken Loyola this week in anticipation of the blowout on Saturday. If that is not a sign of an imminent beating, then nothing is. The Cougars lose and lose big to just about everyone. Even DePaul, which for all the talent they have can't seem to put a game together, beat the Cougars by 16. The Ramblers should be able to stick this one on cruise control before tip and still pull out a 20-point win. Many Ramblers may still have a bad taste in their mouth from last season's embarrassing defeat. That being the case, a 30 or 40-point win is within the realm of possibility. Big Joe's Prediction: Loyola 88, Chicago State 62 Interesting Item: Chicago State head coach Bo Ellis just may be the best player to ever don a uniform at Marquette. He was a three-time All-American, and is the school's fifth all-time scorer and second all-time rebounder. He is the only Marquette player to have ever started two NCAA championship games for the Warriors, now Golden Eagles. However, he won't be playing for the Cougars on Saturday.

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Copyright 2001, John C. Thomas.