Men's Basketball Visits Chicago State before Hosting Senior Day Saturday

February 19, 2025

The Central Connecticut men's basketball team travels to Chicago State and hosts Stonehill for Northeast Conference action this weekend. Saturday's game against Stonehill will be "Senior Day" for Central's group of seniors. Both games will be streamed on NECFrontRow.

CCSU GAME NOTES | HOME GAME PROGRAM LINKS | CHICAGO STATE NOTES | STONEHILL NOTES

CHICAGO STATE - LIVE STATS | WATCH | AUDIO | TICKETS

STONEHILL - LIVE STATS | WATCH | AUDIO | TICKETS

The Blue Devils and Cougars have played eight times previously, but this will be just the second matchup as Northeast Conference foes. CCSU has won four straight against the Skyhawks and leads the series, 30-7.

OPENING NOTES

• Central Connecticut travels to Chicago State on Thursday for its penultimate road contest of the regular-season.

• Head coach Patrick Sellers is in his 4th season in charge of his alma mater.

• The Blue Devils return home to host Stonehill on Feb. 22 for Senior Day. Tip off is slated for 4:00 p.m.

WITH A WIN THURSDAY ...
• The Blue Devils would clinch a top-two seed for the NEC Tournament.
• CCSU would win its 9th straight game for the 1st time since Jan. 13-Feb. 15, 2007 (12).
• Central Connecticut would improve to 18-3 since Nov. 24, 2024.
• Central would have 20+ wins in back-to-back seasons for the first time in its Division I history. The Blue Devils last accomplished the feat in 1982-83 and 1983-84.

LOOSE ENDS...

• CCSU leads the NEC in offensive (106.9) AND defensive (98.0) efficiency.

• CCSU is committing just 11.0 fouls per game, which is tied for 1st nationally (Creighton, 11.0). The Blue Devils are on pace to shatter the NEC mark of 13.0 (Monmouth, 1989-90).

• In NEC play, Central is limiting opponents to just 8.6 foul shots per game - no other team in the league allows opponents to shoot fewer that 15.4 foul shots per game.

• In 19 wins, Central has led for 677:40 while trailing for just 117:09.

• CCSU is shooting 56.1% (561-of-928) from inside the 3-point arc in all contests. In NEC games, Central is 254-of-457 (.556).

• When scoring 70+ points under Patrick Sellers, CCSU is 49-13 (.790) overall in four seasons, including a 13-0 mark during the 2024-25 season.

• Dating back to 2021-22, CCSU has won 7 straight 1-point games (1/21/22, 67-68 loss at SFU).

• In the 10 seasons since its last winning season (2010-11, 19-12) until Patrick Sellers was head coach, CCSU was just 86-207 (.294).

NOTABLES
•   Northeast Conference Preseason Coaches Poll (1st place votes):
    1T. CCSU (5)
    1T. Wagner (4)
    3. FDU
    4. Le Moyne
    5. LIU
    6. Chicago St.
    7. Mercyhurst
    8T. Saint Francis U.
    8T. Stonehill
•    The Preseason All-NEC Team: Malachi Davis (LIU), Jo'el Emanuel (FDU), Darrick Jones Jr. (Le Moyne), JORDAN JONES (CCSU), Jeff Planutis (Mercyhurst).