RIVER FOREST, Ill. -- Back for their second game of the season, and first in 12 days, the Concordia-Chicago men's basketball team is gearing up to take on UW-Platteville tomorrow evening in Wisconsin.
Tip off is slated for 7 p.m. with live coverage available at
cucougars.com/coverage and
@cuc_menhoops on Twitter.
Last Time Out... CUC fell to Loras College back on Friday, Nov. 8 during their 2019-20 season opener. Taking on a perennial program in the country, the Duhawks ousted the Cougars 108-85 in Dubuque, Iowa. Despite the loss, sophomore
Izak Ruddell shined in the match up, playing a career-high in minutes and leading the Cougars with a complete-game effort including a career-high 13 points, as well as team-highs in rebounds (4) and steals (4).
Notables... Tomorrow night's match up will be the first time this decade that the Pioneers and Cougars meet on the floor. CUC last took on a UW school in 2015, during a 107-84 loss to then No. 20 UW-Whitewater. A win against the Pioneers tomorrow would mark the fourth time in five seasons that the Cougars have secured a victory in their second game of the season. Dating back to 2006, Concordia-Chicago is 1-3 when competing on the night of November 20.
Scouting the Pioneers... Off to a 3-0 start so far on the year, and already receiving votes in the
d3hoops.com national rankings, UW-Platteville has out scored its opponents 258-179 in the early stages of the season. Coming off a WIAC conference championship and NCAA tournament first round appearance from just a season ago, the Pioneers are slated for another heavy-weight season as they were predicted to finish second in the 2019-20 WIAC preseason polls. Quentin Shields is a key piece to UW's rotation, as the junior averaged 20 points per game and shot 56 percent from the floor last week to earn Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Player of the Week.
Kollar's Corner... "We have a great opportunity to go over and compete against a top-notch program in University of Wisconsin-Platteville," said Head Coach
Steve Kollar. "Our guys are excited and ready to play after having an unusually long break between games at this point in the season. We have used this extra time to focus on details and compete against one another at a level that we otherwise would not have been able to get to. We have had intense and competitive practices over the past week, and we are excited for the opportunity to go compete together as a team, tomorrow night."
The Rookie... With 19 minutes played in his collegiate debut, freshman
Brent Hatten came out strong, putting up 16 points and 60 percent shooting from the floor against Loras College. The rookie's points and shooting percentage were both second-best for the Cougars on the night, only behind sophomore
Landen Gladney.
Pieces to the Puzzle... Coach Kollar brings 10 newcomers with him this season, along with three key returning pieces to last year's starting rotation in senior
Neil O'Donnell, junior
Jalen Meeks and sophomore
Landen Gladney. Between the three, O'Donnell, Meeks and Gladney combined for 914 of CUC's 2,127 total points last season. In Gladney alone, the Cougars return last season's NACC and All-Central Region Freshman of the Year, who accounted for 20.8 percent of Concordia's total scoring just a season ago. Gladney heads into his sophomore season with 21 career double-doubles already under his belt.
