CHICAGO - UIC got 23 points from Tai Odiase and a career high 12 assists from Tarkus Ferguson in an 80-71 victory over George Washington in the quarterfinal round of the CBI presented by FIVE FOUR at UIC Pavilion Monday evening.  The Flames led by as many as 17 points, but the battle tested Colonials closed the gap to two points in the final two minutes.  UIC made six of eight free throws down the stretch to advance to the CBI semifinals against Coastal Carolina.

The Flames (17-18) placed five scorers in double figures.  Tarkus Ferguson tied his career high with 10 rebounds and set a new career standard with 12 assists.  The Flames assisted on a season high 24 of their 29 field goals and won the rebounding battle 45-31.  George Washington (20-15) got 24 points from Tyler Cavanaugh and 21 from Yuta Watanabe, but no other Colonial scored more than nine.

How it Happened

• UIC scored the first 7 points of the game.
• Tai Odiase won the opening tip and started the scoring immediately with a two-handed flush, and seconds later Godwin Boahen nailed a 3 from the right corner to give UIC a 5-0 lead.
• George Washington scored seven of the game's next eight points.  Tyler Cavanaugh put GW on the board with a 3.
• Boahen swished a 3 from the right corner, and Marcus Ottey converted a floater from 7 feet as part of another 7-0 Flames run.
• Collin Smith broke that run with a dunk.  That sparked a 10-0 Colonials run that gave them their first lead, 17-15, after a Smith three pointer.
• Odiase broke loose for a dunk to stop the bleeding.  Then the teams traded threes with Tarkus Ferguson converting for UIC, leaving the game tied at 20 nearly 11 minutes in.
• Ferguson's three kickstarted an 18-0 run for the Flames.  Odiase blocked a shot, leading to a Boahen baseline runner.
• Matthews and Santos made three pointers during the run, sandwiching a three point play by Odiase.
• Ferguson grabbed a steal in the backcourt, and dished to Matthews for a layup to cap the run and give the Flames a 35-20 lead.
• George Washington finally got back on the board when Tyler Cavanaugh converted a jumper.
• In the final two minutes of the first half, Boahen made a nice wraparound pass underneath to Kolawole, and Ottey cut down the baseline to receive a pass from Robinson for a dunk.
• But three pointers from Yuta Watanabe and Cavanaugh, the latter as time ran out, helped GW close the half on a 10-4 run.
• Cavanaugh, who finished with a game high 24 points, muscled up and under for a layup, and when Arnaldo Toro hit an elbow jumper, GW had closed to within 45-39.
• The Flames were held without a field goal for the first 4:38 of the second half.  Odiase broke the ice with a short shot.
• Santos and Ottey had steals on consecutive possessions, but the Flames struggled to a 4-for-15 shooting start to the second half.
• The Flames would break out of their funk and convert five straight shots, including a 30-foot alley oop from Ferguson to Odiase, and a steal by Ottey which he converted into a fast break layup.
• As the Colonials chipped away at the lead, they started a full court press which disrupted the Flames' rhythm.
• George Washington, which won the NIT last year, went on a 20-5 run over a six minute span, culminating in a three point play by Cavanaugh that made the score 67-65.
• On the ensuing Flames possession, Santos converted a layup off an offensive rebound, while Cavanaugh was whistled for his fifth foul away from the ball.
• After GW pulled back within four, Boahen broke the press and found Odiase for a dunk.  The Colonials missed their next shot and the Flames pulled away from the free throw line.

Beyond the Box Score

• The Flames won two games in a single postseason tournament for the first time ever.
• Tarkus Ferguson's 12 assists tied a CBI single game record, and gave him 173 for season.  That ranks him fifth in UIC history for a single campaign.
• Tai Odiase blocked four shots, putting him over the century mark (102) for season and adding to his second place showing in UIC's single-season history.
• Odiase's 7 rebounds put his team leading total at 245 on the season.
• UIC tied the CBI team record for assists with 24, equaling the mark set by Radford in 2014 and Oregon State in 2012.
• The 40 combined assists in the game were one shy of the CBI record.
• The Flames shot over 46% (6-13) from three point range in the first half, but made only two of 10 long distance attempts in the second half.  They held George Washington to a mere 1-for-8 from downtown in the final 20 minutes.
• Despite staying close in turnovers (UIC committed 16 to GW's 12), the Flames were outscored 23-9 off of turnovers.
• UIC improved to 3-1 against George Washington all-time, but this was the first meeting in UIC's Division I era.

What's Next?

• UIC will continue its postseason run with a CBI semifinal game Wednesday evening at Coastal Carolina.  The tournament is re-seeded following the quarterfinal round.
• The Chanticleers (18-17) downed Loyola (Md.) 72-63 in the quarterfinals and defeated Hampton 83-67 in the opening round.
• This will be the first meeting between UIC and Coastal Carolina.