DETROIT – No. 6 UIC trailed by as many as 10 points in the second half Monday night and though the Flames stormed back to tie No. 10 Milwaukee, they were unable to snag the lead and the Panthers advanced to the championship game with a 74-68 victory.
 
UIC (15-18) redshirt freshman Dominique Matthews scored a game-high 21 points with four 3-pointers, while Clint Robinson chipped in with 11 points and seven rebounds off the bench, but the Flames did not have enough firepower to get past the Panthers (11-23).
 
How It Happened

• It appeared as though Milwaukee wouldn't miss much in the early going. Through the first eight minutes and change of the ballgame the Panthers made eight of their 11 attempts from the field (72.7 percent) and two of the first three shots from beyond the arc. UWM had a 19-11 lead at that point, with eight points coming from inside the paint.
• After that point, the Flames cranked it up on the defensive end and forced the Panthers to shoot 28.6 percent (6-of-21) over the rest of the half.
• UIC got to within a point when Godwin Boahen drew a foul on a hard drive and heaved the ball into the basket, making it 19-18. Trailing by four a few minutes later, Marcus Ottey nearly ripped the rim down when he soared through the back door and into the air to catch a perfect lob from the perimeter from Boahen coming out of a timeout.
• With 6:24 remaining in the first half, Matthews rang home a 3-pointer that briefly gave the Flames a one-point lead, but Milwaukee's Brock Stull negated it a minute later with a triple of his own.
• Matthews evened the ledger again with a pair of free throws with 2:34 left in the first period, but Milwaukee scored the final four points of the half to take a 34-30 cushion into the locker room at the break.
• The Panthers pushed the lead up to as many as 10 points in the second half, and they led by nine, 58-49, with 6:48 remaining when the Flames began their surge.
• Robinson started a furious 12-3 run that culminated with Matthews knifing through to get a mid-range jumper that evened the score at 61-61 with 3:48 remaining. The run featured five points from Matthews, four from Robinson and a big 3-pointer from Boahen.
• The Panthers led by two again a short time later before Matthews evened the score at 63 points apiece with 2:24 left in the game.
• Milwaukee scored five unanswered points and the shots stopped falling for the Flames as the Panthers sealed a 74-68 victory.

 Beyond The Box Score

• Matthews (21 points) led UIC in scoring for the seventh time this season. It was the fifth time he netted at least 20 points, tying him with Dikembe Dixson for the most such performances for the Flames. He made at least four 3-pointers for the fourth time in 2017, and the first since Feb. 17 at Detroit Mercy (4).
• In three games against Milwaukee this season, Matthews averaged 19.3 points per game and made 10 3-pointers, while shooting 50 percent (10-of-20) from beyond the arc.
• Robinson reached double figures in the scoring column (11) for the first time scoring 11 points in a win at Cleveland State on Jan. 12. His seven rebounds were the most since he corralled eight at Detroit Mercy on Feb. 17.
• Boahen's 11 points were the most since he scored 13 at Green Bay on Feb. 2.
• UIC's bench outscored Milwaukee's, 20-10, but the Panthers owned the paint with 38 points inside Monday, including 22 in the second half.
• The top two rebounders for the Flames also came off the bench; Robinson led the team with seven, while Ottey added six.
• Tenth-seeded Milwaukee advances to the Horizon League Men's Basketball Championship game, where it will face No. 4 Northern Kentucky on Tuesday, March 7.

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