CHICAGO – UIC cruised to its largest margin of victory in postseason history, topping Saint Francis (PA), 84-61, in the first round of the 10^th CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament.
 
Six Flames (18-15) scored in double figures led by Clint Robinson's season-high 15 points. Tarkus Ferguson had a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds, while UIC racked up 22 assists, second most on the season, on 33 field goals. Godwin Boahen made his first start since Dec. 30 and dished out a game-high nine helpers.
 
The Flames will soon find out their next opponent for the CIT once all first round games have concluded.
 
First Half Headlines

• Little Separation: Both teams showed signs of rust in the early going, failing to take any kind of sizable lead. UIC's largest lead of the first half was seven points on two occasions. A 3-pointer form Jordan Blount made it 23-16 with 8:12 to go, but the Red Flash scored seven unanswered with a 3-pointer and four free throws to tie it up at 23 with 5:41 remaining. Then it was UIC's turn for a 7-0 run with a triple from Tarkus Ferguson and four points from Clint Robinson, making it 30-23 with 3:43 to go in the period.
• Locking It Down: The Flames locked down the Red Flash in the latter stages of the first half. Saint Francis missed 11 of its last shots with the last field goal coming on a 3-pointer from Jamaal King with 2:05 remaining in the period. Overall, UIC held SFU to a mark of 29 percent in the first 20 minutes.
• Beating the Buzzer: UIC rebounded an SFU miss with about 25 seconds left in the frame. Ferguson took the last shot, connecting on a deep 3-pointer from the right wing to give the Flames a 35-29 advantage at the break.

 Second Half Headlines

• Jump Street: The Flames jumped out to a fast second-half start, grabbing their first double-digit lead with 2:58 gone by thanks to a 3-pointer from Godwin Boahen off a feed from Marcus Ottey. After the first media timeout, UIC continued to fly around and Ottey and Blount came up with steals and thunderous dunks on back-to-back possessions to extend the lead to 16 points with 15:09 left.
• Perfect 10: Over the course of the first 10 minutes of the second half, UIC was nearly flawless. The Flames outscored the Red Flash, 29-8, over the first 10 minutes to bury the visitors from the Northeast Conference. UIC had only three turnovers in that stretch and they each came in the first 2:01 of the period. With 10:05 remaining the Flames were in complete control, leading 64-37.
• Everybody Eats: All nine players scored in the convincing victory with Dominique Matthews and Jacob Wiley finding the scoring column for the first time in the final three minutes. Wiley two-handed jam with about 30 seconds to go off a pass from Ottey was the game's final field goal and it sent the Flames home as 84-61 winners.

Highlights

 

Notables

• UIC improved to 3-1 in postseason tournament games over the last two seasons. The Flames have won their first postseason game in three consecutive appearances (2013 CIT, 2017 CBI, 2018 CIT).
• Wednesday's margin of victory – 23 points – is the largest in UIC postseason history. The previous high – 11 points – came in the 2013 CIT against Chicago State (80-69). The 84 points scored by the Flames are also the most in a single postseason game.
• The Flames have won 18 games for the first time since 2012-13. It is the 10^th time in the program's history that UIC has won as many contests in a single season.
• UIC's 22 assists were the most since recording a season-high 24 in a 25-point win over Youngstown State on Feb. 8. Godwin Boahen led the way with a season-high nine, while seven of the nine players who saw action had at least one helper.
• Every player scored for the 12^th time this season. In 11 of the 12 instances, nine players have been utilized. It was the first time accomplishing the feat since Feb. 19 vs. Detroit Mercy. It was the fourth time that the team's overall leading scorer - Clint Robinson (15) - came off the bench in hose games in which all players scored.
• The Flames had at least four players score in double figures for the 13^th time in 33 games. Robinson matched a career high with 15 points; Godwin Boahen and Tai Odiase each had 12 points; Jordan Blount, Tarkus Ferguson and Marcus Ottey all netted 11. With Robinson leading the way, it was the eighth time UIC's leading scorer has been a reserve, and the first time it has been the senior big man.
• Ferguson recorded his third double-double of the season with 11 points and 10 rebounds. It was the 10^th of his career and second in postseason play. The sophomore tied the CBI's single-game assist record with 12 and added 10 rebounds in a CBI win over George Washington on March 20, 2017.
• UIC entered the game ranked second in the NCAA with 7.0 blocks per game. The Flames swatted 10 shots Wednesday, marking the sixth time in 2017-18 that the team has reached double digits.
• The NCAA's active career leader, Odiase, sent back six shots, one shy of a season high. The senior now has 357 in 127 career games and is tied for 39^th all-time with Kyle Davis (Auburn – 2001-04) and Tim Perry (Temple – 1986-88). He entered Wednesday tied with Basketball Hall of Fame inductee David Robinson and three behind another Hall of Famer, Dikembe Mutombo.
• Saint Francis entered the game ranked 49th in the NCAA in points per game with 79.6. Its total Wednesday of 61 was the lowest since Feb. 3 vs. Mount St, Mary's (56) and tied the second-lowest output of the season (also Jan. 26 vs. Wagner).
• The Flames improved to 3-0 all-time against the Red Flash with victories in 1983, 1999 and 2018.

 Up Next

• The Flames will soon find out their next opponent in the 10^th CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament. The final first-round game is scheduled for Thursday night between Louisiana Monroe and Austin Peay. The CIT quarterfinals are scheduled to be held March 22-25.