Nov. 25, 2005
Box Score
Atlanta, Ga. - Behind a breakout performance from freshman Josh Mayo, the UIC men's basketball team earned its first-ever win over an Atlantic Coast Conference opponent with a 73-51 victory over Georgia Tech on Friday night at Alexander Memorial Coliseum.
With D.J. Smedley out with a high ankle sprain, Mayo earned his first career start at the point guard position and responded like a seasoned veteran with a career-high 21 points and four assists in 38 minutes on the floor.
Mayo was one of four players in double figures for the Flames (3-2). Senior Justin Bowen totaled 14 points and nine rebounds. Sophomore Othyus Jeffers pitched in with 10 points and eight boards while senior Elliott Poole added 10 points and six rebounds.
Junior Jovan Stefanov, who played 18 minutes in the second half after breaking nose in the opening stanza after catching an elbow, finished with a game-high 11 rebounds to go with eight points.
Zam Fredrick paced the Yellow Jackets (2-1) with 17 points.
The two teams played close to the vest in the opening half until eight straight points to close out the stanza by Mayo gave the Flames a four-point cushion, 30-26, at intermission.
Georgia Tech quickly took the lead back, 31-30, in the opening moments of the second half, but the Flames answered with a 15-2 run to take a 45-33 advantage with 11:27 left. Six different UIC players scored during the surge.
The Yellow Jackets turned up the defensive pressure and scored eight unanswered of their own over the next three minutes to pull within four, 45-41.
The Flames had another run left in them, though, with a 13-2 surge capped by a lay-in by Danijel Zoric to take a 15-point lead that would later balloon to the final 22-point margin of victory.
For the fourth straight game UIC out-rebounded its opponent, pulling down 50 caroms to Georgia Tech's 34.
The Flames will continue their Georgia road trip on Monday night by taking on Georgia Southern at 6:30 p.m. CST. The game can be heard live on ESPN Radio 1000 AM.
