Dec. 15, 2007
Box Score
Rosemont, Ill. - Paced by a potent three-guard attack, the UIC men's basketball team notched its third straight victory by going on the road to knock off city rival DePaul 85-80 in a back-and-forth affair at Allstate Arena on Saturday night.
The win was the Flames' (6-4) first-ever against the Blue Demons (2-5) and marked the team's first win over a BIG EAST opponent since topping Marquette during the 1994-95 season.
UIC's backcourt trio of Robert Kreps, Josh Mayo and Spencer Stewart led the way for the Flames, combining for 53 points and 12 assists.
Kreps posted a career- and team-high 19 points, going 7-for-9 from the field. Stewart also reached personal best scoring numbers with 16 points, while adding seven rebounds and four assists. Mayo shook off a cold start to the contest to finish with 18 points and a team-high six assists.
Junior Scott VanderMeer provided UIC with plenty of production out of the post with 13 points and seven boards. Sophomore Jeremy Buttell came off the bench to pull down a team-best 10 rebounds for the Flames.
The two squads traded runs throughout the second half, but UIC made the final surge as a 9-2 spurt, propelled by six points from Stewart, staked the Flames to a 78-70 lead with 1:49 left.
Three-pointers by Draelon Burns and Dar Tucker and a lay-up by Cliff Clinkscales sandwiched between a VanderMeer dunk cut the Flames' lead to just 80-78 with 43 seconds remaining, but Mayo would sink four straight clutch free throws on UIC's next two possessions to put the Flames ahead to stay.
Tucker led DePaul with a game-high 26 points while Burns tallied 21 points in defeat.
UIC closed the first half on a 10-3 run to take a 35-33 lead into intermission. Mayo, who missed his first six field goal attempts in the contest, nailed back-to-back three-pointers to spark the surge. Kreps scored 10 points in the opening stanza to lead the Flames.
UIC kept things going to start the second half, opening the period by scoring seven straight points to build its advantage to 42-33.
The Blue Demons answered right back, though, going on a 16-2 run of its own to erase the Flames' advantage and take a 49-44 lead at the 13:16 mark.
The UIC men's basketball team is back in action on Wednesday, Dec. 19 when the Flames return to the friendly confines of the UIC Pavilion to take on Toledo at 7 p.m.
