Dec. 3, 2008
Box Score
Nashville, Tenn.- Josh Mayo scored 19 of his season-high 30 points in the second half to lead the UIC men's basketball team to a banner 74-55 road victory over Vanderbilt at Memorial Gymnasium on Wednesday night.
The Flames (4-2) made 12 of their 19 three-point attempts (63.2 percent) on the evening, missing only one of their eight tries from downtown during the second half to go up by as many as 24 in the final stanza.
Mayo finished his night 11-for-20 from the field, hitting a career-best eight three-pointers on 10 attempts. The senior guard was a perfect five-for-five from beyond the arc in the contest's final 20 minutes.
The backcourt of Mayo and Robo Kreps (23 points) combined for just two points less than the total team output by the Commodores (5-2), a Southeastern Conference power that has made a pair of NCAA Sweet 16 appearances in the last five years.
UIC handed Vanderbilt its second home loss in the last 24 games at Memorial Gym and snapped the Commodores' four-game winning streak.
"It's pretty obvious this is a great win for our program and for our university," said UIC head coach Jimmy Collins following the Flames' third consecutive victory. "It's also a great win for our conference. I think tonight showed that the Horizon League is a very competitive conference."
UIC trailed just once during the entire game, facing its only deficit three minutes into the contest. Fueled by a pair of 11-point first-half performances by Mayo and Kreps, the Flames outscored Vanderbilt 15-6 in the final eight minutes of the opening period to take a nine-point lead into intermission.
The two guards opened the second half even hotter, as Mayo and Kreps combined for the first 16 UIC points in the period to push the visitors ahead by 15.
UIC held a 14-point advantage with 10 minutes remaining, and Mayo almost single-handedly extended that lead into the 20s when he hit back-to-back treys and capped a quick 10-0 run with a layup that pushed the Flames ahead 65-41 with a tick over eight minutes still to play.
From there Vanderbilt went on a 12-0 run to cut its deficit in half, but Kreps quieted the Commodore rally with a three-pointer that ended what was nearly a five-minute scoring drought for the Flames while starting a stretch of nine unanswered points.
The UIC defense did the rest from there, forcing Vanderbilt to miss eight consecutive field goal attempts in the game's final three minutes until Brad Tinsely's floater with two seconds remaining.
Scott VanderMeer had 11 rebounds and four blocks, while Spencer Stewart handed out seven assists.
Despite facing a pair of 6-foot-11 Commodores in A.J. Ogilvy and Festus Ezeli, UIC outrebounded Vanderbilt, 39-38, and matched the hosts' points-in-the-paint production, 30-30.
"Our players and our coaching staff certainly know what we just did, coming into Nashville and beating an SEC team like Vanderbilt," said Collins. "I know [Vanderbilt head coach] Kevin [Stallings] very well, and I know he does a great job coaching them. He has some really, really good athletes.
"Our guys can build off of [this win]. Their confidence level should go up from this victory."
UIC returns home to begin the Horizon League slate against crosstown rival Loyola at the UIC Pavilion this Saturday, Dec. 6 at 7 p.m.
