Jan. 15, 2009
Box Score
CHICAGO- Robo Kreps scored eight of his game-high 23 points during the UIC men's basketball team's 17-0 spurt near the end of the first half as the Flames ran away with a 77-52 victory over visiting Valparaiso at the UIC Pavilion on Thursday night.
Kreps was one of four double-figure scorers for the Flames (9-7, 2-4 Horizon League), who broke a four-game losing streak. Tori Boyd scored 14, Rob Eppinger tallied a career-high 13 points and Josh Mayo added 10.
Howard Little scored 15 to lead the Crusaders (5-13, 2-5 Horizon League).
Valparaiso held a 24-18 advantage with over six minutes remaining when Kreps hit back-to-back three-point buckets to begin the Flames' decisive 17-0 run that turned the deficit into an 11-point lead for the hosts.
Mayo fueled another big Flames run in the second half, scoring six points during a 9-0 burst that put UIC up by 20 with over 13 minutes left.
Kreps then scored six straight points to start a 14-3 run that put UIC up by 29, its biggest lead of the night.
After hitting just three of his last 29 attempts from downtown, Kreps needed just six tries to swish a trio of treys on Thursday.
"I started getting my confidence back little by little," said Kreps. "I've been staying after practice, shooting more, and I needed just one to fall for me out there. Once that first one fell, I knew that more were going to come."
Scott VanderMeer pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds, followed by a career-high eight boards from Eppinger.
"We needed this win," said UIC head coach Jimmy Collins. "We needed to get back on track, and we needed to do it by doing what we do best and that's play team basketball. That's what we did."
"We did it with our two best players shooting 5-for-22," Collins said of the collective performance of Mayo and VanderMeer from the field. "But they did so many other things right. When you can get that kind of productivity, both offensively and defensively, when you're not shooting well, it's a great sign for our future."
Spencer Stewart had six assists without a turnover, the second time in the last three games the junior point guard has handed out six helpers without a miscue.
UIC hosts No. 17/18 Butler at the UIC Pavilion this Saturday, Jan. 17 at 1 p.m. in a nationally-televised game on ESPN2.
