Jan. 28, 2009

Box Score

GREEN BAY, Wis.- Robo Kreps led four Flames in double figures with 17 points, but Troy Cotton sank six of Green Bay's nine second-half three-pointers as the UIC men's basketball team lost to the Phoenix, 83-72, at the Resch Center on Wednesday night.

Kreps hit four of his five threes in the first half to help the Flames (10-10, 3-7 Horizon League) lead for most of the period and take a 37-36 lead into intermission. UIC went 7-for-13 (53.8 percent) from downtown in the game's opening 20 minutes.

But Green Bay (16-6, 8-2 Horizon League) had plenty of its own success from behind the arc after halftime, as the Phoenix hit nine of 14 three-point tries (64.3 percent) in the final stanza. Cotton made six of his career-high seven treys within the first 11 minutes of the second half en route to a game-high 25 points.

With the Flames trailing by just three less than five minutes after the break, Cotton ignited a 9-2 run by hitting two of three consecutive Phoenix threes that gave the hosts a double-digit lead for the first time in the game.

Green Bay would maintain a double-figure lead for nearly the rest of the period, thanks to four more three-point buckets. UIC would get to within eight, but that's as close as the Flames could get.

Kris Harris came off the bench to score 12, while Josh Mayo and Scott VanderMeer each added 11.

Jeremy Buttell scored seven and pulled down a game-high nine rebounds in his first action since missing the last four contests due to a high right ankle sprain.

UIC ends a four-game road stretch against Milwaukee at U.S. Cellular Arena this Saturday, Jan. 31 at 7 p.m.