Dec. 1, 2010
Game Notes as Downloadable PDF 
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UIC'S PROBABLE STARTERS/BIO INFORMATION
#2, Paul Carter, Sr., F (Little Rock, Ark.)
NOTES: Has recorded six-straight double-digit scoring outputs, including a season-high tying 24 points against Rhode Island (11/21/10) ... Has posted two double-doubles on the season, including an 11-point, 14-rebound performance against Toledo last Sunday.
#3, Robo Kreps, Sr., G (Maroa, Ill.)
NOTES: Has scored 20 or more points in four-of the last six contests ... MVP of the 2K Sports Classic Toledo Sub-regional ... Named the Horizon League Player of the Week on Nov. 22 ... Ranks second in the league in scoring, and third in both three-point field goals (16) and three-point field goal percentage (.457).
#23 Zavion Neely, Jr., G (Chicago, Ill.)
NOTES: Has started all seven games, often drawing the assignment as the Flames' "chaser" on defense ... One-of three Flames players averaging double figures in scoring ... Scored a season-high 22 points on a career-best three three-pointers against Toledo last Sunday.
#32 Darrin Williams, Jr., C (Louisville, Ky.)
NOTES: In seven starts, has scored six or more points four times and corralled at least six rebounds on three occasions ... Scored nine points and pulled down nine rebounds against Rhode Island (11/21/10) ... Ripped down eight caroms in the first meeting against Toledo (11/19/10).
#35 Brad Birton, Sr., F (Chicago, Ill.)
NOTES: Has started all seven games, pulling down at least six rebounds on four occasions ... Can defend multiple positions ... His 16 assists rank second on the team ... Has drawn a team-high 15 charges this season ... Shooting 42.3 percent from the field.
THE COACHES
UIC: Howard Moore is in his first season as a college head coach. Moore, 37, comes to UIC after spending the previous five seasons as an assistant coach at Wisconsin, his alma mater, under head coach Bo Ryan.
Moore joined the Badgers staff in 2005 and helped lead them to the NCAA Tournament in each of his five seasons in Madison. The team advanced past the first round of the Big Dance in each of the last four seasons and produced a memorable Sweet 16 run in 2008.
With Moore on the bench, Wisconsin posted three of the top-five winningest seasons in school history, including a historic 2007-08 campaign that saw the Badgers win a school-record 31 games en route to Big Ten regular season and tournament championships.
Under Ryan's tutelage Moore established himself as one of the top recruiters in the Big Ten by utilizing the Chicagoland area as a main pipeline for talent.
Valparaiso: The seventh-longest tenured coach in Division I basketball, the 2010-11 campaign marks Homer Drew's 22nd season as head coach at Valparaiso. A collegiate head coach for 32 seasons, Drew has compiled a career record of 621-417. He previously served as the head coach at Bethel (Ind.) College from 1976-1987 and at IU-South Bend during the 1987-1988 season. A nine-time Coach of the Year, Drew took over a program in 1988 that had never produced a winning record at the Division I level.
SCOUTING THE FLAMES
UIC is off to a 4-3 start, and is 2-1 inside the confines of the UIC Pavilion. The Flames, who are in the middle of a four-game homestand, are coming off last Sunday's thrilling 63-62 win over visiting Toledo.
Senior guard Robo Kreps is leading the Flames offensively, scoring 123 points (17.6 ppg) just seven games into the season -- he has also dished out a team-high 27 assists in his first full season running the point. Senior forward Paul Carter, in his first season in a UIC uniform, is averaging 15.1 points per game, while also leading the Flames in rebounding with 8.1 caroms per contest, third-best in the Horizon League. Kreps currently ranks second in the conference in scoring, while Carter ranks ninth.
Junior guard Zavion Neely, who scored 12.2 points per game as a sophomore last season, is averaging 10.3 points per contest. Kreps (.494), Carter (.415) and senior Brad Birton (.423) all are shooting better than 40 percent from the field.
UIC is averaging 65.7 points per game, and allowing its opponents to score 67.4 points per contest. The Flames are out-rebounding their opponents by nearly a three-carom margin (+2.6), and are averaging 5.6 steals and 2.3 blocks per game, respectively.
SCOUTING THE CRUSADERS
Valparaiso is 4-2 on the season, including an 0-2 mark in true road games. The Crusaders are coming off a 68-62 win over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (11/27/10), capturing the Upper Division Championship at the 2010 Las Vegas Invitational.
Valpo, which was picked fourth in the preseason Horizon League poll, boasts three players that are averaging double figures in scoring, led by Cory Johnson's 14.6 points per game. Ryan Broekhoff is scoring 13.7 points per contest, while Brandon Wood has contributed 12.5 points per outing. Wood was a preseason first-team All-Horizon League pick, and Johnson earned second-team preseason honors.
The Crusaders lead the Horizon League in scoring offense (78.7 ppg), field goal percentage (.476) and assists per game (17.3). Defensively, Valpo ranks second in defensive field goal percentage (.395). The Crusaders are also the second-best free throw shooting team in the league, at 73.1 percent.
BREAKING DOWN THE TOLEDO GAME
There were a combined 14 ties and lead changes in the game, with UIC holding its largest lead of seven (46-39) with 12:23 remaining in the game ... The Flames out-rebounded the Rockets 37-20, and scored 12 second-chance points ... UIC tallied 17 assists, and committed only 12 turnovers ... Senior forward Paul Carter (11) scored in double figures for the sixth-consecutive game, and turned in his second double-double of the season with a season-high 14 rebounds to go along with a career-high six assists ... Eight of the 10 players that saw action for UIC pulled down at least one rebound ... Junior forward Paris Carter tied his career-best with eight points while playing a season-high 26 minutes ... Junior guard Zavion Neely scored a season-high 22 points to lead UIC in scoring for the first time this season -- that output came on a career-high three three-point field goals ... The win marked UIC's second win over Toledo in nine days, and stretched its winning streak over UT to five games, dating back to the 2007-08 season.
QUOTING Robo Kreps ON THE IMPACT OF Zavion Neely: "Z stepped up today. We've been waiting for him; he's got that in him. I saw it all last year when he was a solid scorer for us. It took awhile, but he's back. He's been scoring a lot in practice; we've just been waiting for him to do it in games."
THE SERIES
UIC owns a decisive 29-11 all-time series lead over Valparaiso, with the first meeting between the Flames and Crusaders taking place in the 1979-80 season. Valpo won both meetings last season by a total of seven points. Between the 1983-84 and 1995-96 campaigns, UIC compiled a 22-4 record against the Crusaders.
HONORING A WINDY CITY LEGEND
For Thursday's Horizon League opener against Valpo, the UIC athletic department will work in conjunction with the University of Illinois Medical Center and the Walter Payton Liver Center to honor the late Walter Payton and his family.
$4 from every ticket purchased will go toward finding a cure for Liver cancer at the Walter Payton Liver Center. Commemorative Walter Payton headbands will be sold for $5. All proceeds from the sale of the headbands will directly benefit the Walter Payton Liver Center.
The Payton family will "Light the Flame" at the UIC Pavilion prior to the game and Connie Payton will make a halftime presentation.
GIVING THANKS
With its win over Toledo on Sunday, UIC secured its fourth win during the month of November, the most for a UIC team in the opening month of the season since the 2003-04 campaign, when the Flames went 5-1 in November. That team finished the season with a 24-8 record (12-4 Horizon) and made UIC's last NCAA Tournament appearance.
OFFENSIVE EFFICIENCY, REBOUNDING HELPING FLAMES
It sounds simple, but when the Flames shoot the ball better than their opponent, they are at their best. UIC is 4-0 on the season when shooting a better percentage than the opposition, and 3-0 when out-rebounding the other team.
DISHING IT OUT BIG MAN STYLE
UIC has 102 assists on its 170 field goals this season, an average of 14.6 helpers per game. While senior guard Robo Kreps has carried the load with a team-high 27 assists, he has also had a little help from his friends that spend the majority of their time in the frontcourt. Senior forwards Brad Birton and Paul Carter have each tallied 16 assists, combining for nearly 32 percent of UIC's assist total on the year.
'Z' BREAKING FREE
Junior guard Zavion Neely, who has been called upon to be a lock-down perimeter defender early on this season, has shown flashes of his offensive ability that produced 12.2 points per game last season, one of the top-20 marks in the Horizon League. Last Sunday against Toledo, Neely scored a season-high 22 points, including a career-best three three-point field goals. Just four days earlier, against Central Michigan, Neely dished out a season-high four assists and tied his career-high with five rebounds.
SOLID DEBUT
First-year head coach Howard Moore guided UIC to a 4-3 record through its first seven games and in doing so, secured the best seven-game start for a first-year Flames mentor since Willie Little (1983-87) coached the 1983-84 team to a 5-2 start. Little took over a team that won 16 games the year before (1982-83).
CLIMBING THE CHARTS
Senior guard Robo Kreps enters Thursday's game against Valparaiso with 1,228 points, which ranks 14th on the all-time scoring list at UIC. The preseason Horizon League second-team honoree needs just three points to tie Nate Chambers (1984-88) for 13th, and is just five points away from equaling Armond Williams' (2001-05) career scoring output (1,233), which ranks 12th all time. Kreps, last week's Horizon League Player of the Week, has recorded 60 double-digit scoring efforts over the past three seasons, while scoring 20 or more points 18 times.
THE NEWEST FLAMES
Head coach Howard Moore started from the confines of his home, and then headed South and East to complete his first recruiting class, one that he hopes will fulfill his aggressive vision to rebuild the UIC men's basketball program.
Moore announced the newest additions to his 2011-12 team on Nov. 11, a five-player class that covers all five positions on the court. Chicago Public League (CPL) players Jerome Brown (6-4, SG, Morgan Park H.S.), Ahman Fells (6-5, G/F, Simeon) and Greg Travis (6-0, PG, Curie) all officially joined the program, along with 6-foot-5 shooting guard Marc Brown, out of Dallas, and Will Simonton, a 6-11 center from Fishburne Military Academy in Virginia.
CARTER'S JOURNEY
First-year head coach Howard Moore and the UIC men's basketball program received some great news in late September, when Minnesota transfer Paul Carter was granted a legislative relief waiver by the NCAA, allowing him immediate eligibility at UIC for his senior season.
Carter is a versatile 6-8, 203-pound forward who played a key role as the Sixth Man for Minnesota head coach Tubby Smith the past two seasons, helping the Golden Gophers reach a pair of NCAA Tournament berths. With the Golden Gophers, Carter scored more than 300 points and corralled over 200 rebounds.
Carter transferred to UIC with one year of eligibility remaining to be near his sister, Bria, who was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, a form of bone cancer, last winter. Since Carter joined the Flames, Bria has completed chemotherapy, received a temporary prosthetic leg after amputation, and started her high school career at King High School in Chicago this semester.
Carter comes from a strong sports family. Ron Carter, Paul's father, was drafted by the Los Angeles Lakers in 1978, and his older brother, Ron III, was an All-American triple jumper at California State-Long Beach.
