Dec. 13, 2010
Live Audio: ESPNChicago.com (7 p.m.) Play-by-Play: Adam Levinson Color: Kenny Williams
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UIC'S PROBABLE STARTERS
#2 Paul Carter, Sr., Forward
NOTES: Has recorded eight double-digit scoring outputs, and posted three double-doubles on the season ... Ranks second in the Horizon League in rebounding (8.3 rpg), and 10th overall in scoring (14.6 ppg) ... Scored his 500th career point (at Minnesota and UIC) last Saturday at Illinois State.
#3 Robo Kreps, Sr., Guard
NOTES: Has scored 20 or more points in four contests, and scored in double figures seven total times ... Ranks sixth in the Horizon League in scoring (15.6 ppg) ... Is the Horizon League's career active leader in three-point field goals (177) ... Ranks 12th on UIC's all-time scoring list (1,261 points).
#23, Zavion Neely, Jr., Guard
NOTES: Has started all 10 games, regularly drawing the assignment as the Flames' "chaser" on defense ... Has recorded four double-digit scoring efforts ... Scored a season-high 22 points on a career-best three three pointers against Toledo on Nov. 28.
#35, Brad Birton, Sr., Forward
NOTES: Has started all 10 games, pulling down at least six rebounds on six occasions ... Can defend multiple positions ... His 20 assists rank fourth on the team ... Has drawn a team-high 18 charges this season ... Shooting 43.2 percent from the field.
#44 K.C. Robbins, Sr., Center
NOTES: Has started each of the past two games ... Came off the bench in the previous nine contests in an average of 9.3 minutes per game ... Scored a season-high 12 points and corralled a season-best five rebounds in the season opener at Pitt (11/10/10).
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.
Northern Illinois: Ricardo Patton, who spent 12 years as the head coach at Colorado prior to taking over the reins at NIU, is in his fourth year at the helm.
Patton's 184 wins at Colorado rank second all-time in school history, and six of the Buffaloes' nine postseason appearances during the Division I era came under the tutelage of Patton. All six of those seasons included 18 or more total wins, a plateau the Buffaloes have reached just 11 times in the history of the program.
SCOUTING THE FLAMES
UIC is 4-6 (0-1 Horizon) on the season, and 1-2 in true road games. The Flames, who will be playing their second road game in the last four days, are coming off last Saturday's 53-43 loss at Illinois State.
Senior guard Robo Kreps is leading the Flames offensively, scoring 15.6 points per game -- he has also dished out a team-high 36 assists in his first full season running the point. Minnesota transfer, senior forward Paul Carter is averaging 14.6 points per game, while also leading the Flames in rebounding with 8.3 caroms per contest, second-best in the Horizon League. Kreps currently ranks sixth in the conference in scoring, while Carter ranks 10th.
Junior guard Zavion Neely, who scored 12.2 points per game as a sophomore last season, is averaging 9.4 points per contest, and has scored in double figures in two-of the last four games. Kreps (.436), senior Brad Birton (.432) and junior forward Darrin Williams (.478) all are shooting better than 40 percent from the field, while starting center K.C. Robbins is scoring at a 55.9 percent clip.
UIC is averaging 62.1 points per game, and allowing its opponents to score 64.7 points per contest. The Flames are out-rebounding their opponents by more than a three-carom margin (+3.2), and are averaging 5.2 steals and 2.1 blocks per game, respectively. UIC currently ranks third in the Horizon League in both rebounding margin and assists per game (13.6).
SCOUTING THE HUSKIES
Northern Illinois, who has been idle for 12 days, is 2-4 on the season, with a 1-2 record at home. The Huskies are coming off an 86-84 loss at DePaul on Dec. 2.
Senior guard Xavier Silas, a Colorado transfer, currently ranks second in the nation in scoring, averaging 26.3 points per game on a near 60 percent (.588) clip from the field -- he has scored 34 points on three occasions this season. Freshman center Nate Rucker has added 8.3 points per contest, and also leads the Huskies in rebounding with 5.5 caroms per contest. Junior forward Tim Toler is scoring 7.7 points per game.
The Huskies currently lead the Mid-American Conference in scoring offense (73.8 ppg), while ranking second in field goal percentage (.451) and third overall in assists per game (14.17). Junior point guard Bryan Hall's 4.33 assists per contest rank fifth in the MAC, while Silas currently leads the league in three-point percentage (.516), and ranks second in free throw percentage (.894).
BREAKING DOWN THE ILLINOIS STATE GAME
The Flames limited the Redbirds to just a 36.7 percent shooting effort, marking the second-straight contest that UIC held its opponent to a single-game low effort in field goal percentage ... Seniors Paul Carter (16 points) and Robo Kreps (13) tallied their respective seventh and sixth double-digit scoring outputs of the season ... Senior center K.C. Robbins got the start, his second-straight ... UIC held its opponent under 60 points for the fourth time this season ... The Flames scored 22 points in the paint, and 14 off Illinois State's 12 turnovers ... UIC also out-scored the Redbirds in second chance points (9-8) and on the fast break (8-5) ... Carter led the Flames in scoring for the third time this season, and paced UIC in rebounding for the sixth time ... Illinois State edged the Flames on the boards, 36-33, dropping UIC to 1-4 on the season when being out-rebounded by its opponent ... UIC also dropped its first game this season when attempting more threes (16) than its opponent (10).
QUOTING COACH MOORE: "Illinois State does a good job being a physical team, trying to disrupt your offensive flow and trying to get your guys to make soft cuts. Unfortunately, we did that (tonight). We didn't make the hard cuts in our offense, and we didn't touch the post like we talked about. Leading into the game, we really wanted to touch the post against their guards, and we didn't execute that plan like we wanted to."
THE SERIES
The Flames and Huskies will be playing on the hardwood for the second-consecutive season. UIC holds a 21-14 all-time series lead, and has won three-straight over NIU, dating back to the 2005-06 campaign. UIC's last road win over the Huskies took place on Dec. 5, 2006, a convincing 71-48 win at the Convocation Center.
The series began in the 1978-79 season, with the Huskies claiming a 99-65 win. The Flames then won the ensuing four meetings between 1985 and 1989. UIC also captured five-straight victories over the Huskies from 1993-95, when both teams were members of the Mid-Continent Conference.
In last season's meeting at the UIC Pavilion (12/19/09), Robo Kreps poured in 25 points and pulled down a career-high nine rebounds, as the Flames won going away, 69-49. Jeremy Buttell also chipped in 16 points, while Zavion Neely added 13 for the Flames, who won their second straight game.
INTRA-STATE TREK CONTINUES
The UIC men's basketball team will continue its three-game stretch against in-state non-conference foes this week, traveling to DeKalb to take on Northern Illinois Tuesday, before hosting No. 14 Illinois at the United Center in Chicago Saturday at 2 p.m. EST. The contest against the Fighting Illini will be televised on the Big Ten Network.
PLAYING THE PERCENTAGES
In each of the last six games, UIC's defensive field goal percentage has steadily improved, decreasing from a 50 percent mark following the College of Charleston game (11/20/10), to a 44.9 percent clip following last Saturday's contest at Illinois State. In their last two games, the Flames held both Akron (.379) and Illinois State (.367) under a 40 percent shooting effort.
DOUBLING UP THE COMPETITION
Senior forward Paul Carter recorded his third double-double of the season with 16 points and 11 rebounds at Illinois State last Saturday. The Minnesota transfer also secured double-doubles against the College of Charleston (11/20/10) and Toledo (11/28/10).
CLIMBING THE CHARTS
Senior guard Robo Kreps passed both Nate Chambers (1984-88) and Armond Williams (2001-05) on UIC's all-time scoring against Valparaiso (12/4/09). Kreps enters Tuesday's game at Northern Illinois with 1,261 career points; he is just 28 points away from tying John Ellis (1981-84) for 11th on the all-time list, and is only 39 tallies away from becoming the 11th player in UIC history to score 1,300 or more career points.
CRASHING THE BOARDS
UIC has out-rebounded five-of-its 10 opponents this season, and in those contests, has done so in convincing fashion, by an average of 14.2 boards per game. The Flames, who have out-rebounded three-of their last four foes, are 3-2 when recording a rebounding advantage over its opponent this season.
CARTER'S CAROMS
Senior forward Paul Carter has been the overwhelming catalyst for the Flames' success on the boards this season. The Horizon League's second-leading rebounder (8.3 rpg), Carter has led the Flames in rebounding six times this season, and also grabbed nine or more caroms on six occasions.
SPREADING THE WEALTH
As mentioned, UIC enters Tuesday's game against the Huskies ranked third in the Horizon League in assists per game (13.6). While senior guard Robo Kreps has dished out a team-high 36 assists, he has also had a little help from his friends. Paul Carter (24), Zavion Neely (21) and Brad Birton (20) have each dished out 20 or more helpers through the first 10 games of the season.
POINTS IN THE PAINT
UIC has scored 260 points in the paint this season, nearly 42 percent of its entire offensive output (621 total points). In the past three games against Valparaiso (12/2/10), Akron (12/4/10) and Illinois State (12/11/10), the Flames combined to score 86 points in the paint, accounting for 53 percent of the 161 total points UIC scored in those contests.
Howard Moore PRESENTED RICKY BYRDSONG AWARD
UIC head men's basketball coach Howard Moore is the 2010 recipient of the Ricky Byrdsong Award, the Illinois Fatherhood Initiative (IFI) announced on Dec. 2. Created in 2000 and named after former Northwestern head coach Ricky Byrdsong, the award annually recognizes men who are good fathers, have reached out and made a difference in the lives of youth and have demonstrated a spiritual dimension to their lives.
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 served as Minnesota's Sixth Man the past two seasons, helping the Golden Gophers reach a pair of NCAA Tournaments.
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.
