Oct. 28, 2011
CHICAGO -The UIC men's basketball team held the annual Red vs. Blue scrimmage at the UIC Pavilion Friday night, unveiling the 2011-12 squad to Flames fans. The Red team topped the Blue squad in both scrimmages, and in the ensuing three-point and dunk contests, freshman Rob Robinson and senior Paris Carter were the respective champions.
The scrimmages, which were open to the public, were separated into one 20 minute half, followed by a 10-minute stanza. In the first half, the Red team edged the Blue squad, 24-18. Senior center Darrin Williams scored a team-high eight points for the Red team, while senior guard Daniel Barnes added 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting for the Blue squad.
Head coach Howard Moore shuffled the line-up in the second stanza, with Carter, Wililams, junior guard Gary Talton, freshman guard Marc Brown, sophomore forward Hayden Humes, senior guard Matt Bush and Barnes making up the Red team. The Blue squad was comprised of freshmen Greg Travis, Jerome Brown, Ahman Fells, Will Simonton, Sammy Sutter and Rob Robinson, along with senior center Dorian Tyler.
In the second half, the Red team topped the Blue squad, 26-17. Travis led all scorers with 10 points, including two three-pointers, while Carter led a balanced offensive output with six points for the Red team. Talton dished out four assists against zero turnovers in the half. In the two combined scrimmages, Williams scored a team-high 13 points on 5-of-10 shooting.
"This was a great event for our fans, and another good opportunity for our guys to get more acclimated to a competitive playing situation," said Moore. "We certainly have some things to work on both offensively and defensively, but it was a good chance for us to get some things on film, and we'll make adjustments next week in practice."
The three finalists in the three-point shooting competition were Robinson, Talton and Bush. Robinson totaled 14 points, edging out Talton (12) and Bush (11) for the individual title.
In the dunk contest, Carter and Williams went head-to-head in the finals, in a session that was judged by current Miami Heat forward Juwan Howard, along with women's basketball player Heidi Dahnke. Williams' highlighted dunk was assisted by Talton, who elevated, maneuvered the ball through his legs and through it off glass for a trailing Williams, who dunked with authority with two hands.
Carter also used some creativity on his most notable dunk, borrowing help from Sutter, who threw the ball to him from 10 rows into the stands on the right side. Catching the ball off one bounce, Carter dunked with one hand, bringing the fans to their feet, and scoring four "10's" from the judges. He beat out Williams' dunk (8-8-9-9) to claim the dunk contest title.
UIC will play its first of two exhibition games next Wednesday (Nov. 2), when the Flames host the University of Chicago at the UIC Pavilion beginning at 7 p.m. CST.
