Jan. 19, 2012

Final Box Score

CHICAGO - A defensive battle in front of a crowd of nearly 6,000 inside the UIC Pavilion on Thursday saw the Flames fall short against two-time national runner-up Butler, 57-49. Three Flames players posted double digit scoring outputs as Marc Brown and Gary Talton tallied 11 points and Daniel Barnes chipped in 10.

UIC held Butler to just 38 percent shooting, the fifth-straight visiting opponent the Flames have held below 41 percent.

"We knew it was going to be a grinder," said head coach Howard Moore. "With Butler, it's going to be a possession game, a game where you have to value each possession. They really did a good job defensively in that stretch in the second half where they kept us from scoring.

"I thought our guys did a great job defensively; the thing that made us get behind was our lack of rebounding the basketball. Butler had 16 offensive rebounds, and that just can't happen. Their extra possessions came back to haunt us."

Butler opened the contest on a 5-0 run with buckets from Andrew Smith and Chase Stigall. The Flames found their first points of the night at the 15:55 mark and over the next five minutes preceded to initiate a 13-2 spurt, giving UIC the 13-7 lead.

The Bulldogs knotted the game at 18-18 with 5:34 left in the first half, scoring eight straight points. The Flames ended BU's run on the next possession as Talton drilled a trey from the right wing.

Butler regained the lead at the 1:24 mark on a Kameron Woods three, making the score 25-23. Hayden Humes tied the score at 25-25 as BU was called for basket interference, but not before Roosevelt Jones closed out the first half with a three-point play and securing the 28-25 advantage for the Bulldogs. At the break, Jones led all scorers with nine points, while UIC was paced by Paris Carter with six. The Flames caused eight first half turnovers, however yielded 10 offensive rebounds to BU.

After a scoreless three minutes to begin the second half, Butler's Smith drove the lane and connected on a finger roll, producing a five-point lead for the Bulldogs. That lead grew to 35-26 over the next four-and-a-half minutes before UIC went on a 5-0 spurt, cutting BU's edge to 35-31 with 10:05 remaining.

With 2:15 left and Butler leading by five, Marc Brown was sent to the charity stripe where he hit 1-of-2. On the ensuing possession, BU's Woods converted a three-point play, giving the Bulldogs a 47-40 edge with 1:44 left.

Two Nored free throws made the score 49-41, but on the opposite end, Barnes dropped in a layup with 61 seconds left to play. The Flames forced a turnover on the Butler inbound and Carter was sent to the line, sinking both shots and trimming the deficit to 49-45.

BU's Jackson Aldridge made it a six-point lead on two free throws with 37 seconds on the clock. Marc Brown brought the BU lead back down to four, which lasted just under two seconds as the Bulldogs rattled off five straight points to seal the 57-49 win.

The Flames return to the court on Saturday at 3 p.m. CST as they host Valparaiso which is scheduled to air on Comcast Sportsnet.