Feb. 13, 2012

Pre-Game Notes

► UIC will look to capture its first road win of the season Tuesday, when the Flames travel to the Athletics-Recreation Center to take on first-place Valparaiso in a Valentine's Day Horizon League showdown beginning at 7:05 p.m. CST. The Flames are coming off a 78-69 loss at Loyola last Saturday (Feb. 11), while Valpo dropped a 71-53 decision at Youngstown State.

► Valparaiso defeated the Flames, 60-55, at the UIC Pavilion on Jan. 21. Gary Talton (12 points), Paris Carter (11) and Hayden Humes (11) combined for 34 points, but Kevin Van Wijk poured in a game-high 20 points to complete the Crusaders' comeback win. There were a combined 23 ties and lead changes in the game.

► Sophomore forward Hayden Humes, a native of Valparaiso, Ind., will be returning home to take on the Crusaders for the first time in his career. In two previous contests against Valpo (one at Toledo, one at UIC), Humes has averaged 10.5 points and 10.0 rebounds -- both were home games.

► UIC's last regular season Horizon League road win was on Feb. 27, 2009, against rival Loyola in the 2008-09 regular season finale. Since then, the Flames have dropped 25-consecutive regular season Horizon League road decisions.

► NEXT UP: UIC will take a break from Horizon League play Saturday, when the Flames travel to Charleston, Ill., to take on Eastern Illinois (6 p.m. CST) in the 2012 SEARS BracketBusters series.

THE COACHES
UIC: Howard Moore (Wisconsin, `95) is in his second season as the head coach at UIC. He spent the previous five seasons as an assistant coach at his alma mater, helping the Badgers to five-straight NCAA tournament berths. The Chicago native also served assistant coaching stints at Loyola (2004-05), Ball State (2003-04) and Bradley (1999-2003). Moore picked up his 14th head coaching win on Feb. 2 against Youngstown State.

Valparaiso: Bryce Drew, a former Valpo letterwinner and the son of former Crusader head coach Homer Drew, is in his first season as Valparaiso's head coach. He spent the previous six seasons as a member of the Valpo coaching staff, including the last five years as associate head coach.

ABOUT VALPARAISO
» Valparaiso was picked to finish fifth in the in the preseason Horizon League poll, conducted by the League's head coaches, media panel and sports information directors.
» Valpo enters Tuesday's game in sole possession of first-place in the League standings, one-half game ahead of second-place Cleveland State. The Crusaders, who had their four-game winning streak snapped at Youngstown State last Saturday, also own the tiebreaker of CSU after sweeping the regular season series.
» The Crusaders enter Tuesday's game leading the Horizon League in field goal percentage (.473), assists per game (14.1) and defensive rebounds (25.0 rpg).
» Shooting 55.0 percent inside the three-point arc, Valparaiso ranks second nationally, trailing only Missouri. Junior Kevin Van Wijk leads the Horizon League in field goal percentage (.617).
» Junior Ryan Broekhoff leads the Horizon League in rebounding (8.7 rpg), while ranking third overall in scoring (15.2 ppg). He has posted a League-high 10 double-doubles this season.

SCOUTING THE FLAMES
UIC boasts two-of the Horizon League's top-15 scorers, in junior point guard Gary Talton (11.5 ppg; 12th) and junior guard Daniel Barnes (11.4; 13th) ... Senior center Darrin Williams ranks sixth in the League in rebounding (6.5 rpg), fourth in blocks (1.5 bpg) and fourth overall in field goal percentage (.550) ... Talton leads the Horizon League in free throw percentage (.861), and is sixth in assists (3.3 apg) ... Barnes is averaging 2.4 three-point field goals per game, the second-best mark in the League, and ranks sixth in the Horizon League in steals (1.5 spg) ... Sophomore forward Hayden Humes ranks third in the League in three-point field goal percentage (.419) ... Talton is scoring a Horizon League seventh-best 13.9 points per League game, while Barnes is averaging 10.8 points per League game, ranking 19th overall ... The Flames enter Tuesday's contest ranked second in the Horizon League in offensive rebounding (12.5 rpg) ... Four of UIC's Horizon League road losses have been by six points or less.

THE SERIES
UIC owns a decisive 29-14 all-time series lead over Valparaiso, with the first meeting between the Flames and Crusaders taking place in the 1979-80 season. Valpo has captured five-straight wins in the series, including a 79-65 win at the ARC in the 2010-11 regular season finale (2/26/11). Between the 1983-84 and 1995-96 campaigns, UIC compiled a 22-4 record against the Crusaders.

WHAT'S AT STAKE
With a win over Valparaiso, UIC would...
» Eclipse its entire victory output from the 2010-11 campaign (7), and double its Horizon League win total (2) from last season.
» Snap a five-game losing streak versus the Crusaders, and defeat Valpo for the first time since the 2008-09 campaign.
» Record its first road victory of the season, and win its first regular season Horizon League road contest since Feb. 27, 2009.
» Capture its 30th all-time win over Valpo.

REACHING THE HOME STRETCH
Including Tuesday's contest at Valpo, UIC has four regular season Horizon League games remaining on the schedule. The Flames will wrap up their four-game road trip at Butler next Tuesday (2/21/12), before hosting Milwaukee (2/23/12) and Green Bay (2/25/12) to end the regular season. If the Horizon League Tournament started today, UIC would garner the No. 9 seed, and take on fourth-seeded Butler in Indianapolis on Tuesday, Feb. 28.

HUMES TRENDING FORWARD
Valparaiso native Hayden Humes, a first-year transfer from Toledo, has become one of UIC's most reliable scoring and rebounding threats heading down the stretch of the regular season. Humes, who ranks third in the Horizon League in three-point field goal percentage (.419), has led the Flames in rebounding in five-of the past six games, and over the past three contests, is averaging 10.3 points.

DOWN TO THE WIRE...
UIC's men's basketball team has seen no shortage of nail biters this season, playing a total of 11 games decided by five points or less -- only five Division I teams (Illinois, Delaware, Gardner-Webb, Louisiana Tech and Idaho) have played more games decided by five points or fewer this season. Notably, the Flames have held second-half leads in eight-of their 17 losses this season.

ONE OF THE LEAGUE'S FINEST
Junior point guard Gary Talton, in his first season in a Flames' uniform, has posted double-digit scoring outputs in 11-of UIC's 14 Horizon League games. In the previous meeting against Valpo, Talton scored a team-high 12 points on five field goals.

ALL TOGETHER NOW
UIC's junior backcourt tandem of Gary Talton and Daniel Barnes continues to represent the Flames' most consistent scoring tandem. The duo has teamed to post 31 of UIC's 62 double-digit scoring performances this season, including a combined 33 points at Loyola last Saturday.

LEADER OF THE PACK
Senior center Darrin Williams enters Saturday's game at Loyola as the Flames' career active leader in points (371), total rebounds (254) and blocks (45). Williams has posted 13 double-digit scoring outputs this season, including three double-doubles.

SEEKING THE WINNING FORMULA
When comparing the Flames' stats in wins and losses, the differences on the boards and in their team defense are noteworthy. In victory, UIC is holding its opponents to only 39.1 percent shooting, while losses have seen the Flames' opponents shoot 47.4 percent from the field. In wins, UIC owns a +5.9 rebounding margin, but just a +0.6 margin in defeat. All seven of UIC's wins this season have taken place at the UIC Pavilion.

SHOOTING FROM DISTANCE
UIC is averaging 6.7 made three-point field goals per game during Horizon League play this season, the second-best mark in the conference. The Flames have converted at least five threes in 18 games, and their top-two three-point shooting performances (10, both games versus Detroit) have taken place during Horizon League play. In the Howard Moore era, the Flames have drilled 302 threes, an average of 5.5 triples per game.