Dec. 28, 2014
Final Stats: BU 68, UIC 60
PEORIA, Ill. - The UIC men's basketball team (3-11) dropped a closely contested road game at Bradley (5-8) on Sunday afternoon by a final score of 68-60. The Flames pulled to within two of the Braves (58-56) with 2:18 remaining, but Bradley guard Tramique Sutherland netted eight of BU's final 10 points to seal the in-state win. Junior Jake Wiegand led UIC with a game-high 21 points, while junior Paris Burns added 12. Sutherland paced the Braves with 19 points.
The Flames totaled four players in double figures for the first time this season as redshirt freshman Lance Whitaker and senior Marc Brown chipped in 11 points apiece. Wiegand now has four 20-point efforts on the year.
"Missing 10 free throws in the second half really hurt us," said head coach Howard Moore. "I thought we did a decent job of adjusting to their defensive pressure, but there were moments when we were out of rhythm."
A combined 69 foul shots were attempted as UIC went 18-of-29 (62.1%), while Bradley shot 25-of-40 (62.5%). The Flames struggled from the charity stripe in the final period by going 12-of-22 (54.5%).
Wiegand and Burns paced UIC on the boards with seven rebounds apiece, a career-best total for Burns as he added a game-high four assists.
UIC jumped out to an early 10-4 lead, but the Braves answered with seven straight points after forcing a series of Flames' turnovers. UIC was hampered by 17 turnovers on the day, including 10 in the first half, as Bradley scored 15 points off of the Flames' miscues.
Wiegand put UIC up three (21-18) with 6:22 left in the first half after hitting a pair of free throws, but the Braves countered with seven straight points in route to a 27-25 halftime advantage.
Bradley continued its momentum early in the second half as they executed a 13-3 run and owned a 40-28 lead with 13:35 left to play. The Flames were hampered from nearly five minutes of no scoring until Brown and Burns drilled back-to-back triples.
The Flames pulled to within two (55-53) after Wiegand hit a jumper at the 3:57 mark and then again with 2:18 left after Whitaker drained a 15-footer. That's when BU's Sutherland scored his team's next five points and carried the home team to a non-league victory.
"He (Sutherland) is a quick guard and made some big plays in the second half," said Moore. "I would like to see this series continue. I think it is good when in-state schools can play each other."
The Flames will conclude their non-conference schedule at home on Tuesday night against Judson with tipoff schedule for 7 p.m. CT.
