Feb. 21, 2015
UIC GAME NOTES
HEADLINES
The Opening Tip
The UIC men's basketball team gears up for its final road game of the 2014-15 regular season as they journey to Oakland on Sunday at 2 p.m. CT. The Flames currently place tied-for-seventh in the Horizon League standings with Wright State, while the Golden Grizzlies hold the fourth spot with a conference record of 9-4. Sunday's contest will be the eighth all-time meeting between the two programs as Oakland has won all seven prior gatherings. The Golden Grizzlies claimed victory in this season's previous matchup on Feb. 4 in Chicago by a final of 91-77. OU is the highest scoring team in the Horizon League (73.7 ppg) and they are led by sophomore point guard Kahlil Felder who averages 17.3 points per game. He also ranks fourth in the country in assists with an average of 7.5 per outing. Senior Corey Petros paces the conference on the boards, pulling down 8.1 rebounds per game.
A Win vs. Oakland would…
…give UIC four Horizon League wins for just the second time in six seasons … give the Flames a 3-5 conference road record … give UIC its first-ever win against the Golden Grizzlies … give the Flames a 3-3 February record for the first time since 2008-09.
Tourney Talk
With three regular season games left to play, seeding for the 2015 Horizon League Men's Basketball Tournament is beginning to take shape. If the season ended today (Feb. 21), UIC would have the No. 6 seed and host seventh-seeded Wright State in a first round contest on March 3. Valparaiso would hold the No. 1 seed as they currently tout the league's best record at 11-2.
Harris Eclipses 1,000 Career Points
Senior Jay Harris surpassed 1,000 career points this past Thursday night against Milwaukee as he needed a mere four points prior to the contest. Harris poured in a game-high 27 and now owns 1,023 career points. The fifth-year transfer scored 456 points during his freshman and sophomore seasons at Valparaiso and then 217 last year at Wagner. Harris has a team-high 350 points so far this season.
Road Warriors
Sunday's contest at Oakland will mark the seventh road game in the last 10 outings for UIC. Once the Flames return home from Rochester, Mich., they will have traveled 4,546 miles by airplane and bus over the past 34 days, spending more than 60 hours driving on a bus.
Tremendous Trio
Jay Harris (25), Paris Burns (21) and Ahman Fells (17) combined to score 63 points at Wright State on Feb. 12. The 63-point total is UIC's highest three-man output during a non-overtime game since Feb. 15, 2009, when Josh Mayo (25), Robo Kreps (25) and Tori Boyd (14) netted 64 versus Valparaiso. Harris, Burns and Fells have teamed up to average 42.3 points per game during conference play which accounts for nearly 63 percent of UIC's average team output of 67.5.
Ah-Man Among Boys
Senior Ahman Fells has been playing the best basketball of his career during the last two months after he was inserted into the starting lineup 15 games ago on Dec. 28. Over that span, he is averaging 12.3 points, 4.8 rebounds and shooting a team-high 57 percent (71-of-125) from the floor. The Chicago native is playing even better during the last seven games, averaging 15.3 points per game, while shooting 62 percent from the field and 59 percent from downtown. Fells set a career-high 28 points against first-place Valparaiso on Jan. 31, shooting 11-of-13 from the floor and 6-of-7 from deep. His 11 made field goals not only set a new career-best, but also equaled the single-game high for a UIC player during the Howard Moore-era. The last UIC player to record six threes in a game was Daniel Barnes on March 20, 2013. Fells is the only Flame to have posted back-to-back 20-point games this season and ranks second in the Horizon League with field-goal shooting percentage of 55.1.
Harris is a Scoring Machine
Fifth-year senior Jay Harris ranks as UIC's leading scorer this season with an average of 14.6 points per game, which also ranks eighth in the Horizon League. Harris has scored in double-digits 17 times through his 24 games at UIC and 21 times over his last 28 outings, dating back to his final four games at Wagner last season. He owns a team-best five 20-plus point efforts this season, including a career-high 32 against UCF on Dec. 11.
Paris Burns Bright
Junior Paris Burns has scored 12 or more points in each of his last eight games and is averaging a team-best 16.8 points and 4.8 assists during that span. The Chicago native is also shooting 47 percent from three-point range during the last eight games after hitting just 17 percent in his previous 18 contests. Against Wright State on Feb. 12, Burns scored the game's first nine points with a trio of made threes in a span of 81 seconds. He has made at least one three-pointer in each of the last eight games which is the team's longest active streak.
Threes For Days
In the last five games, UIC is shooting lights out from three-point range with a percentage of 48.0 (49-of-102). The Flames knocked down 11 threes against Oakland (Feb. 4) and Wright State (Feb. 12) and then a season-best 12 triples at Detroit (Feb. 8). UIC's three-point shooting performance (64.7%) versus the Raiders is the program's top mark since Nov. 23, 2011. During league play, the Flames rank second in the HL in threes per game with an average of 7.2.
McGuire on Fire
Sophomore Markese McGuire is shooting 10-of-16 (.625) from three-point range during the last five games with standout performances of 4-of-5 (Oakland) and 4-of-6 (Detroit). McGuire netted a career-high 16 points versus Oakland on Feb. 4 and followed that up with 14 at Detroit on Feb. 8. The Elkhart, Ind. native is shooting 56.5 percent from behind the arc during league play this season which ranks first among all conference players. McGuire was named first-team All-State in Indiana his senior year in high school and totaled 1,000 points during his prep career at Elkhart Memorial.
Excelling in the Classroom
The UIC men's basketball team had a tremendous fall semester in the classroom as seven players recorded GPAs of 3.0 or better. Topping that list was freshman David Ramon who totaled a perfect 4.0. Following close behind was sophomore Hans-Christian Lauer with a GPA of 3.81 and junior Jason McClellan with a mark of 3.69.
Oh So Close
UIC has played in several close games so far this season including 13 contests that have been decided by single digits. Of those 13 games UIC owns a record of 3-10. In outcomes decided by six points or less, the Flames are 2-7 which include five league affairs.
Harris From the Foul Line
Senior Jay Harris is one of the top free throw shooters in the country this season. He ranks 11th in the nation and first in the Horizon League with a mark of 89.5 percent (128-of-143), while his 128 made free throws sits seventh on UIC's all-time single-season leaderboard. The top spot is held by Bobby Locke (1986-87) with 151 made foul shots. Harris also ranks third in the NCAA among career-active free throw shooters with a four-year percentage of .899 (250-of-278). Harris has the opportunity to break UIC's single-season free throw shooting record, which currently sits at 88.6 percent held by Josh Mayo. The Aurora, Ill. native sank 13-of-14 from the charity stripe at WSU on Feb. 12, including 12-of-12 in the final six minutes.
Odiase Still Ranks Second in Blocks
Freshman Tai Odiase missed six games and has played limited minutes in his last nine outings due to a lower leg injury suffered in late December. Despite his lack of playing time, Odiase still ranks second in the Horizon League and 74th in the nation in blocks per game with an average of 1.7. Fronting the conference is Valparaiso's Vashil Fernandez with an average of 3.0. Odiase tied a career-high with four swats against Milwaukee this past Thursday which upped his season total to 38. He needs just seven more blocks to crack UIC's top-10 single-season leaderboard.
One of the Nation's Best
The Flames have been one of the nation's best free-throw shooting teams this season as UIC is averaging 73.9 percent (448-of-606). That figure currently ranks 27th in the country and first in the Horizon League, while UIC's 448 made free throws ranks 16th in the NCAA. UIC touts seven players that are shooting above 70 percent from the charity stripe. The 2012-13 team currently holds the all-time record for free throw shooting with a single-season mark of .752.
Protecting the Rock
The Flames rank first in the Horizon League with an average of 11.5 turnovers per game which also ranks 57th in the country. UIC committed a mere two turnovers against Judson on Dec. 30 which set a new program record. The Flames stand as one of six teams (Wisconsin, Holy Cross, Bryant, Virginia and Houston) in the nation to have two or fewer turnovers in a single game this season.
