Feb. 27, 2015
UIC GAME NOTES
HEADLINES
The Opening Tip
The UIC men's basketball team will conclude regular season action on Saturday at home against Wright State with tip-off scheduled for 1 p.m. CT. The Flames defeated WSU earlier this month on Feb. 12, in Dayton, by a final score of 79-75. Saturday's contest will be the 50th all-time meeting between the two programs as the Raiders hold a slim 25-24 series advantage. Both squads played their regular season finale at the UIC Pavilion last season as WSU pulled out the 68-61 victory. The Raiders are led in scoring (16.1) and rebounding (6.7) be junior forward J.T. Yoho who has been sidelined since Jan. 17 and is listed as day-to-day. The previous nine gatherings between UIC and WSU have all been decided by eight points or less.
Tourney Talk
Seeding for the 2015 Horizon League Tournament all comes down to Saturday as UIC can still finish with the No. 6, No. 7 or No. 8 seed. If the Flames beat Wright State then UIC will garner the No. 6 seed and host a first-round game on March 3. If WSU wins and Milwaukee beats Youngstown State then UIC will hold the No. 7 seed. And finally, if WSU wins and YSU beats Milwaukee then UIC will own the No. 8 seed and play at No. 5 Detroit next Tuesday.
A Win vs. Wright State would...
... clinch the No. 6 seed for UIC in the 2015 HL Tournament and a first-round game at home ... give UIC four Horizon League wins for just the second time in six seasons ... give the Flames their first regular season finale win since the 2008-09 campaign.
Senior Day
The UIC men's basketball program will be honoring three seniors on Saturday with an on-court presentation prior to the WSU game. Those players being recognized will be Jay Harris, Ahman Fells and Marc Brown. Senior Jay Parker will not be able to attend due to personal reasons.
What Can Brown Do For You?
After scoring 33 points in his last two games, senior Marc Brown owns 968 career points and needs just 32 more to reach 1,000. If Brown can achieve the four-digit milestone then he will become just the 21st player in program history to do so and the first since current graduate manager Robo Kreps (2007-11). Brown has also made 300 free throws during his college career which ranks eighth on UIC's all-time leaderboard. He needs three more to tie Cedrick Banks (2001-05) for seventh on that list and seven more to match Mark Miller (1995-98).
Harris is a Scoring Machine
Fifth-year senior Jay Harris ranks as UIC's leading scorer this season with an average of 14.7 points per game, which also ranks seventh in the Horizon League. Harris has scored in double-digits 18 times through his 26 games at UIC and 22 times over his last 30 outings, dating back to his final four games at Wagner last season. He owns a team-best six 20-plus point efforts this season, including 26 against Green Bay this past Friday. He surpassed 1,000 career points on Feb. 19 versus UWM and currently sits at 1,054. He netted a career-best 32 points against UCF on Dec. 11 and was later named the Horizon League Player of the Week.
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 17 games ago on Dec. 28. Over that span, he is averaging 11.6 points, 4.9 rebounds and shooting a team-high 55 percent (76-of-137) from the floor. The Chicago native is playing even better during the last nine games, averaging 13.2 points per game and 5.2 rebounds, while shooting 59 percent from the field and 54 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 fifth in the Horizon League in field goal shooting percentage (54.8%), during league-games only.
Not in Tai's House
Despite his lack of playing time due to a lower leg injury in December, freshman Tai Odiase still ranks second in the Horizon League and 76th 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 2.9. Odiase owns 40 total swats on the season and ranks second all-time among UIC freshmen behind former-NBA draft pick Sherrell Ford (67). Odiase needs just five more blocks to crack UIC's top-10 single season leaderboard.
Harris From the Foul Line
Senior Jay Harris is one of the top free throw shooters in the country this season. He ranks 14th in the nation and second in the Horizon League with a mark of 88.7 percent (134-of-151), while his 134 made free throws sits fourth 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 .895 (256-of-286). 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 has only missed five free throw attempts during the entire month of February.
Threes For Days
In the last seven games, UIC is shooting lights out from three-point range with a percentage of 44.0 (61-of-139), averaging nearly nine triples per game during that span. 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.
McGuire Takes the Next Step
Sophomore Markese McGuire is shooting 10-of-20 (.500) from three-point range during the last six 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 48.1 percent from behind the arc during league play this season which ranks third 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 14 contests that have been decided by single digits. Of those 14 games UIC owns a record of 3-11. In outcomes decided by six points or less, the Flames are 2-8 which include six league affairs.
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 73.3 percent (473-of-645). That figure currently ranks 40th in the country and first in the Horizon League, while UIC's 473 made free throws ranks 25th in the NCAA. UIC touts six 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 11.4 turnovers per game which also ranks 58th 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.
