Box Score Jan. 14, 2016

	Green Bay 78, UIC 76 UIC Pavilion • Chicago, Ill. Box Score | Box Score

CHICAGO -- In a thrilling game that featured 13 lead changes and 12 tie scores, Green Bay made one more play than UIC as it narrowly escaped with a 78-76 victory at the UIC Pavilion Thursday night.

The game truly came down to the final seconds. With less than 20 seconds remaining, UIC's Tai Odiase registered his eighth block of the game, he corralled the ball and was fouled. Sent to the free-throw line, the sophomore tied the game at 76 by making his first freebie, but he missed on the second attempt and Green Bay's Charles Cooper came up with the rebound. The Phoenix had a timeout to call, but the visitors elected to play it out. Turner Botz had the ball on the left wing and he heaved up a shot as the seconds ticked off. Botz drew a foul with one second to go; he made the first free throw and tried to miss the second, but it went in anyway and Green Bay grabbed a 78-76 lead. The Flames were unable to inbound the ball cleanly with one second left and the Phoenix hung on for its fourth Horizon League triumph of the season.

Following the blueprint of the entire game, the second half was very much a back-and-forth affair, with 11 of the game's 13 lead changes taking place in the final 20 minutes. The score was knotted at 39-all at the break, and it was UIC that made the first significant surge of the half. Trailing by one after a Kenneth Lowe layup, the Flames rattled off seven unanswered points, including five from Dikembe Dixson to take a 54-48 lead with 16:31 to go. UIC held that edge for more than four minutes, but Green Bay eventually tied it up at 59-59 with just over 12 minutes remaining, and it would grab its first lead of the half, 66-63 on a 3-pointer from Botz with a shade over seven minutes remaining.

The Phoenix looked poised to pull away with a five-point lead, its largest of the game, with 2:52 to go. Odiase scored inside off a feed from Dixson and the Flames got a defensive stop it desperately needed on the other end. Jake Wiegand was fouled and made both free throws to make it a one point game before a steal and a score from Paris Burns shifted the lead back to UIC, 75-74, with 1:16 to go. Unfortunately that would be the last field goal of the night for the home team and Green Bay squeaked out the win.

UIC shot out of the gate with its hair on fire to start the game. The Flames were getting the job done on both ends of the floor, and they used a 10-0 run over a quick 2:58 to grab a 16-6 lead with 6:39 gone by in the game. UIC held its ground and eventually pushed the cushion to a game-high 12 points with just under 10 minutes remaining in the half after Michael Kolawole finished off a fastbreak with two of his 10 points. Green Bay steadied itself, however, before scoring with less than 10 second to go to even the ledger at the half.

Dixson led five UIC players in double figures with 19 points. Wiegand added a season-high 18 points to go along with eight rebounds for the Flames. The pair combined to score 24 of the team's 39 first-half points on 10-of-15 shooting from the field, while Dixson buried all three of his first-half 3-point attempts.

There were plenty of other energetic performances to spark the Flames in their Horizon League Home opener. Odiase, after scoring four points, grabbing five rebounds and blocking two shots in the first half, was a monster in the second. The Glenwood, Ill., native came close to a triple-double against Green Bay as he registered 12 points, a game-high nine rebounds and a career-high eight blocks. He became only the fifth player in program history to block at least eight shots in a single game, and the first since Scott VanderMeer sent back eight offerings on Feb. 5, 2009 at Cleveland State.

Burns and Lance Whitaker also put forth strong showings. Burns was limited to three points in the first half, though he added four assists to match Whitaker in the opening 20 minutes. In the second half, however, Burns exploded for 12 points as he finished with a season-high 15 points. Defensively, the Chicagoan matched a career high with three steals, leading all players in the contest.

Whitaker was held out of the scoring column, however he contributed to the offensive flow in a big way. The redshirt sophomore dished out a career-high nine assists, the most for any UIC player in a single game this season. As a team, UIC finished with 20 assists, marking the third time this season that it has reached that threshold.

Though the team shot 46 percent from the field and 45.5 percent from beyond the arc, the Flames struggled at the free-throw line. UIC shot just 56.5 percent with 23 attempts, matching its second-lowest mark of the year. On the other end, Green Bay converted 16 of its 20 free throws.

The Flames will wrap up the brief two-game stint at the UIC Pavilion on Saturday, Jan. 16 when the Milwaukee Panthers come calling at 3 p.m. Limited tickets remain available and can be obtained by calling 312-413-UIC1 (8421) or visiting Ticketmaster today.

UIC Notes: UIC used the same starting lineup (Burns, Dixson, Odiase, Whitaker and Wiegand) it used against Drake on Nov. 28, but through 15 games, head coach Steve McClain has used 12 different combinations ... Dikembe Dixson and Tai Odiase have started all 15 games for UIC this season ... Dixson led the Flames in scoring for the team-best eighth time ... He sank a career-high four 3-pointers ... Odiase was the high rebounder for the second time ... His nine rebounds mark a season high ... Michael Kolawole matched a career high with 10 points for the second time in three games ... Lance Whitaker's nine assists were the most since Paris Burns handed out an equal amount against Oakland on Feb. 4, 2015 ... Whitaker matched a career high by playing 36 minutes ... Dixson played at least 39 minutes for the fourth time this season and the third time in the last four games ... After blocking only one shot at Oakland on Jan. 10, the Flames sent back nine for the first time since Nov. 13 vs. San Francisco ... UIC's 76 points mark its highest output in Horizon League play ... Five players scored in double figures for the second time this season.