CHICAGO – Valparaiso made the most of second opportunities Friday as it netted 20 second-chance points thanks to 15 offensive rebounds en route to a 70-59 victory over the UIC Flames in the Horizon League opener for both teams.
 
The Crusaders (11-3, 1-0 Horizon League) owned the overall edge on the glass, 41-28, as UIC (7-7, 0-1 Horizon League) was outrebounded for only the fifth time this season. Previously, the Flames had not been outgained by more than nine boards in a single outing.
 
Tevonn Walker poured in a season-high 23 points on 8-of-9 from the field to lead all scorers. Three Flames registered double-digit scoring efforts, led by freshman Tarkus Fergsuon's career-high-matching 16 points.
 
How It Happened

• The Flames got off to a fast start as they built a 14-9 when Kyle Guice rang home a 3-pointer with just under 13 minutes remaining in the opening period.
• The Crusaders went on a 10-point run over a span of 3:20 to turn that cushion into a five-point deficit.
• Alec Peters out down his second dunk of the half at the 8:09 mark to build the lead back to six, but UIC countered with a baseline jumper from Marcus Ottey and a layup from Tai Odiase to get it back to a one-possession game with five and a half minutes left in the period.
• Valparaiso led by six when Shane Hammink drew a technical foul with 1:12 left before the half. Ferguson split a pair of free throws to make it a five-point game, 29-24. Both teams had empty possessions follow before Derrik Smits tipped in a miss from one of his teammates just before the final buzzer. That basket gave the Crusaders a seven-point lead at the break, the largest for either side to that point in the contest.
• The Flames stayed within striking distance and a 7-0 run in the span of just over a minute helped take an eight-point deficit to one with 14:06 to go in the game. Odiase dunked a feed from Guice to start the spurt before Ferguson scored five unanswered points of his own on back-to-back possessions to pull the Flames within one.
• The Crusaders pushed the lead back up to seven points a time later, but UIC chipped in and made it a one-possession game again when Ferguson scored on a driving layup. Valparaiso led 47-44, but just over two minutes later it was back up to eight.
• The Flames got to within five points after K.J. Santos scored an old-fashioned 3-point play with 3:50 left on the clock. That was as close as the home team would go on a 6-0 run and not look back.

Beyond The Box Score

• Ferguson matched a season high with 16 points, 15 of which came in the second half. The Belleville, Ill., native sank a career-best 3 3-pointers for the Flames.
• Odiase blocked four shots Friday, his highest output since he tallied five against Chicago State on Nov. 30. The center has notched at least four blocks on four occasions this season and at least one in 24 of UIC's last 25 games.
• Odiase led UIC on the glass with a team-high seven rebounds. It was the seventh time this season that the captain led the squad in that category. He also added 11 points for his team-high 10^th double-digit scoring effort of the campaign.
• Godwin Boahen was also in double figures with 13 points. He has  scored at least 10 points in three of UIC's last four contests dating back to Dec. 17, when he dropped a career-high 19 on Loyola Chicago.
• Valparaiso held the Flames to a season-low 59 points. UIC entered the contest as the top scoring team in the Horizon League with 81.0 points per game. That averaged dipped to 79.4 and they now rank third behind Oakland (80.5) and Green Bay (80.1).
• The Flames are 1-7 this season when trailing after 20 minutes of play. The lone victory came when UIC erased an eight-point halftime deficit at DePaul on Dec. 14 and turned it into a five-point triumph.
• UIC finished 3-4 in December after posting a record of 4-3 in November.

What's Next?

• The Flames will play the fifth contest in a six-game homestand on Friday, Jan. 6, when they host the Detroit Mercy Titans at 7 p.m.
• The Titans (2-11, 0-1) are led by first-year head coach Bacari Alexander. Alexander, a 1999 graduate of Detroit Mercy, spent the last six seasons as an assistant coach at the University of Michigan.
• Jaleel Hogan scored 22 points, added eight rebounds and blocked eight shots for Detroit Mercy in the team's Horizon League opener against Northern Kentucky Thursday. Teammate Chris Jenkins chipped in with 20 points and six boards.
• Detroit Mercy will host Wright State on Dec. 31, before visiting the Flames.