Feb. 10, 2016
CHICAGO -- UIC will strive to get back into the win column on Thursday, Feb. 11, when the Wright State Raiders invade the UIC Pavilion for a Horizon League contest at 7 p.m.
After Wright State claimed victory in the season's first meeting between the teams on Jan. 24, the all-time series is now deadlocked with each team winning 26 times. The Flames have won three of the last four meetings, and five of the last eight, dating back to the 2012-13 season.
Thursday's game will be streamed live on ESPN3 with Sam Panayotovich and Joe Brand on the call. The radio home of UIC Basketball, ESPN1000 Chicago, will also carry the contest live with Jonathan Hood handling the play-by-play and UIC Hall of Famer Kenny Williams providing his expert analysis. Chris Bleck will ignite the broadcast with the pregame show at 6:45 p.m.
For more notes and information about the Flames and Raiders, please click on the game notes PDFs above.
KOLAWOLE COLLECTS HL HONOR
For the third consecutive week, and the seventh time this season, a UIC newcomer was named the Horizon League Freshman of the Week on Monday, Feb. 8, when Michael Kolawole claimed the honor for the first time in his career. Kolawole, the fifth different Horizon League player to win this award in 2015-16, scored a career-best 16 points against Valparaiso (Feb. 6) as he shot over 45 percent from the field on 11 attempts. The Rowlett, Texas, native also shot over 83 percent from the charity stripe, while adding three rebounds in 31 minutes. Kolawole joins Dikembe Dixson as UIC's Horizon League weekly-award winners this season; Dixson has been tabbed Freshman of the Week a league-best six times.
THESE KIDS CAN PLAY
UIC's roster features eight underclassmen, including six freshmen, one sophomore and one redshirt sophomore. That group has combined to play 3,054 minutes through 22 games, or 68.6 percent of the entire team's total. Underclassmen have scored 1,014 of 1,453 points (69.8 percent) for the Flames, while grabbing 522 of 884 rebounds (59 percent). Freshman Dikembe Dixson leads UIC, and ranks third in the Horizon League in minutes (35.5 mpg), fourth in scoring (17.6 ppg) and sixth in rebounding (6.9 rpg) in his first collegiate season. The team's top three scorers - Dixson, sophomore Tai Odiase and freshman Michael Kolawole - are all underclassmen.
NOT IN TAI'S HOUSE
Tai Odiase has established himself as one of the Horizon League's leading shot blockers. Odiase, who ranks second in the conference and 18th nationally with 2.5 blocks per game, sent back a career-high eight shots against Green Bay on Jan. 14. It matched a UIC Pavilion record, and marked only the fifth time in program history that a player collected as many rejections in one night; it was the first time since Scott VanderMeer equaled that amount on Feb. 5, 2009, vs. Cleveland State. Odiase is averaging 3.5 blocks per game over UIC's last eight contests, and he owns a career-high 55 on the season, the seventh-best single-season mark in program annals. Odiase needs only two blocks to pass Nate Chambers (1984-'88) and gain possession of sixth-place on UIC's all-time list.
FINISHING STRONG
Statistically speaking, UIC has been a more productive team in the second half of games this season. The Flames have scored an average of 7.7 more points per game in the final period, while shooting better percentages from the floor (+4.4%), the free-throw line (+3.5%) and beyond the arc (+5.8%). Last time out vs. Valparaiso, UIC shot 15 percent better from the field in the second half, 28.6 percent higher from downtown and 18.2 percent better from the charity stripe. Individually, sophomore Tai Odiase has had a significant impact down the stretch as he averages 5.5 points and 3.5 rebounds in the second half this season compared to 3.4 points and 2.0 rebounds in the first. Freshman Dikembe Dixson has also provided late contributions with an average of 10.4 points in the final 20 minutes. He has also made 21 of his 30 3-pointers on the season in the second half of games this year.
HORIZON LEAGUE'S FINEST FRESHMAN
UIC newcomer Dikembe Dixson has not only been one of the most prolific freshmen in the Horizon League, but one of its top players overall. The Freeport, Ill., native ranks fourth overall in scoring with 17.6 ppg and sixth in rebounding with 6.9 rpg. The forward joins Valparaiso's Alec Peters as the only players to rank in the conference's top six in both categories. Peters is fifth with 17.0 ppg and 7.5 rpg. In conference clashes only, Dixson is third with 21.0 ppg, while leading the league with 39.4 minutes per contest.
STARTER STABILITY
UIC head coach Steve McClain has used 12 different starting lineup combinations in 22 games. The group used to open the last five games (Dikembe Dixson, Michael Kolawole, Tai Odiase, Lance Whitaker and Najeal Young) has been used six times total and the quintet owns 100 combined career starts. They have been the most-used opening combination this season. In total, 11 different Flames have received a starting nod at least once this year, but only Odiase and Dixson have opened all 22 games.
UP NEXT
UIC will conclude its five-game homestand in the Windy City on Saturday, Feb. 13, when it hosts the Horizon League's newest member, Northern Kentucky, at 3 p.m. Tickets are available for the second all-time meeting between the Flames and Norse by calling 312-413-UIC1 (8421) or visiting Ticketmaster today.
