CONWAY, S.C. – UIC shot the ball well Wednesday night, connecting at a clip of 50 percent from the field, but the Flames did not have enough firepower to top the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers in the semifinal of the College Basketball Invitational presented by FIVE FOUR. The Flames fell, 89-78, at the HTC Center.
 
UIC's Tarkus Ferguson scored a career-high 27 points to lead all scorers and four Flames in double figures. Marcus Ottey netted 11 points by making all four of his field-goal attempts, while Tai Odiase and Dominique Matthews chipped in with 10 points apiece.
 
The Flames drilled 11 3-pointers in the game, including eight during a furious second-half comeback. It marked the eighth time this season that the squad hit double-digit shots from beyond the arc.
 
How It Happened

• The Chanticleers held the lead in the early going when UIC's bench looked to provide a lift. Marcus Ottey checked into the game with about five minutes gone by and the newcomer delivered five points, including a 3-pointer that pulled the Flames within in a point with 10:50 remaining in the half.
• Center Tai Odiase was saddled with a bit of early foul trouble, but Clint Robinson also provided a lift, especially on the glass. Robinson had four first-half rebounds, including two on the offensive end. He converted one of those into a thunderous two-handed slam that made it 17-16, CCU, with 9:43 to go.
• Coastal Carolina went on a 9-3 run in a two-minute span to go up by seven with 3:36 left in the half. The Chants eventually pushed the lead to nine points moments later thanks to a 3-pointer by Elijah Wilson.
• UIC's Michael Kolawole also came off the bench to provide a spark in the closing minutes of the half. The sophomore scored, drew a foul and sank his free throw with 2:27 left, and later he found a slicing Godwin Boahen for a layup thanks to a nifty feed.
• The Flames shot the ball at a more-than-respectable clip of 46.2 percent in the first half, making 12-of-26 shots from the floor, and nine of 14 from inside the arc. However the visiting team was hampered by 12 turnovers. CCU scored eight points off the miscues and another 14 second-chance points thanks to eight offensive rebounds.
• Coastal Carolina pushed the lead to 10 with a 3-pointer, but UIC also started the second half with a burst of energy and quickly trimmed the deficit to three points just 2:16 into the period when Ferguson made a tough layup.
• The Flames were unable to get into a consistent rhythm on either end of the floor and the Chants extended the lead to 15 points with 11:32 remaining. The home team eventually went ahead 72-51 with 7:10 to go by using an 8-0 run, but the visitors would not go away quietly.
• Ferguson capped a 13-5 run for UIC when he got a steal under the Flames basket and drew a foul, making both shots from the free-throw line.
• The squad continued to grind it out and trimmed the deficit to 10 with just under two minutes to go in the contest. It reached nine with 52 seconds remaining when Ferguson buried his third 3-pointer of the half. That was as close as the Flames would come, however, as Coastal Carolina squeezed out an 11-point win to secure a berth in the CBI Championship Series.

 Beyond The Box Score

• The Flames shot 50 percent or better for the seventh time this season. It was the first time since Feb. 24 at Northern Kentucky (52.2 percent). UIC also shot at least 40 percent from beyond the arc for the 15^th time in 2016-17.
• UIC hauled in a program-record 1,426 rebounds this season, shattering the old mark by 191 rebounds. The squad also blocked a program-best 184 blocks, 22 more than the previous high.
• UIC played its 36^th game of the 2016-17 season Wednesday night, a program record. No previous group of Flames had played more than 34 contests in one year (three times, most recently 2014-15).
• Despite falling Wednesday night, UIC made history with two postseason tournament wins in the same season for the first time in program history. The Flames entered the 2017 College Basketball Invitational with only one all-time win in postseason play in program history.
• UIC more than tripled its win total from one season to the next for the first time in the program's Division I history. After winning only five games through the duration of the 2016-17 season, the Flames won 17 times in year two under head coach Steve McClain. UIC was the youngest team in the nation entering Wednesday night, according to KenPom.com.
• Ferguson finished the game with four assists and the season with 177. That ranks as the sixth-best single-season total in program history
• Odiase blocked two shots to finish the season with 106. He is the second player in UIC history to register more than 100 rejections in a single season, joining Scott VanderMeer (2006-07). Odiase trails VanderMeer on the all-time list, 274-249, with one season of eligibility still remaining.
• Matthews scored 10 points Wednesday and he led UIC with 15.3 points per game during the team's three-game run through the CBI.
• Ferguson averaged 13.7 points, 8.7 assists and 8.0 rebounds per game during the CBI.