DETROIT -- For the second time in the last three seasons, UIC has reached the semifinal round of the Horizon League Men's Basketball Championship. The sixth-seeded Flames will tangle with No. 10 Milwaukee at historic Joe Louis Arena in Detroit on Monday night at 9:30 p.m. ET/8:30 p.m. CT. The contest will be televised live on ESPNU with Bob Wischusen and Fran Fraschilla on the broadcast.
UIC (15-17, 7-11 Horizon League) reached the conference's own final four by knocking off No. 3 Green Bay on Sunday, 79-70. The Flames' defense held Green Bay without a field goal over a nine-minute span in the second half as they stretched their lead to as many as 17 points. The Phoenix furiously rallied and cut the deficit to two points with just over one minute remaining, but UIC sank seven free throws in the final 65 seconds to survive and advance.
Tai Odiase and
Dominique Matthews each registered 16 points to lead the Flames with Matthews scoring 14 of his 16 in the second half.
Tarkus Ferguson notched his sixth double-double of the season, and second in the last three games, behind 12 points and a team-high 10 rebounds. The freshman also paced the squad with a game-high five assists.
Milwaukee (10-23, 4-14) is still standing thanks to wins against No. 7 Detroit Mercy and No. 2 Valparaiso in the Motor City. The Panthers played contrasting styles as they posted 85 points to best the hometown Titans on Friday night before outlasting Valpo in a defensive struggle, 43-41 on Saturday evening. Jeremiah Bell has been Milwaukee's leading scorer in the tournament with 18 points per game. Brock Stull has added 13.5 points per contest and 7.5 rebounds. One of two seniors on the roster, Cody Wichmann has chipped in with 10 points and a team-high eight rebounds in the two wins.
The Flames edged the Panthers in both regular-season meetings,
winning 71-57 at the UIC Pavilion on Jan. 17, and
105-100 at UWM Panther Arena on Feb. 4. Matthews averaged a team-high 18.5 points per game in the two contests, while Odiase scored 16.0 points per game, grabbed 9.0 rebounds, and blocked 5.5 shots per game for UIC.
More notes, statistics and information about Monday's Horizon League Championship semirfinal can be found within the UIC Game Notes PDF that is linked above.
