CHICAGO -- Michael Diggins scored a career-high 15 points, and Marcus Ottey became the 24^th Flame in program history to score 1,000 points, in UIC's 63-57 win over Incarnate Word at Credit Union 1 Arena Monday night. Diggins also had a game high and career high-tying seven rebounds.

UIC (5-7) had a strong first half and took a 15 point lead into the break. They persevered through a second half that saw them shoot just 21.4 percent, holding UIW (5-7) without a three-pointer the last 36 minutes of the game (15 attempts). Aside from free throws, UIC scored all of their points on layups or 3-pointers.

Ottey's 1,000^th point came on a smooth finger roll at the 7:28 mark of the first half. He finished with 12 points and a career total of 1,008 in his two-plus seasons at UIC.

First-Half Headlines

• Slow Start, but Subs Spark Scoring: The early momentum was all on Incarnate Word's side as they made their first two three-point attempts and built a six point lead. Meanwhile, Steve McClain made a couple of very early substitutions in an effort to inject energy into his lineup. One of those subs, Rob Howard, made the Flames' first field goal three minutes in. Another, Michael Diggins, alertly picked up a loose ball and made a reverse layup.
• Ferguson Gets Involved: Tarkus Ferguson kick-started the offense with a three pointer and a flick-in to put UIC ahead, as it turned out, for good.  He connected from downtown again after Jamie Ahale kept an offensive rebound alive. No sooner than that attempt nestled through the twine, he picked a Cardinal's pocked at midcourt and dished to Jordan Blount for a breaking layup.
• Aerial Aspirations: The high flying Flames put together a highlight reel on both ends of the court. Marcus Ottey turned a steal at midcourt into a rim-rocking alley-oop to Diggins. Howard elevated to emphatically reject a layup attempt.
• Bissainthe Bags First Buckets: Ahale made a corner 3 to give UIC its first double-digit lead. Down the stretch, Ralph Bissainthe, playing in his sixth game of the season, saw a layup go all around the rim and in for an and-one opportunity. Bissainthe turned the first steal of his career into an easy bucket, giving him a career high four points and putting the team up by its largest margin of the game as part of a half-closing 11-3 run. Those were the first field goals of the redshirt freshman's career.

Second-Half Headlines

• Clutching and Grabbing: A sluggish start to the second half saw UIC make just one of six field goals and get whistled for six fouls in the first five minutes. UIW shaved seven points off their deficit out of the gate, and eventually got within five after Morgan Taylor scored nine straight Cardinal points.
• Ottey Leads by Example: The Flames labored but got their lead back into double digits thanks to three UIW turnovers in a three minute, scoreless span. Ottey gutted out six straight for UIC including a three-pointer after a technical foul on UIW's bench.
• Diggins' Dunk Slams the Door: Over the last five minutes, the teams combined to make just three field goals. Incarnate Word continued to be ice cold from three point range, dooming their hopes of a comeback as they got no closer than the final margin of six points. Diggins provided a late highlight, throwing down a vicious dunk over Augustine Ene, getting an and-one to account for his career high 15^th point.

Highlights


Notables

• The Flames put on a clinic for aficionados of analytics. Their 63 points came on seven threes, 15 layups, and 12 free throws. Only four of the team's 55 shot attempts were logged as 2-point jump shots.
• Diggins led the team in scoring for the first time this season, and became the fifth Flame to post team-high honors.
• Diggins shot 4-for-6 from the field and a perfect 7-for-7 from the line.
• Ottey and Ferguson were right behind Diggins with 12 points apiece. Ferguson had three triples.
• The Flames' 21.4 percent shooting mark from the floor in the second half was their worst shooting half of the season.
• After making their first two three-pointers, UIW missed their final 15. They posted a Flames opponent-low 11.8 percent three point percentage.
• The 63 points were UIC's lowest in any game this season, and their lowest output in a win since defeating Cleveland State 59-54 on January 12, 2017.
• With leading scorer Christian Peevy sidelined due to injury, Dwight Murray Jr. stepped up with a season high 13 points. Charles Brown III matched his season high with 14, leading the visitors.
• Incarnate Word entered the game with an NCAA-high 81.4 percent free throw rate.  They made just 13 of 19 freebies (68.4 percent) Monday night.
• Bissainthe appeared in five games, averaging 3.4 minutes, and had attempted only one shot (he missed) before Monday. He made two of his three shots, scoring four points, in six minutes against UIW.

Up Next

• UIC will play its final non-conference game of the season Friday night.
• The Flames will host St. Francis (Ill.) at Credit Union 1 Arena. Tipoff will be at 7:00 pm.
• Horizon League play will begin a week later at defending conference champion Wright State.