CHICAGO -- Jordan Blount led UIC with his first double-double of the season, posting 19 points and 10 rebounds, in the Flames' 79-67 win over Detroit Mercy Thursday night. Blount was 6-for-9 from the floor and 7-for-7 at the free throw line as UIC (10-11, 4-4 Horizon) led from tip to buzzer and evened their conference record. UIC held the Titans (8-12, 5-3 Horizon) to just 36 percent shooting in the first half and built a 24-point lead that proved to be insurmountable.

First-Half Highlights

• Going Up Early: UIC scored the game's first nine points on a 3 and three fast breaks, the last of which was punctuated by a Tarkus Ferguson dunk. The team extended their lead to 12-3, shooting 57 percent to Detroit's 33 percent over the first four minutes.
• Taking It Away: The Titans entered play as the Horizon League's best team at protecting the ball with an average of just 10.8 turnovers per game. They got halfway to that average less than seven minutes in when their fifth miscue followed a Travell Washington dunk off one of Ferguson's seven assists.
• Damage Down Low: Thanks in part to their ability to score on fast breaks and in part to an early effort to work the ball inside, the Flames scored 12 of their first 18 points in the paint.  Later, Jordan Blount added two more from close range when he tipped in a miss. That ended a brief dry spell consisting of three straight UIC turnovers, which did not hurt the home team on the scoreboard as their defense held Detroit Mercy without a point for four min on 0-6 shooting.
• Spreading the Wealth: Marcus Ottey took a while to dent the scoresheet, but when he finished in the lane and earned an and-one, he became the seventh Flame to score in the first half.
• Extending the Lead: The Flames dominated the end of the half thanks to heroics from Godwin Boahen and Jamie Ahale. Each of them beat the shot clock buzzer with a three-pointer from the same corner, sandwiching an Ottey steal and runout. Ahale's shot made it a 15-0 run and a 40-16 margin.

Second-Half Highlights

• Howard Comes Alive: The teams exchanged buckets at the outset of the second half. Rob Howard scored five of the Flames' first seven points, including a second chance 3-pointer over Detroit Mercy's zone defense.
• Fouls Mount Up: The Titans began to chip away at their deficit by taking advantage of aggressive play. Jordan Blount was whistled for a flagrant foul, and after the free throws Michael Diggins committed a foul on the inbound play. That made the foul count 6-0 against UIC at the 15:41 mark.
• Dunks Du Jour: Antoine Davis sank a spinning, fallaway shot to make it 48-40 after 11 straight Titan points. That run was ended by a Diggins one handed dunk; shortly thereafter Ferguson sent home a putback slam that energized the enthusiastic crowd at Credit Union 1 Arena.
• Maintaining the Margin: UIC's lead hovered between 8 and 11 points throughout the middle 10 minutes of the half as both teams encountered rough shooting patches.  Blount brought his team out of its funk when he rattled in a short jump hook late in the shot clock to make it 66-53. Ottey converted a push shot in the lane to get the lead back into double digits with four minutes to play.
• Free Throw Perfection: Josh McFolley made a three for just his sixth point – half of his average – as the Titans tried to come back. Boahen made a long three of his own in response and the Flames made all eight of their free throws in the last two minutes to seal the win.

Postgame Reaction





Notables

• Blount's double-double (19 points, 10 rebounds) was the fifth of his career and the first this season by a Flame other than Tarkus Ferguson.
• Rob Howard tied his conference best with 11 points.
• Ottey (14 points) and Boahen (13) joined Blount and Howard in double figures.
• Blount led the team in scoring for the second time.
• Ferguson's six points were his lowest output in Horizon League play, and his 0-for-7 shooting mark from three point range marked only the second time this season that he failed to convert a triple.  He did have seven assists to tie his conference season high.
• The Flames made 20 of 24 free throws for an 83.3% rate, tying their best percentage of the season.
• Though Detroit Mercy did a better job holding on to the ball as the game wore on, they still committed a conference high 13 turnovers.  UIC scored 21 points off of those mistakes.
• The Flames led by as many as 24 points, representing the second largest deficit Detroit Mercy has faced in Horizon League play.
• Davis had 28 points to lead all scorers.  He finished the game right on his average of 27.2, which is second in the nation.  He made five of seven three pointers.
• Detroit Mercy shot 50 percent in the second half to bring their percentage for the game up to 43.4 percent. The Flames were more consistent throughout and had a 48.1 percent mark on the evening.

Up Next

• UIC's season-long four game homestand will continue Saturday afternoon.
• Oakland will come to Credit Union 1 Arena for a 3:12 pm tipoff.
• Tickets are available for $3.12 at ticketmaster.com.