For 20 minutes, UIC was in control of its critical Horizon League matchup against Green Bay Friday night.  The Flames raced to a 19 point halftime lead and seemed poised to exact revenge for their loss in Green Bay earlier this season, as well as break a tie with the Phoenix for third place in the Horizon League standings.  The second half was a different story.  Green Bay (15-13, 9-6 HL) took advantage of 13 Flames turnovers and escaped with a 63-62 win at Credit Union 1 Arena.

With three games to play, UIC (14-14, 8-7 HL) drops into a three way tie for fourth place.  Tarkus Ferguson led the team with 14 points, and Marcus Ottey had a game- and career high 11 rebounds.  The Phoenix scored 19 points off of 13 second half Flames turnovers.  The last of those came in the closing seconds when UIC had a chance to win with a field goal.

First Half Highlights

• Baskets in Spurts: The teams combined to go 0-for the first 9 shots of the game.  After two quick baskets by the Flames, Green Bay called timeout just three minutes into the contest.  Then, the threes began to fall.  Marcus Ottey made a 3, ending an 0-5 drought from distance, to tie the game at 9.  Jamie Ahale followed with a wide open 3 in transition just seconds after subbing in for the first time.
• Spreading the Wealth: UIC scored its first 15 points from six different players, none with more than one field goal.  Not until Ahale's second three, making it 18-12, did a Flame covert a second field goal.  By contrast, all five Flames who tallied a rebound had more than one.
• Pinpoint Passing: Ahale figured in a highlight worthy sequence, passing to a streaking Diggins for a layin and three-point opportunity.
• Blount Takes Over: Jordan Blount and Tarkus Ferguson had layups on runouts to extend the lead to 28-17, and Green Bay called their second timeout of the half.  That did little to subdue the Flames, nor Blount in particular.  He finished at the rim through contact twice, and then blocked a shot and took it all the way himself, as the Flames closed the half on an 11-2 run.

Second Half Highlights

• Teams Trade Runs: Consecutive takaways by the Phoenix turned into four quick points, but Blount made a short jumper and Godwin Boahen coverted a layup off a Ferguson steal to negate Green Bay's short run.
• Turnovers Make a Bad Omen: Five turnovers in a four minute span gave Green Bay momentum and a 15-2 run which closed the gap to seven points, 47-42.  Josh McNair, who averaged just 4.9 points per game entering play, was the first Phoenix to double digits with two easy makes in that run.
• Baskets Hard to Come By: Michael Diggins scored a crucial basket to stem the tide.  He finished a finger roll in traffic and drew contact, going on to complete the three point play.  But that was the Flames' only make in 10 attempts.
• A Little Breathing Room: Ferguson and Boahen made layups, the latter using the highest reaches of the backboard, as the Flames tried to inch their lead back toward double digits.
• Late Run Pivotal for Phoenix: Diggins converted a tip-in with three minutes to go.  That would be UIC's last basket of the game.  Green Bay responded with a three to ignite a 10-0 run that also included two bunnies by Sandy Cohen – one after he poked the ball away from Blount and had clear sailing to the rim, and the other on a putback after an Ottey offensive foul.
• Turnovers Seal Flames' Fate: Ottey committed another offensive foul which put UIC in a position that forced them to foul.  The Phoenix missed three of their four free throws in the last minute.  Following the last of those misses, UIC had 15 seconds to overcome a one point deficit.  Ottey had the ball knocked away in the process of trying to create a shot, and the Phoenix escaped with the win.

Notables

• UIC's 19 point lead at halftime tied for their second largest margin at the break this year.  Only their 22 point advantage 20 minutes through the Youngstown State contest (Jan. 10) was larger.
• Green Bay made just seven field goals in the first half – a season low in any half by a Flames opponent.  Their 63 points in the game was a season low.
• The Flames tied their season high with 11 steals.  It is the outright best in Horizon League play.
• Ottey's 11 rebounds represented a new career high.
• Blount scored 13 points on 6-of-11 shooting.  It was his second straight contest in double figures.
• Jacob Wiley had two blocks in four minutes after entering for the first time in the second half. 
• Both teams, who entered play as the top two defensive rebounding teams in the conference, grabbed 30 defensive caroms.  UIC added 14 on the offensive glass to end with a narrow 44-41 advantage.
• Points off turnovers favored UIC, 17-6, in the first half.  The script was flipped after the break, when Green Bay held a 19-2 advantage.
• The Flames dropped to 11-4 at Credit Union 1 Arena, and will have one more chance to earn a 12^th home win for the first time since 2012-13.
• This was the tenth game on UIC's ledger decided by five points or less.  The Flames are 6-4 in those contests.
• By making just three of 21 three pointers, the Flames finished with their second lowest three point percentage (.143) of the season.  The team averaged nine makes at a 36% clip entering play.
• Cohen scored 17 points in the second half to finish with a game high 20.  McNair scored 12 of his 16 in the final 20 minutes.
• The loss was only UIC's second in Horizon League play after the Flames led at halftime.  The other loss came in the first matchup against Green Bay, but that was a mere two point advantage.

Up Next

• The Flames will conclude the home portion of their regular season schedule Sunday.
• Milwaukee will come to town for a 3:12 pm tip, affording UIC another chance to avenge an earlier loss in Wisconsin.