DEKALB, Ill. – Trailing by 22 points in the second half, the UIC men's basketball team stormed back to stun Northern Illinois, 65-61, Wednesday evening to open up the 2020-21 season. RayQuawndis Mitchell's go-ahead 3-pointer with 16 seconds remaining gave UIC its first lead of the game and eventually led to Luke Yaklich earning his first win as a Division I head coach.
 
"One of our core values is diligence so we kept talking about just chipping away and getting it to 10 by the 10-minute mark of the second half," said Yaklich. "We got it to 12, they pushed it back up and we responded again. It is one of the keywords we've talked about all preseason is respond. Our guys responded with some real effort out of the locker room coming out of halftime. The grit and diligence was incredible and for all that our kids have been through and have sacrificed to get to this moment, it made every ounce of that win worth it."
 
The Huskies (0-1) built their largest lead of the game at 22 points after a pair of NIU free throws gave the home team a 40-18 lead with just over 16 minutes to play in the game. From that point on, the Flames outscored Northern Illinois 47-21 over the remainder of the game to complete the comeback. Trailing by two points in the closing seconds, Mitchell connected on a 3-pointer from the top of the key to give the visitors a one-point lead with 16.6 seconds left. Michael Diggins and Jamie Ahale combined to go 4-for-4 from the free throw line in the closing seconds to seal the victory.
 
A pair of newcomers led UIC in scoring, as Mitchell and Teyvion Kirk each scored 12 points. Another newcomer, Zion Griffin, added 11 and Braelen Bridges chipped in 10 points off the bench. Kirk nearly registered a double-double in his Flames debut, finishing the game with nine assists.
 
"I learned that we have some toughness when we want it, and we have to be tough all the time. We weren't tough in the first half but when the bell needed to be rung in the second half, it was rung. I think that is something the guys can take away from this game. There's some grit and fight in this group and now we need to work on the execution and skill," added Yaklich.
 
UIC returns home to make its Credit Union 1 Arena debut Saturday (Nov. 28) evening, as the Flames play host to Central Michigan. Tipoff is slated for 6 p.m. and will be broadcast on ESPN3.
 
How It Happened – First Half

• NIU got on the board first, jumping out to a quick 5-0 lead before Griffin's 3-pointer at the 15:58 gave UIC its first points of the season. Bridges would follow up with a layup to even the score at 5-all.
• The Flames took their first lead of the game moments later after back-to-back triples by Mitchell and Kirk put UIC ahead 11-8 with just under 14 minutes remaining in the first half. It was UIC's only lead of the game until Mitchell's game-winning three-pointer in the closing seconds.
• Northern Illinois took the lead thanks to a 30-7 run to end the half and built a 20-point advantage headed into the halftime break.

 
How It Happened – Second Half

• After the lead grew to 22 for Northern Illinois, UIC came to life with a quick 9-0 run over 2:04 to trim the Huskies' lead to 13 with 13:43 to play.
• A dunk by Diggins kick-started another Flames run, this one a 14-2 run, to pull UIC within six at 56-50 with 4:30 remaining in the game.
• UIC continued to chip away at Northern Illinois' lead until Mitchell's 3-pointer with 16.6 seconds left gave UIC a 61-60 advantage. It was UIC's first lead since early in the first half.
• Two free throws by Diggins grew the lead to three and then following a 1-for-2 effort from the FT line by Northern Illinois, Ahale sealed the victory with a pair from the charity stripe.

 
News and Notes

• Head coach Luke Yaklich collects his first win as a Division I head coach with Wednesday's victory over Northern Illinois.
• Yaklich becomes the fifth coach in UIC history to win the head coaching debut with the Flames. He is the first head coach to win their UIC debut since Willie Little's squad defeated Brooklyn, 91-77, on Nov. 26, 1983.
• After shooting 23.3% from the field in the first half, UIC responded to shoot at a 56.7% clip over the final 20 minutes. Conversely, Northern Illinois shot 53.3% from the field in the first half compared to 25.9% in the second half.
• Kirk had nine assists on the night, one more than Northern Illinois had as a team (8). The Flames in total had 16 assists compared to their nine turnovers while the Huskies turned the ball over more (12) compared to their assist total (8).
• The Flames excelled beyond the arc, as 11 of their 24 field goals came from 3-point range. Three of Northern Illinois' 23 field goals came from long distance.

 
Up Next

• UIC returns home first its first home game of the season on Saturday, Nov. 28 against Central Michigan. Tipoff inside Credit Union 1 Arena is slated for 6 p.m. and will be broadcast on ESPN3.