CHICAGO – A spirited second half showing by the UIC men's basketball team sent the Flames to their 10^th Horizon League victory of the year with an 84-67 victory over Detroit Mercy.
 
The Flames have now won 10 or more conference games for the third year in a row, marking the first stretch of three-straight 10-win seasons in conference play in program history.
 
Tarkus Ferguson recorded his 20^th career double-double, and second this season, with 13 points and a game-high 10 rebounds, while nearly securing a triple-double with eight assists. Godwin Boahen scored a team-high 19 points and Braelen Bridges added 16 points, 12 of which came in the second half. Jordan Blount rounded out the scoring leaders with 12 points.
 
UIC closes out the regular season schedule on Saturday, as the Flames play host to Oakland. Prior to tip, which is set for 3:12 p.m., UIC will honor its senior class of Marcus Ottey, Ferguson, Boahen and Blount as part of Senior Day.
 

Ya might want to consider boxing out @MikeDiggs15...

Flames lead 48-42 with 16:00 left in the second half!

Watch: https://t.co/Yr67Y0HpZA pic.twitter.com/qpDVV1yMzi

— UIC FL??MES ?? (@UICFlamesMBB) February 28, 2020

First Half Notes

• It was a closely contested opening half, as neither team led by more than five points in the first 20 minutes of action. UIC ended the half on a short run, using a 6-2 scoring advantage over the final 1:09 of the half to take a slim 3-point lead into the break. The first half featured 10 lead changes and five tied scores.
•  Ferguson's triple with five seconds remaining in the half gave the senior 10 points in the opening half, one shy of Boahen's team-high 11 points.
• The Flames did a nice job of distributing the ball, with four different players accounting for 11 assists on the 14 made field goals by UIC.

Second Half Notes

• UIC pulled away in the beginning of the second half, as Michael Diggins' dunk with 17:04 remaining kick-started an 11-1 run to give the Flames a 12-point advantage with 14:15 left in the contest.
• Another Flames run put the game out of reach, with UIC scoring 13 unanswered points to take a commanding 76-53 lead with less than five minutes remaining.
• Detroit Mercy looked to shoot its way back into the game from the 3-point line, but UIC's defense clamped down. The Flames limited the Titans to just 2-for-15 shooting in the second half from long range.
• Bridges, who was limited to four points in the first half, had a dominant second half. The big man finished the half 6-for-7 from the field for 12 second-half points.
• UIC's effective second half started on the glass, as the Flames outrebounded Detroit Mercy, 26-17, in the second half.

News and Notes

• For the 11^th time in the last 13 games, UIC held the advantage on the boards. The Flames edged the Titans on the glass, 42-40.
• Ferguson recorded his 20^th career double-double and second of the year. He is the third UIC player this year to have two double-doubles.
• UIC dominated the paint points (40-22), bench points (33-8) fast break points (20-6).
• With two blocks tonight, Ferguson became the eighth player in program history to surpass 100 career blocks. Ferguson entered the night with 99 career blocked shots.
• Detroit Mercy's Antoine Davis and Dwayne Rose, Jr. combined for 48 of the Titans' 67 points. The remaining players shot a collective 18.1 percent from the field (6-for-33).