CHICAGO – The UIC men's basketball team bounced back from its loss on Thursday evening with a 71-58 victory over Green Bay inside Credit Union 1 Arena Saturday afternoon.
Marcus Ottey led the Flames with a team-high 18 points while
Tarkus Ferguson had his fourth consecutive double-figure game, finishing with 14 points, six assists and six rebounds.
Godwin Boahen also finished in double figures with 10 points.
Michael Diggins led the team's rebounding effort with a career-high 12.
Green Bay, who entered the game sixth in the country in scoring offense (81.9) were held 23 points below their season average. The Flames limited the Phoenix to just 37.5% shooting, 22.2% shooting from 3-point range and 60% from the free throw line.
UIC had its best scoring run in the first half with 12-0 spurt to go up by 16 in the closing minutes. The Flames would eventually grow the advantage to as many as 17 points in the second half in a game in which UIC never trailed led for 39:43 of the 40 minutes on Saturday.
First Half Highlights
•
Braelen Bridges and
Jordan Blount got UIC on the board first with back-to-back layups to take a 4-0 lead. It didn't take long for Green Bay to answer back with a layup of their own to cut the Flames' lead by two.
•
Godwin Boahen's 3-pointer and
Tarkus Ferguson's layup would add to UIC's lead until the Phoenix began chipping away with a 6-0 run to climb within three at 18-15. However, a dagger by Boahen would end UIC's scoring drought and Green Bay's scoring run.
• Back-to-back threes from
Marcus Ottey and
Travell Washington would start a 12-0 run and give UIC their largest lead in the first half. With 1:09 left in the half, the Phoenix managed to score four unanswered points to end the Flames' spurt and the first half.
Second Half Highlights
• The Flames fired first with a dunk to start the second half and build a 42-29 lead. UIC continued to go to work with a pair of free throws from Ottey that would create a 6-0 run, 48- 31. The free throws were followed up with dunk from Diggins and layup from Ottey.
•
Jamie Ahale's 3-pointer would end Green Bay's 5-0 run, which had pulled the Phoenix to within 11, with 12:28 remaining in the second half. Ahale's triple pushed the lead back to 14 and Green Bay wouldn't get within 11 the rest of the way.
• Diggins, who had a strong second half with eight points and seven rebounds, put an exclamation point on the win with a dunk with 58 seconds remaining.
Facts & Figures
• UIC held Green Bay 23 points below their season average in scoring. The Phoenix entered Saturday's game sixth in the country in scoring offense, averaging 88.9 points per game.
• The Flames finished with 38 points in the paint compared to Green Bay's 22.
The Flames improved to 10-3 when outrebounding their opponent and have won the rebounding battle in eight of the last nine games. UIC was plus-nine on the boards Saturday, owning a 39-30 advantage on the glass.
• Ferguson matched a career-high with three blocks Saturday. It is the third time this year and eighth time in his career with three blocks.
Up Next
• The next contest will be at Wright State on Sunday, Feb. 14 at 8:00 p.m. CT.
