UIC had a hot start, and survived a late Western Michigan run, in defeating the Broncos 62-56 in Kalamazoo Saturday afternoon.

The Flames scored the first eight points of the game.  They went on to a 23-9 lead later in the first half, frustrating the Broncos' offense.  UIC forced nine turnovers in building their 14-point lead, and scored 13 points off of WMU miscues.  For the game, the Flames had a 23-0 advantage in points off turnovers.



Jace Carter led UIC with 18 points.  He also contributed three assists without committing a turnover.  He had a steal and a fast break dunk to answer a Bronco three-pointer, and the Flames took a 12-point lead into the break.

Christian Jones made his first start, and finished with 10 points for the second straight game.  He was one of five Flames to make at least one three-pointer.  One of his two triples preceded a Carter layup, off a half-court pass from Filip Skobalj, that forced a Bronco timeout with under 12 minutes to play in the second half. 

UIC increased their lead to 17 points at the 4:26 mark after a Toby Okani (7 points, team high 6 assists) 3-pointer.  But Western Michigan embarked on a 13-0 run, powered by three straight made 3-pointers.  The lead shrank to as few as four points with under a minute to play.  A pair of blocked shots stemmed the tide, and Tre Anderson and Jones combined to go 4-4 from the free throw line in the last minute, as the Flames escaped with their sixth win of the year.

The Flames turned the ball over only seven times, one more than their season low.  Anderson had 15 points and was 4-for-6 from the charity stripe, fueling an efficient team showing of 11-for-15 (73%).  Defensively, they sent WMU to the line only four times, held them under 40% shooting, and limited Lamar Norman Jr. to five points – well below his average of 20.2 that had him in the top 20 nationally.

UIC will return to Credit Union 1 Arena Tuesday night, hosting Prairie View A&M for a 7 p.m. tip.