EVANSTON, ILL. – The UIC men's basketball team returned to the road to finish out the non-conference portion of the 2022-23 season Tuesday, as they traveled to nearby Welsh-Ryan Arena to take on the Northwestern Wildcats. In a nationally-televised game on B1G Ten Network, the Flames struggled to find their rhythm offensively, and the Wildcats dominated the paint en route to a 92-54 victory.
 
FIRST HALF

• The Wildcats came out of the gate hot, jumping out to an early 4-1 lead. UIC would answer after falling behind by eight, cutting the deficit to two just after the under 16-minute timeout at 10-8.
• Toby Okani paced early scoring for the Flames, scoring six of UIC's first eight points.
• The Wildcats went on to post a 21-4 run in the middle portion of the first half, opening up a 20-point lead at the under-four timeout.
• Jace Carter tallied four points in the opening frame, making two of his five attempts from the field.
• The Flames shot just 34.8 percent from the field in the first half, their second-lowest first half mark of the season behind only the Drake game, where they shot just 24 percent.

 
SECOND HALF

• UIC started the second half strong behind the three-point line, burying two of their first four triple attempts.
• The Flames used this shooting to cut the Wildcat lead from a 21 point advantage at the half to as low as 17, but Northwestern kept their foot on the gas pedal on offense, building the advantage back up to 36 on the strength of a 13-1 run before the under-eight media timeout.
• Bessanty Saragba logged 8 minutes in the second half, his first game action since a November 30 appearance against Missouri State.

 
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• The 92 points scored by Northwestern Tuesday night was their highest single-game total this season, eclipsing an 85-point performance against fellow Windy City resident Chicago State.
• Toby Okani was the only double-digit scorer for the Flames Tuesday night, his tenth game scoring in double figures this year and third straight.
• The Flames closed out the non-conference schedule with an 8-3 record, their second best non-conference record since conference play began for the Flames in the 1984-85 season.

 
 
UP NEXT
The Flames will return to action after the holiday break and return home to Credit Union 1 Arena, as they are set to host the Illinois State Redbirds on Dec. 28 at 7:00 p.m. That game will be carried live on ESPN+, as well as the audio stream on UICFlames.com.