CHICAGO – The UIC men's basketball team sent its five seniors out in style Saturday (Feb. 26) evening, as the Flames defeated Milwaukee by a 71-58 margin in the regular season finale on Senior Night.
 
Prior to Saturday's game, the Flames honored a pair of managers and five players, Jamie Ahale, Brandon Battle, Michael Diggins, Kevin Johnson and Jalen Warren, who were playing their final home game inside Credit Union 1 Arena.
 
Diggins shined in his home finale, scoring a season-high 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting while bringing in seven rebounds and swatting away a pair of shots. Johnson added 13 points and dished out a game-high five assists while Warren scored 10 points for the Flames. Damaria Franklin was the fourth player in double figures for UIC, adding 15 points.
 
UIC dominated the glass, out-rebounding the Panthers by a 46-35 margin. It was even wider of a gap on the offensive glass, with the Flames owning a 13-3 advantage in offensive boards. Newcomer Jace Carter, who led all players with 10 rebounds, found five on the offensive end.
 
Battle, making just his second start of the year, scored UIC's first four points to put the Flames ahead early. Milwaukee clawed back and regained the advantage, holding it throughout the mid-portion of the first half. A 7-0 run by UIC propelled the Flames back in front with 5:59 to play in the opening half. Franklin scored four of the seven points while Zion Griffin chipped in a 3-pointer.
 
The Flames took a six-point lead into the break after Johson's pull-up jumper with one second left in the period gave the Flames a 37-31 lead into the break.
 
UIC caused havoc on Milwaukee's offense in the second half, forcing the Panthers into nine second-half turnovers. A 3-pointer by Johnson with 9:07 remaining put the Flames up by 14 points.. Milwaukee countered with six unanswered to trim the UIC lead down to sixth with just over seven minutes remaining, but a 10-0 run by the Flames put the game out of reach as UIC closed out the 71-58 decision.
 
The Flames earned the No. 8 seed in the 2022 Keeps Horizon League Championship and will face the Panthers once again in the opening round of the tournament. Tip-off in Milwaukee will be on Tuesday, March 1 at 7 p.m.