CHICAGO (Nov. 10, 2023) – Senior guard
Isaiah Rivera (Geneseo, Ill./Geneseo/Colorado State) scored a career-high 25 points and grabbed seven rebounds, pacing four UIC players in double figures as the Flames (1-1) opened their home schedule Friday night with an 86-71 victory over Little Rock (1-1) before a boisterous crowd of 2,593 fans at Credit Union 1 Arena.
Senior guard
Toby Okani (Orange, N.J./Cushing Academy (Mass.)) posted his second double-double in as many games with 14 points and a game-high 10 rebounds, while junior guard
Ethan Pickett (Pensacola, Fla./Cherokee/Triton) added 13 points and sophomore guard
Steven Clay (Milwaukee, Wis./Menomenee Falls) chipped in with 12 points.
COACH'S COMMENTS
"I'm very excited for our team win tonight," said UIC head coach
Luke Yaklich. "The atmosphere was awesome tonight and our guys felt the atmosphere and the excitement of the crowd from the moment they stepped on the court. We wanted to play well in front of a really good crowd and this win meant a lot to our program. Our defensive energy is what we hang our hats on and our team's energy and play in the first half set the tone for the game. We came out in the second half and played solid. We did everything we needed to build a lead, maintain the lead and make it difficult for Little Rock to come back. We shared the ball offensively and played unselfishly and as a result of that we were able to put up 86 points."
Flames fans can watch Coach Yaklich's entire postgame press conference in the below video.
FIRST HALF
- Rivera scored UIC's first four points of the night, while the Flames held Little Rock scoreless for the opening 3:04 before Jamir Chaplin's putback made it 4-2 UIC with 16:56 left in the first half.
- The Trojans briefly took their one and only lead of the game when DeAntoni Gordon made the second of two free throws for a 7-6 Little Rock edge at the 15:28 mark.
- Just 34 seconds later, redshirt sophomore Jaden Brownell (Sandy, Utah/Alta) converted his own putback to spark a 10-2 run over the next 2:10 and UIC would never trail again.
- A three-pointer from Clay bumped the Flames' lead into double figures for the first time at 25-14 with 8:31 remaining in the half.
- Gordon got Little Rock back within 28-19 at the 6:58 mark, but UIC emphatically responded with an 8-0 run, punctuated by an old-fashioned three-point play from Pickett, to take its largest lead of the half (36-19, 3:55).
- The Trojans made a late spurt, scoring six of the final eight points, but the Flames still went into halftime with a comfortable 38-25 lead.
SECOND HALF
- UIC kept Little Rock at arm's length throughout the entire second half, never letting the visitors get closer than nine points.
- The second of those challenges came on a three-pointer by Cougar Downing that made it 43-34, UIC with 16:35 to play.
- Clay responded with a triple of his own 21 seconds later and the Flames' lead never dipped into single digits again.
- After maintaining a lead of 11-14 points for the majority of the half, UIC put the game on ice with an 8-0 run for a 70-51 lead, capped by two free throws from junior forward Filip Skobalj (Belgrade, Serbia/Don Bosco-Schule Rostock) after Little Rock head coach Darrell Walker was whistled for a technical foul (6:53).
- Pickett sent the Homecoming crowd into delirium by making two foul shots with 3:39 to go, pushing the Flames over the 75-point mark and igniting a new promotion at all UIC home basketball games where fans earn a coupon for a free slice of Portillo's chocolate cake when the Flames score 75 points.
NOTES
- Rivera's 25 points surpassed his previous high of 19 points that he set while playing for Colorado State against Loyola Marymount on Nov. 30, 2022.
- Rivera also narrowly missed his career high with seven rebounds, one off his personal best of eight against San Diego State on March 9, 2023, at the Mountain West Conference Tournament.
- Okani collected his sixth career double-double and second in as many outings this season (he had 20 points and 11 rebounds in Monday's season opener at Cincinnati).
- Pickett scored 13 points for the second consecutive game and has made a combined 11-of-16 shots through his first two contests in a UIC uniform.
- UIC connected on 10-of-21 three-pointers (.476) on Friday, just shy of the program's best three-point percentage in the four-year Yaklich era (.478 at Evansville on Feb. 22, 2023).
- That same Evansville game also marked the last time prior to Friday that every UIC player who got into the game found his way into the scoring column.
- Friday's 86 points marked the highest offensive output for the Flames since Nov. 22, 2022, when they defeated Holy Cross, 89-66 at the Tom Konchalski Classic in Bronx, N.Y. It was also the most points UIC has scored at Credit Union 1 Arena since Nov. 16, 2021, when it defeated Trinity Christian, 91-50.
UP NEXT
UIC will be back on the hardwood next Tuesday, Nov. 14, when it takes on crosstown rival Loyola at Gentile Arena in Rogers Park. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. (CT), with the game to be televised live on NBC Sports Chicago and the live Flames Radio Network broadcast available free at
UICFlames.com.
Tickets for all UIC basketball games can be purchased online through
Ticketmaster and
UICFlames.com/Tickets, as well as through the UIC Athletics Ticket Office (312-413-UIC1) or by visiting the Credit Union 1 Arena box office on game night.
For more information, fans are encouraged to visit
UICFlames.com, or follow the Flames on social media through X (
@UIC_MBB and
@UICFlames) and Instagram (
@uic_mbb and
@uicflames).
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