CHICAGO (Nov. 19, 2023) – The UIC men's basketball team (3-1) delivered an emphatic all-around performance on Sunday with a 99-48 win over Aurora at Credit Union 1 Arena. It's the Flames' second-largest margin of victory of their NCAA Division I era and largest since Dec. 2, 1986, when they defeated Lake Forest, 115-53, also at home.
Redshirt sophomore forward
Jaden Brownell (Sandy, Utah/Alta) led another balanced UIC scoring effort with a career-high 14 points, pacing five Flames in double figures. Senior guard
Isaiah Rivera (Geneseo, Ill./Geneseo/Colorado State) had 13 points, sophomore center
Cameron Fens (Dubuque, Iowa/Hempstead) added a season-high 12 points, junior forward
Filip Skobalj (Belgrade, Serbia/Don Bosco-Schule Rostock) contributed 11 points and sophomore guard
Steven Clay (Milwaukee, Wis./Menomenee Falls) tallied 10 points.
As a team, UIC shot 57.6 percent for the game, collecting 28 assists on 38 field goals, including a career-high eight for sophomore guard
CJ Jones (East St. Louis, Ill./East St. Louis). The Flames also knocked down a season-high 14 three-pointers and shot .452 from beyond the arc, while more than doubling up the Spartans on the glass, 50-28.
On the defensive end, UIC limited Aurora to a .250 field-goal percentage, including just 17.3 percent (9-of-52) over the final 43 minutes.
COACH'S COMMENTS
"We played one of our more complete games of the year tonight," said head coach
Luke Yaklich. "We shared the ball extremely well, and we played tough defense from the opening tip."
FIRST HALF
- Junior guard Ethan Pickett (Pensacola, Fla./Cherokee/Triton) got the UIC offense going with seven points in the opening three minutes, punctuated by an alley-oop dunk for a 9-6 Flames' lead at the 17:00 mark.
- Aurora briefly got back within 15-14 with 13:26 left in the half, but that was as close as the Spartans would get the rest of the afternoon.
- UIC went on a 13-0 run over the three minutes, capped by five straight points from senior guard Toby Okani (Orange, N.J./Cushing Academy (Mass.)) to double up Aurora, 28-14 just before the midpoint of the first half.
- The Flames added a second double-digit run with an 11-0 spree over the final five minutes of the period to build their 45-24 halftime lead.
- Collectively, UIC outscored Aurora, 27-10 during the final 13:08 of the first half and held the Spartans to 2-of-24 shooting in that span, including no baskets in the closing six minutes.
SECOND HALF
- The Flames used a 16-4 run in the opening portion in the second half to further expand their lead, taking a 69-32 lead on Okani's transition layup at the 10:36 mark.
- For the second time in as many home games this year, UIC activated the Portillo's free cake promotion for the Flames' fans in attendance, reaching the magic 75-point total on a layup by freshman forward Nathan Ojukwu (Boise, Idaho/DME Academy (Fla.)) with 7:39 left.
- UIC outscored the Spartans, 19-8 in the final six minutes, highlighted by the first career points for freshman guard Grant Welch (Moline, Ill./Moline) on a three-pointer with 4:02 remaining, and sophomore guard Ethyn Brown (Belleville, Ill./Belleville East/Southwestern Illinois) on a pair of free throws with 1:32 to go.
NOTES
- Not only was Sunday's win the second-largest of UIC's Division I era (and largest since 1986), it was also the Flames' first 50-point win since that victory over Lake Forest nearly 37 years ago.
- UIC posted its largest point total (99) since Nov. 15, 2018, when it earned a 100-95 overtime victory at home over William & Mary in the Gotham Classic. It was the Flames' highest point total in a regulation game since Feb. 8, 2018, when they defeated Youngstown State, 100-75.
- UIC's .576 field-goal percentage is its highest in the four-year tenure of head coach Luke Yaklich, and highest overall since March 3, 2020 (.600, 39-65 vs. IUPUI in a 93-59 victory in the first round of the Horizon League Tournament at Credit Union 1 Arena).
- The Flames' 14 three-pointers tied for the most in the Yaklich era and most since Nov. 25, 2021, when they also had 14 treys against Hawaii at the Las Vegas Classic.
- UIC's 28 assists tie its Yaklich-era record, first set on Nov. 16, 2021, against Trinity Christian at Credit Union 1 Arena.
- That same Trinity Christian game was the last time a Flames' squad held an opponent to 48 points in a game (82-48 win), made at least 35 field goals (36 in that game) and had 50 rebounds in a game (53 that night).
- Brownell's 14 points topped his previous career high of 12 at Belmont on Feb. 11, 2023.
- Fens posted his second career double-figure scoring game and first since a career-high 14 points against Holy Cross on Nov. 22, 2022, at the Tom Konchalski Classic in Bronx, N.Y.
- Jones' eight assists surpassed his previous career of seven at Valparaiso on Jan. 17, 2023.
UP NEXT
For the first time since 2012, UIC is headed to the Caribbean, as the Flames get set to play in the Baha Mar Hoops Nassau Championship next weekend at the Baha Mar Convention Center in Nassau, Bahamas. UIC will open the tournament at 3:30 p.m. (CT) Friday against Middle Tennessee, with the game (and all tournament contests) streamed live on FloSports and live stats available 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).
|
