NASSAU, Bahamas (Nov. 24, 2023) – The UIC men's basketball team (4-1) turned in a stellar defensive performance on Friday night, shutting down preseason Conference USA co-favorite Middle Tennessee in a 70-40 victory to open the Baha Mar Hoops Nassau Championship at the Baha Mar Convention Center in Nassau, Bahamas.
The 40 points were the fewest allowed by the Flames in a single game since Dec. 30, 2014, in a 79-38 win over Judson at Credit Union 1 Arena. It's also the second consecutive 30-point win for UIC, the first time the Flames have done that in back-to-back games since Dec. 1-2, 1960 (pre-dating the program's NCAA Division I era), when they defeated Chicago State (102-66) and George Williams (99-58).
In Friday's win in the Bahamas, sophomore guard
Steven Clay (Milwaukee, Wis./Menomenee Falls) scored a career-high 18 points to lead three UIC players in double figures, as the Flames shot nearly 53 percent from the floor and held the Blue Raiders (3-3) to under 29 percent shooting.
Senior guard
Toby Okani (Orange, N.J./Cushing Academy (Mass.)) added 13 points and a game-high eight rebounds for UIC, while sophomore guard
CJ Jones (East St. Louis, Ill./East St. Louis) contributed 11 points and a game-best five assists.
COACH'S COMMENT
"Just a tremendous effort from our team tonight," said head coach
Luke Yaklich. "I felt from the 14-minute mark (of the first half) on, we had our defensive fingerprints over the game. This was a really good team effort on the defensive end of the floor. There's room for growth, but our guys did an incredible job in their preparation and they went out and competed tonight."
FIRST HALF
- Both teams cranked up the defense to open the game, with Middle Tennessee eventually edging out to a 7-2 lead with 17:41 left in the half.
- UIC answered with five of the next seven points, capped by Clay's transition layup to make it 9-7, MTSU with 12:31 to go.
- The Blue Raiders scored the ensuing basket, but from there, the Flames went on a 7-0 run, taking their first lead at 14-11 on a three-pointer from redshirt sophomore forward Jaden Brownell (Sandy, Utah/Alta) at the 8:46 mark.
- MTSU tied the score with its own trey, but again, UIC responded, this time with a 12-2 run over the next 3:43, grabbing a 26-16 lead on a three-pointer by Clay that forced a Blue Raiders' timeout with 3:55 remaining in the half.
- UIC scored eight of the final 13 points in the period, as a layup by Jones with 48 seconds left gave the Flames their 34-21 halftime lead.
- Clay led all scorers with 10 points in the first half on 4-of-6 shooting, including 2-of-3 from beyond the arc.
SECOND HALF
- Okani opened the second-half scoring with a driving layup before Middle Tennessee got consecutive baskets from Jestin Porter to get within 36-25 with 18:28 remaining.
- That would be as close as the Blue Raiders would get, with the UIC defense turning up the heat and the Flames going on a 21-5 run during the next 12:35.
- Four different UIC players scored during that decisive run, while the Flames held Middle Tennessee to 1-of-11 shooting and forced eight Blue Raiders' turnovers during that stretch.
- UIC opened up a game-high 33-point lead on three occasions down the stretch, including on a thunderous one-handed baseline jam by freshman forward Nathan Ojukwu (Boise, Idaho/DME Academy (Fla.)) with 2:05 left.
- The Flames held MTSU to 1-of-9 from the three-point line in the second half (4-of-20 for the game) and that lone trey came with just 29 seconds to go.
NOTES
- UIC is off to a 4-1 start for the first time since the 2012-13 season, when the Flames opened 9-1.
- The 40 points were the fewest allowed by the Flames in a single game since Dec. 30, 2014, in a 79-38 win over Judson at Credit Union 1 Arena. It's also the fewest points given up by UIC to a Division I opponent (and away from home) since Nov. 17, 2012, when they defeated Mercer, 62-36, at the Paradise Jam in the U.S. Virgin Islands (coincidentally, part of the last time UIC played in a tournament in the Caribbean, prior to this weekend's event in the Bahamas).
- It's the second consecutive 30-point win for UIC, the first time the Flames have done that in back-to-back games since Dec. 1-2, 1960 (pre-dating the program's NCAA Division I era), when they defeated Chicago State (102-66) and George Williams (99-58).
- It's the largest margin of victory for UIC over an NCAA Division I opponent since Feb. 16, 2020, when the Flames earned a 73-43 win at Northern Kentucky.
- UIC came into the game ranked fourth nationally in three-point percentage defense (.212) and seventh in overall field-goal percentage (.348) and worked hard to surpass both figures — the Flames held Middle Tennessee to a .288 field-goal percentage, including .200 from three-point range.
- In its last three games (at Loyola on Nov. 14; vs. Aurora on Sunday and vs. MTSU on Friday), UIC has held its opponents to a combined .287 field-goal percentage (50-of-174) and a .206 three-point percentage (13-of-63).
- Clay's 18 points were a career high, surpassing his 17 points against Evansville on Feb. 4, 2023.
- Brownell tied his career high with three blocks, first set at Belmont on Feb. 11, 2023.
- Okani tied his career best with three steals, matching that mark for the fifth time and the second consecutive game.
- UIC is 2-0 this season against first-time opponents, having also toppled Little Rock in their inaugural meeting, 86-71 on Nov. 10 at Credit Union 1 Arena.
UP NEXT
UIC advances to the semifinals of the Baha Mar Hoops Nassau Championship and will face George Washington at 6 p.m. (CT) Saturday at the Baha Mar Convention Center in Nassau, Bahamas. The game (and all tournament contests) will be streamed live on FloSports with 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).
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