NASSAU, Bahamas (Nov. 26, 2023) – The UIC men's basketball team (5-2) turned in another gritty defensive performance in the championship game of Sunday's Baha Mar Hoops Nassau Championship, but UNCG, which was ranked No. 7 in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 poll, hit two foul shots with 3.5 seconds left to escape with a 58-57 victory at the Baha Mar Convention Center in Nassau, Bahamas.
Redshirt sophomore forward
Jaden Brownell (Sandy, Utah/Alta) hit a fadeaway jumper as the shot clock expired to give the Flames a 57-56 lead with 7.8 seconds to play. After a lengthy review confirmed Brownell's shot was good (and a subsequent timeout), UNCG drove down the court, but appeared to lose control of the ball, only to see it deflect to Jalen Breath, who was fouled and made two free throws. UIC had a final possession to win the game, but was not able to convert.
Senior guard
Isaiah Rivera (Geneseo, Ill./Geneseo/Colorado State) scored a team-high 14 points for the Flames and earned a spot on the All-Tournament Team. UIC wound up outshooting UNCG in all three categories — field goal percentage (.392 to .375), three-point percentage (.267 to .158) and free throw percentage (.692 to .619) — and also held a 40-30 rebounding advantage over the Spartans.
COACH'S COMMENTS
"There's a lot of plays you're going to look back on and try to find a way to change the outcome," said head coach
Luke Yaklich. "What hasn't changed is we have incredible talent and we play really hard and well together. Defensively, we played outstanding tonight. When we got a (35-28) lead, we had a chance to build on it and put some game pressure on (them). To their credit, they picked up the pressure, our offense got a little stagnant and that seven-point lead turned into a 44-40 hole. That was the difference in the game. We were in an uphill battle the rest of the way, but we battled. Jaden hit an amazing, big-time shot that should have won the game for us. We're (7.8) seconds away from winning, we needed to get a stop and we did not. Give UNCG credit – they deserved it, they earned it, but we're one play away from earning it and deserving it as well. I'll go to battle with these guys every single day. Down the line, this experience is going to help us win a game."
FIRST HALF
- For the first time in several games, UIC struggled to find its shooting form in the opening minutes, as UNCG took an early 9-3 lead with 17:10 left in the half.
- Rivera scored the first seven points for the Flames, the last on a driving layup to make it 9-7 at the 14:29 mark.
- The Spartans took back a 15-7 lead (12:39) but UIC quickly countered with a 10-0 run across a 4:02 span, taking its first lead at 17-15 on a layup by Brownell with 8:14 to go.
- UNCG briefly regained a 19-17 lead at the 6:48 mark, but sophomore guard CJ Jones (East St. Louis, Ill./East St. Louis) knocked down a three-pointer 46 seconds later as the Flames closed the first half on a 12-5 run to take a 29-24 lead to the locker room.
- Rivera led all scorers with 10 points despite sitting out much of the final 7:47 of the half after collecting his second foul.
- The UIC defense also locked in after UNCG's early flurry, holding the Spartans to 4-of-21 (.190) shooting in the final 16:25 of the first half.
SECOND HALF
- Junior forward Filip Skobalj (Belgrade, Serbia/Don Bosco-Schule Rostock) connected on a three-pointer 14 seconds into the second half to give UIC its largest lead at 32-24.
- A second triple from Skobalj made it 35-28 with 18:02 remaining.
- UNCG then went on a 16-5 run to turn the margin in its favor, leading 44-40 with 12:12 to play.
- UIC replied with two foul shots from sophomore guard Steven Clay (Milwaukee, Wis./Menomenee Falls) and a Rivera layup to draw even at 44-44 with 10:07 left.
- A 7-2 run gave the Spartans a 51-46 lead at the 6:39 mark.
- Trailing 55-51 with 3:05 remaining, UIC made another charge with a 6-1 run down the stretch, capped by Brownell's jumper with 7.8 seconds remaining.
- UNCG then drew (and made) two foul shots off a scramble on the ensuing possession with 3.5 seconds to go and UIC was not able to convert on a game-winning shot attempt as the buzzer sounded.
NOTES
- UIC's defense was rock solid nearly all night, holding UNCG more than 23 points under its season average. In fact, the Spartans had not scored fewer than 70 points in any game this season prior to the Flames shutting them down in Sunday's title game.
- In addition, UIC held UNCG to a .375 field goal percentage and a .158 three-point efficiency (3-of-19) after the Spartans came in shooting .467 from the field this season and .397 from beyond the arc.
- Rivera averaged 14.7 points and 3.0 rebounds per game during the three-game Baha Mar Hoops Nassau Championship while shooting .586 from the field (17-of 29) and .467 from the three-point line (7-of-15).
- Brownell scored eight points and grabbed five rebounds off the bench, the latter total one off his career high (six vs. Trinity Christian on Nov. 7, 2022).
- Jones had a game-high five assists — nearly matching UNCG's team total of seven assists — and has now recorded 5+ assists in his last five games (6.0 apg. in that span).
UP NEXT
UIC returns home to tip off Missouri Valley Conference play at 7 p.m. (CT) Thursday, welcoming Illinois State to Credit Union 1 Arena. The game will be streamed live on ESPN+ 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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