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Men’s Basketball Turns In Gritty Performance In 69-58 Loss at Cincinnati

Flames battle Big 12 foe Bearcats tooth and nail in season-opening matchup.

11/6/2023 9:50:00 PM

Box Score
CINCINNATI (Nov. 6, 2023) – Playing before a hostile crowd against a Power Five opponent in its season opener, the UIC men's basketball team didn't back down for a moment, going toe-to-toe with Cincinnati for a grueling 40 minutes before the host Bearcats pulled away late for a 69-58 victory Monday night at Fifth Third Arena.
 
Senior guard Toby Okani (Orange, N.J./Cushing Academy (Mass.)) posted a double-double with 20 points, 11 rebounds and six blocks to lead three Flames in double figures during Monday's contest. Junior guard Ethan Pickett (Pensacola, Fla./Cherokee/Triton) added 13 points (on 6-of-8 shooting) and five rebounds, while sophomore guard CJ Jones (East St. Louis, Ill./East St. Louis) also scored 13 points.

COACH'S COMMENTS
"I thought we played really hard and competed well," commented head coach Luke Yaklich postgame. "We did a lot of things well defensively that we can build on moving forward, we just need to be sharper with the basketball on offense and hit shots in crucial situations."
 
FIRST HALF
  • UIC looked sharp out of the gate, making four of its first five shots and grabbing an early 9-4 lead at the 16:45 mark on a driving layup by Jones. Okani also had five points in the game-opening surge.
  • Cincinnati answered back with six in a row to grab its first lead of the night (10-9 with 15:16 left) before the teams exchanged the lead three more times in the next four-plus minutes. The Bearcats went into the second media timeout of the first half with a 15-13 lead and 10:56 to play in the period.
  • The Flames regained an 18-17 lead on an old-fashioned three-point play from Pickett at the 9:07 mark.
  • Cincinnati responded with a 9-0 run to grab a 26-18 lead and force a UIC timeout with 7:03 to go.
  • After trading baskets for the next two-plus minutes, the Flames got baskets from Pickett and Okani and closed to within 30-26 at the final media timeout of the first half (3:45).
  • UIC was within 35-30 after a Jones layup with 0:58 left in the half before Cincinnati closed on a 5-0 run to take a 40-30 lead into halftime.
  • Okani was a dominant force in the first half, leading all players with 13 points (6-10 FG), seven rebounds, three assists and three blocks.
 
SECOND HALF
  • Just like the first half, UIC came out strong in the second half, opening on an 8-3 run to claw within 43-38 on Okani's putback with 15:41 remaining — it also gave Okani his fifth career double-double.
  • Cincinnati again answered after the media timeout with a 9-0 run, leading to a UIC timeout at the 11:36 mark (52-38).
  • Again, the Flames counterpunched, this time with six consecutive points, the last from Jones to get within 52-44 with 9:49 left.
  • UIC was within 55-46 after Pickett's swooping layup on the left side at the 8:30 mark.
  • Cincinnati then put together a 10-3 run to bump its lead to a game-high 16 points (65-49) with 4:48 to play.
  • The Flames wouldn't quit and fought back within 11 points three times in the final four minutes, closing to the final margin on a jumper in the lane by senior guard Isaiah Rivera (Geneseo, Ill./Geneseo/Colorado State) with 1:30 remaining.
 
NOTES
  • UIC wound up holding Cincinnati well below many of its seasonal averages from a year ago. The Flames held the Bearcats more than eight points below their scoring average (77.1 ppg.) from last season, along with a .418 field-goal percentage (.448 last year) and a .200 three-point percentage (.351 last year). For the game, UIC outshot Cincinnati from the floor, .433 to .418.
  • Okani not only posted his fifth career double-double (20 points/11 rebounds), but also registered his fourth career 20-point game.
  • Okani's six blocks were one off his career high set against Illinois State on Dec. 28, 2022, at Credit Union 1 Arena in the program's inaugural Missouri Valley Conference win.
  • Okani is the first opposing player to block at least five shots against Cincinnati since Feb. 21, 2019, when UCF's Tacko Fall had five blocks against the Bearcats.
  • Jones scored in double figures for the fifth consecutive game he appeared in, dating back to the end of last season. His 13 points on Monday were just two shy of his career set twice last year against Northeastern (Dec. 18, 2022) and Indiana State (Feb. 15, 2023).
  • Sophomore guard Steven Clay (Milwaukee, Wis./Menomenee Falls) came off the bench to grab a career-high seven rebounds, eclipsing his previous best of five rebounds against Evansville on Feb. 4, 2023.
  • Monday's game was the first between UIC and Cincinnati in nearly 40 years (Dec. 12, 1983 – a 72-64 UIC win in the Queen City). The Bearcats now lead the all-time series with the Flames, 3-1 (2-1 in Cincinnati), with the last three games between the schools all decided by 11 points or fewer.
UP NEXT
UIC returns to Credit Union 1 Arena for its 2023-24 home opener at 7:30 p.m. (CT) Friday when the Flames play host to Little Rock. The matchup, which will be broadcast live on ESPN+ and the Flames Network, is the nightcap of a Homecoming doubleheader at the arena, with the UIC volleyball team taking on Northern Iowa in the opener at 4 p.m. (CT).
 
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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