CHICAGO (Dec. 16, 2023) – Redshirt sophomore forward
Jaden Brownell (Sandy, Utah/Alta) set or tied career highs in five categories, including a personal-best 22 points, as the UIC men's basketball team (7-4) returned to its winning ways Saturday with an 89-68 victory over Western Michigan at Credit Union 1 Arena.
Brownell also set career highs with six rebounds, five blocked shots, four assists and 4-of-6 three-pointers in 28 minutes of action off the bench. Senior guard
Toby Okani (Orange, N.J./Cushing Academy (Mass.)) chipped in 19 points, sophomore guard
Steven Clay (Milwaukee, Wis./Menomenee Falls) scored 10 points and sophomore guard
CJ Jones (East St. Louis, Ill./East St. Louis) handed out a career-high 11 assists along with eight points.
As a team, UIC shot 56.5 percent from the floor, including a season high-tying 14-of-28 from three-point range. The Flames also registered a season-best 30 assists on 35 baskets, the most assists by any Missouri Valley Conference team this year and just one assist shy of the program record.
COMMENT FROM HEAD COACH LUKE YAKLICH
"I thought our preparation was really good the last two days heading in to this afternoon's game. There was a sense of urgency with our team. The guys understood the mistakes they made last game and corrected them today. We took great shots today and today's victory is a great testament that when you take good shots you get good results.
CJ Jones had 11 assists today which is incredible on his part while
Jaden Brownell led us in scoring and blocked shots and did a good job on the back boards. This was a good team win and a great effort throughout the course of the game."
FIRST HALF
- UIC came out flying with a pair of early dunks from sophomore center Cameron Fens (Dubuque, Iowa/Hempstead) and Okani for a 4-3 lead with 18:16 left in the half.
- The Flames put together a 10-4 run and stretched their lead to 14-7 on a transition three-pointer by senior guard Isaiah Rivera (Geneseo, Ill./Geneseo/Colorado State) at the 15:20 mark.
- After UIC opened up a trio of seven-point leads, Western Michigan pulled within 19-16 on layup by Javonte Brown with 12:32 remaining.
- The Flames countered with a 13-3 run to boost their lead into double figures, moving in front 32-19 on a three-pointer and a layup from Brownell, the latter at the 7:35 juncture.
- The Broncos got as close as eight points (34-26) with 5:59 to go on a three-point play by Seth Hubbard.
- UIC scored 13 of the next 18 points to take its largest lead of the first half at 47-31 on a putback by Okani in the final minute of the period before WMU sank two late foul shots to close the scoring.
- Okani led all scorers with 13 points, while Fens added eight in the opening 20 minutes for the Flames. As a team, UIC shot 55.9 percent from the floor in the first half and registered 16 assists on 19 baskets, including seven from Jones.
SECOND HALF
- Western Michigan scored the first seven points of the second half to close the UIC lead to 47-40 with 16:10 remaining.
- Jones promptly came down and drilled a three-pointer from the left wing on the next Flames possession, and Brownell followed with his own triple the next time down the floor, putting UIC back in front by double digits and WMU never got any closer the rest of the way (53-42 at the 15:34 mark).
- The Brownell three-pointer ignited a 27-7 UIC run during the nine minutes that emphatically put the game on ice.
- Brownell scored 15 points in that run, while Clay scored eight of his 10 points in that span.
- Clay capped the surge with back-to-back three-pointers, the first of which came with 7:00 left and gave the Flames a 77-47 lead. It also triggered a promotion with all fans receiving a free piece of chocolate cake from Portillo's when UIC scores 75 points in a home game.
- Clay's second triple at the 6:05 mark gave the Flames their largest lead of the day (80-49) and the hosts cruised home from there.
NOTES
- UIC's season-high 30 assists just missed the program record of 31 assists that has been set twice before — Dec. 2, 1985, against North Park, and Dec. 9, 1987, against Northeastern Illinois. The Flames' previous season best for assists was 28 against Aurora on Nov. 19, which had been tied for the most by an MVC team this year before Saturday's performance.
- UIC tied its season best (and matched the most in the Yaklich era) with 14 three-pointers, mirroring its total in the Nov. 19 win over Aurora.
- Seven different UIC players made a three-pointer on Saturday, including five that had at least two triples.
- Jones' 11 assists easily outpaced his previous high of eight that he set twice this season (Nov. 19 against Aurora and Nov. 30 against Illinois State). It's the most assists by a UIC player in a single game since Dec. 20, 2020, when Teyvion Kirk had 11 assists in a home victory over Oakland, and it ties for the most by an MVC player this year.
- Brownell's previous highs had been 14 points (Nov. 19 vs. Aurora), six rebounds (Nov. 7, 2022, vs. Trinity Christian), three blocks (twice, most recently on Nov. 24 vs. Middle Tennessee), three assists (three times, most recently on Tuesday vs. Green Bay) and four three-pointers (Tuesday vs. Green Bay).
- Brownell is the fourth different UIC player to score 20 points in a game this season, along with Rivera (three times), Okani (twice) and Jones (once).
- Brownell's five blocks are the second-most by a Flames' player this year, trailing only Okani's six blocks in the Nov. 6 season opener at Cincinnati.
- Clay scored in double figures for the fourth time this season and the fifth time in his career.
- UIC came into the game leading the nation in three-point percentage defense (.230) and held Western Michigan below that total, as the Broncos went 3-of-21 (.143) from beyond the arc.
- Saturday's win evened the all-time series between UIC and Western Michigan at 5-5, with the Flames now 3-1 all-time against the Broncos at Credit Union 1 Arena. It was also UIC's largest margin of victory in the series with WMU, with the Flames' previous four wins in the series all coming by single digits.
UP NEXT
UIC will cap off its three-game homestand and play its final game before the holiday break next Thursday, Dec. 21, when it plays host to Incarnate Word in a midweek matinee at 1 p.m. (CT) inside Credit Union 1 Arena. The game will be streamed live on ESPN+, with the free live Flames Network radio broadcast and live stats both 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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