CHICAGO (Jan. 13, 2024) – Sophomore guard
CJ Jones (East St. Louis, Ill./East St. Louis) scored a career-high 25 points, but UIC wasn't quite able to dig out of an early hole as the Flames fell to defending Missouri Valley Conference champion Bradley, 77-59 on Saturday afternoon at Credit Union 1 Arena.
UIC (8-9, 1-5 MVC) played the Braves virtually even for the final 32-plus minutes, getting as close as seven points late in the first half, but Bradley (12-5, 4-2) did enough to hold the Flames at bay for the win.
Jones connected on 10-of-16 shots, including 8-of-9 inside the arc to lead the UIC offense. Graduate student guard
Marquise Kennedy (Chicago, Ill./Brother Rice/Loyola) and sophomore guard
Steven Clay (Milwaukee, Wis./Menomenee Falls) each chipped in seven points, with Kennedy adding seven rebounds. Senior guard
Toby Okani (Orange, N.J./Cushing Academy (Mass.)) contributed a team-high eight rebounds along with a career high-tying six assists.
COACH'S COMMENTS
"The first six minutes dictated the entire game," said head coach
Luke Yaklich. "You get down that early against anybody, let alone a league opponent, (and) you're asking for trouble. You're going to have to play almost perfect basketball and then you're going to have to expend so much energy just to get it to where it's a two- or three-possession game in the second half. CJ (Jones) played with flow and pace, finished inside and did a really great job of taking the right shots. Outside of that, we struggled to get anyone else going offensively and give all the credit to Bradley. There were plays for us to make and we didn't make them, but it was the start of the game that determined the outcome."
FIRST HALF
- UIC struggled to find its shooting touch in the opening eight minutes, getting several good scoring opportunities that would not fall. Meanwhile, Bradley jumped out to a 14-1 lead before Jones made the Flames' first basket on a floater in the lane at the 13:35 mark.
- The Braves opened up a 16-point lead on a handful of occasions, the last with 8:20 left in the half, before UIC began its comeback.
- A three-pointer by junior forward Filip Skobalj (Belgrade, Serbia/Don Bosco-Schule Rostock) with 6:38 to go sparked an 11-2 run by the Flames over the next three minutes.
- Clay capped the spree with a rare four-point play, canning a triple in the left corner while being fouled. He converted the free throw to bring UIC within 28-21 at the 3:37 juncture.
- Bradley stretched its lead back to double figures before Kennedy made two late foul shots to trim the Braves' edge to 39-26 at the half.
SECOND HALF
- The teams traded scores on their opening possessions of the second half, with a driving layup from Skobalj making it 41-28 just 44 seconds into the period.
- Bradley then put together a 14-5 run over the next five minutes to take its largest lead of the day at 55-33 with 14:25 remaining.
- UIC made another run at the Braves, outscoring the visitors, 12-5 and closing within 60-45 on a three-pointer by junior guard Yusef Salih (Gainesville, Va./Highland School/Idaho) with 11:59 to play.
- The Flames got the margin to 62-50 when Kennedy split a pair of free throws at the 8:09 mark.
- Jones' layup with 6:04 left put the Flames within 66-53, but that would be as close as UIC would get down the stretch.
NOTES
- Jones' 25 points topped his previous career high of 22 points against George Washington on Nov. 25 in a semifinal victory at the Baha Mar Hoops Nassau Championship in the Bahamas.
- Jones also tied for the most points by a UIC player this season, matching the total by senior guard Isaiah Rivera (Geneseo, Ill./Geneseo/Colorado State) against Little Rock in the Flames' home-opening win on Nov. 10.
- Kennedy's seven rebounds were one off his season high of eight boards on Jan. 6 against Valparaiso.
- Okani's six assists were a season high and tied his career best that he set twice last year against Prairie View A&M (Dec. 13, 2022) and equaled against Indiana State (Feb. 15, 2023).
UP NEXT
UIC remains at home for its next Missouri Valley Conference contest on Wednesday, as the Flames welcome Murray State to Credit Union 1 Arena for a 7 p.m. (CT) tipoff. It will be UIC's Academic Achievement Night, celebrating the classroom accomplishments of all Flames' student-athletes. ESPN+ will televise Wednesday night's game live, while the free live Flames Network radio broadcast and live stats will both be available at
UICFlames.com.
Tickets for all UIC basketball home 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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