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UIC Men’s Basketball vs. Murray State
Steve Woltmann
73
Winner Murray St. MUR 8-10,5-2 MVC
58
UIC UIC 8-10,1-6 MVC
Winner
Murray St. MUR
8-10,5-2 MVC
73
Final
58
UIC UIC
8-10,1-6 MVC
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Murray St. MUR 33 40 73
UIC UIC 31 27 58

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

Men’s Basketball Falls Short Against Murray State, 73-58

Flames head to Valparaiso for Saturday matinee

CHICAGO (Jan. 17, 2024) – Senior guard Isaiah Rivera (Geneseo, Ill./Geneseo/Colorado State) scored a team-high 16 points to lead three UIC players in double figures, but Murray State used an early second-half run to pull away for a 73-58 victory in Missouri Valley Conference action Wednesday night at Credit Union 1 Arena.
 
Sophomore guard CJ Jones (East St. Louis, Ill./East St. Louis) and junior forward Ethan Pickett (Pensacola, Fla./Cherokee/Triton) each scored 12 points for UIC (8-10, 1-6 MVC), with Jones also dishing out four assists. Senior guard Toby Okani (Orange, N.J./Cushing Academy (Mass.)) chipped in with eight points and game highs of eight rebounds and five assists.
 
COACH'S COMMENTS
"I really thought we finished the first half with toughness," said head coach Luke Yaklich. "CJ made the shot at the end (of the half), we had some momentum and a good vibe at halftime. We come out and Isaiah makes the three to start the half and then we went 0-for-7. The most disappointing thing is you've got to have some resiliency and toughness there. When we missed our seven shots, we didn't hang in there and dig our heels in defensively enough to withstand the poor shooting. That run ultimately provided the separation and then you're just fighting that deficit the entire second half. I did feel, though, like we did a really good job (defending) their guards tonight."
 
FIRST HALF
  • The two sides traded baskets for nearly the first four minutes with UIC grabbing its first lead at 6-4 on a turnaround jumper by Rivera with 16:21 left in the half.
  • The lead continued to pinball back and forth, tipping in the Flames' favor at 11-10 on a three-pointer from the right corner by Pickett at the 12:49 mark.
  • Murray State answered with seven consecutive points before Rivera stopped the run by converting a pair of foul shots with 10:22 remaining.
  • The Racers stretched their lead to 23-15 before UIC responded with a 9-2 run over the next 3:09, capped by a dunk from sophomore center Cameron Fens (Dubuque, Iowa/Hempstead) that made it 25-24 and forced a Murray State timeout (3:58).
  • After once again trading baskets, MSU briefly got its lead to five points before UIC closed the half by scoring five of the final seven points, the last on a jumper by Jones with less than two seconds to go in the period.
  • Jones led the Flames with nine points and Rivera added seven points in the first half, with UIC shooting an even 50 percent from the field in the opening 20 minutes. Okani chipped in with six points despite missing the final five minutes of the half with two fouls.
 
SECOND HALF
  • Rivera opened the second half with a three-pointer from the left side, pushing UIC in front, 34-33 just 28 seconds in.
  • The Flames' offense then hit a rough patch, as the hosts missed seven consecutive shots while Murray State went on a 21-4 run and took a 56-38 lead midway through the second half.
  • UIC kept battling and got the margin down to 63-50 when Rivera connected on back-to-back three-pointers, the second with 5:05 remaining.
  • The Flames would get back within 13 points twice more, the second on a layup by Pickett at the 3:15 mark.
  • Freshman guard Grant Welch (Moline, Ill./Moline) closed out the night's scoring on a three-pointer from the left corner with 37 seconds to go.
 
NOTES
  • Rivera led the Flames in scoring for the eighth time and scored in double figures for a team-high 13th time this season.
  • Jones posted back-to-back double-digit scoring games for the second time this season, having also done so on Nov. 24-25 in wins over Middle Tennessee (11) and George Washington (22) in the Bahamas. Jones has six double-figure scoring games this season.
  • Okani led UIC in assists for the fifth time this year and second consecutive game. He also led the Flames in rebounding for the 14th time in 18 games.
  • UIC committed just nine turnovers on Wednesday, the sixth time in the past eight games the Flames have recorded 10 or fewer giveaways.
  • UIC connected on 8-of-19 three-pointers (.421), the seventh time the Flames have shot better than 40 percent from beyond the arc and first time since Dec. 16 against Western Michigan (.500).
  • The Flames made at least eight three-pointers in a game for the 13th time this season. UIC came into the contest ranked third in the MVC averaging 8.71 three-pointers per game.
 
UP NEXT
UIC makes the short trip east down Interstate 90 on Saturday for a 3 p.m. (CT) MVC matchup at Valparaiso. The game will be televised live from the Athletics-Recreation Center on ESPN+, 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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