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UIC Athletics

thevalley
UIC_Marquise_Kennedy
Ben Denton
65
UIC UIC 8-13,1-9 MVC
74
Winner Belmont BEL 12-9,5-5 MVC
UIC UIC
8-13,1-9 MVC
65
Final
74
Belmont BEL
12-9,5-5 MVC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
UIC UIC 25 40 65
Belmont BEL 22 52 74

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

Men’s Basketball Comes Up Short at Belmont, 74-65

Flames return to the hardwood Wednesday night at Evansville.

NASHVILLE (Jan. 27, 2024) – Sophomore guard CJ Jones (East St. Louis, Ill./East St. Louis) collected a team-high 16 points, including a career-best 3-of-5 three-pointers, and handed out a game-high eight assists, but Belmont used a 13-2 run late in the second half to finally pull clear of UIC and post a 74-65 Missouri Valley Conference win over the Flames on Saturday afternoon at the Curb Event Center in Nashville.
 
Redshirt sophomore forward Jaden Brownell (Sandy, Utah/Alta) came off the bench to score 12 points, grab a career high-tying six rebounds and block a game-high three shots, while junior guard Ethan Pickett (Pensacola, Fla./Cherokee/Triton) contributed 11 points, highlighted by a career-high 3-of-4 three-pointers.
 
UIC (8-13, 1-9 MVC) led by as many as eight points in the first half and took a 25-22 lead at halftime. The Flames outshot the host Bruins both overall (.429 to .390) and from the three-point line (.370 to .346), while also owning a 40-37 rebounding edge.
 
COACH'S COMMENTS
"I thought we had great energy and spirit in the first half," said head coach Luke Yaklich. "We had great defensive intensity, focus and attention to the scouting report. I felt we probably should have had a nine- to 12-point lead there at halftime if we had converted offensively. In the second half, we played well enough for the first 10 to 12 minutes – could have built a lead and we didn't and then we lost our way there from the eight-minute mark to the five-minute mark and Belmont got some separation. We fought to the end and played hard, but we got frustrated on the offensive side at times and that carried over to our defense in the second half."
 
FIRST HALF
  • Defense was the story in the first half, a trend that was clearly evident with a scoreless opening 2:31 before senior guard Toby Okani (Orange, N.J./Cushing Academy (Mass.)) broke the deadlock with the first points of the day on a driving layup.
  • Pickett followed with a pair of three-pointers to help UIC take an 8-0 lead into the first media timeout (15:15).
  • Senior guard Isaiah Rivera (Geneseo, Ill./Geneseo/Colorado State) hit a pullup jumper in the lane to make it 13-5 UIC just past the midpoint of the first half (9:39).
  • Belmont briefly got within three points, but the Flames answered by scoring six of the next eight points, taking a 19-12 lead on Rivera's layup with 5:05 remaining in the half.
  • The Flames held Belmont to 4-of-23 shooting during the first 14 minutes of the game.
  • The Bruins put together a 10-2 run to take a brief 22-21 lead with 2:40 to play.
  • UIC then scored the final four points of the half to grab a three-point lead at halftime.
 
SECOND HALF
  • The teams traded scores for the opening three minutes of the second half before Belmont used an 8-0 run to go ahead 35-30 with 15:04 left.
  • UIC battled back to within two points on four occasions during the next seven minutes, the last when Brownell hit a tough hook shot in the lane while being fouled (46-44 at the 8:12 mark).
  • Belmont then made its game-turning 13-2 run during the ensuing three minutes to finally separate in a game that had been a one- to two-possession contest for the first 32-plus minutes.
  • The Flames kept fighting down the stretch, making six consecutive shots and holding the Bruins without a basket for the final 5:19.
  • UIC got as close as 66-59 when sophomore guard Steven Clay (Milwaukee, Wis./Menomenee Falls) was fouled on a three-point attempt and made all three free throws with 45 seconds remaining.
  • Clay and Pickett nailed three-pointers in the final minute, but Belmont made 8-of-8 free throws to thwart the UIC comeback.
 
NOTES
  • UIC allowed just 22 first-half points, its best defensive showing in the opening 20 minutes since Dec. 8 at Jacksonville State, when the Flames yielded a season-low 19 first-half points.
  • Saturday marked the 10th time in 21 games this season UIC has made 10 or more three-pointers in a game, and the 12th time the Flames have shot better than 35 percent from beyond the arc.
  • Jones scored in double figures for the fifth consecutive game (ninth time this season) and dished out at least seven assists for the third game in a row (eighth time this year).
  • Jones had previously made two three-pointers in a game on 14 occasions before Saturday's career-high trio of triples.
  • Brownell posted his fifth double-digit scoring game of the year and first since Dec. 21, when he had 16 points against Incarnate Word.
  • Brownell's six rebounds tied his career high set on two prior occasions, most recently on Dec. 16 against Western Michigan.
  • Pickett scored in double figures for the sixth time this season and second in the past four outings (12 vs. Murray State on Jan. 17).
  • More than half (12) of UIC's 21 games this year have been decided by 10 points or fewer, including six of 10 MVC contests.
 
UP NEXT
UIC starts the second half of its MVC schedule Wednesday night with a 7 p.m. (CT) matchup at Evansville. The game will be televised live from the Ford 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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