CHICAGO (Nov. 8, 2024) — Graduate student guard
Tyem Freeman (Springfield, Mo./Hillcrest/Kent State) came off the bench to score a team-high 19 points, pacing five UIC players in double figures as the Flames outscored Yale, 22-5 to start the second half and never looked back en route to a 91-79 victory over the Bulldogs before a raucous Homecoming crowd of 3,102 fans on Friday night at Credit Union 1 Arena. UIC (2-0) scored 57 second-half points to defeat a Yale squad that came into the contest ranked No. 13 in the CollegeInsider Mid-Major Poll and was the reigning Ivy League Tournament champion, as well as a participant in the second round of the 2024 NCAA Tournament.
Freeman and junior guard
Jordan Mason (San Antonio, Texas/Clark/Texas State) proved a strong 1-2 punch off the bench, with Mason adding 16 points (12 in the second half). Sophomore forward
Sasa Ciani (Nova Gorica, Slovenia/Koder School/Xavier) posted his first career double-double with 13 points and a game-high 11 rebounds, while junior guard
Javon Jackson (Houston, Texas/C.E. King/Utah State) dodged foul trouble all night long to score 13 points in 12 minutes, with 10 of those coming in a white-hot opening five minutes of the second half. Sophomore guard
Ahmad Henderson II (Chicago, Ill./Brother Rice/Niagara) capped the double-digit group with 11 points and a career-high seven assists.
The full box score and play-by-play recap from Friday's win over Yale can be found
here.
COACH'S COMMENTS
SOCIAL MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS
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BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- UIC is 2-0 to start a non-COVID season for the first time since 2007-08 (the Flames won three in a row to start the truncated 2020-21 season).
- UIC scored 90+ points for the second consecutive game, the first time in more than quarter century that the Flames have turned in back-to-back 90-point games — dating back to Feb. 14-19, 1998 (head coach Jimmy Collins' second season at UIC), when the Flames defeated Milwaukee at home (92-68) and won at Cleveland State (96-72).
- UIC's 57 points in the second half were the most it has scored in a single half since Dec. 22, 2007, when the Flames scored 57 points in the first half of a 97-58 win over Howard at Credit Union 1 Arena. Â
- Days after posting career highs in scoring and rebounding, Ciani re-established those marks on Friday with his first career double-double, winding up with 13 points and a game-high 11 rebounds.
- With Freeman and Mason scoring in double figures on Friday, six different UIC players have reached double digits in one or both games this season.
- Through their first two games, the Flames' reserves have outscored their opponent's bench, 79-43.
- UIC evens the all-time series with Yale at 1-1, with each team having defeated the other by a 12-point margin (the Bulldogs defeated the Flames, 70-58 on Nov. 21, 2014, at the Men Against Breast Cancer Classic in Kent, Ohio.
- Friday's crowd of 3,102 was the Flames' largest home attendance since Feb. 3, 2024, when 4,056 fans watched UIC take on Southern Illinois at Credit Union 1 Arena.
UP NEXT
UIC hits the road for the first time this season on Tuesday, making the short crosstown trek to Evanston for a matchup with Big Ten Conference foe Northwestern. Tipoff time from Welsh-Ryan Arena is set for 6 p.m. (CT) and the game will be broadcast live on both the Big Ten Network and the Flames Radio Network (at
UICFlames.com).
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SUPPORT YOUR FLAMES
Fans are strongly encouraged to support NIL opportunities for UIC student-athletes through contributions toÂ
The Chicago Collective.
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FOLLOW THE FLAMES
For more information on UIC men's basketball, 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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