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UIC Athletics

thevalley
Evette Tamayo
73
UIC UIC 10-16,3-12 MVC
85
Winner Bradley BRAD 18-8,10-5 MVC
UIC UIC
10-16,3-12 MVC
73
Final
85
Bradley BRAD
18-8,10-5 MVC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
UIC UIC 28 45 73
Bradley BRAD 40 45 85

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

Men’s Basketball Falls at Bradley, 85-73

Flames return home to Credit Union 1 Arena Sunday for 1 p.m. (CT) matchup with Belmont

PEORIA, Ill. (Feb. 14, 2024) – Senior guard Isaiah Rivera (Geneseo, Ill./Geneseo/Colorado State) scored a game-high 27 points, but the UIC men's basketball team wasn't quite able to climb back from an early second-half deficit, dropping an 85-73 decision at Bradley in Missouri Valley Conference action Wednesday night at Carver Arena in Peoria, Ill.
 
The Flames (10-16, 3-12 MVC) didn't back down in the second half and got within 10 points down the stretch before running out of time. UIC made 10-of-19 three-pointers (.526) for the game, the Flames' second-best three-point percentage in a game this season and best in MVC play, and knocked down 6-of-9 triples in the second half alone.
 
Sophomore guard CJ Jones (East St. Louis, Ill./East St. Louis) scored 11 of his 14 points in the first half, while graduate student guard Marquise Kennedy (Chicago, Ill./Brother Rice/Loyola) reached a personal milestone with his 1,000th career point during the second half. Kennedy finished with eight points, as did freshman forward Nathan Ojukwu (Boise, Idaho/DME Academy (Fla.)), who set season highs for scoring and steals (3) while adding four rebounds in 17 minutes off the bench.
 
COACH'S COMMENTS
"I thought we had the right mindset coming into the game," said head coach Luke Yaklich. "We knew what to expect and we wanted to play better (than the first meeting). We were prepared and had good energy and got off to a really solid start. Midway through the first half, we lost our way a little bit and they punched, similar to what they did at our place, and then you're fighting to get back into it. We played about 8-10 really good minutes in the first half and about 13 really good minutes in the second half, but unfortunately, 23 really good minutes out of 40 is not enough to beat a really good team on the road. I give props to our guys — the last 13 minutes, we competed really, really hard, and played with great spirit and energy. All in all, it's not where we want to be. This is a step and we've got to learn how to take bigger steps in these games, withstand opponent's punches and punch back a little harder."
 
FIRST HALF
  • UIC scored the first two baskets of the night, with Jones finding senior guard Toby Okani (Orange, N.J./Cushing Academy (Mass.)) on a backdoor cut for a dunk, followed by a jumper in the lane from Rivera that just beat the shot block buzzer (4-0, 18:42).
  • The teams then traded three-pointers, with Rivera connecting from beyond the arc to make it 7-3 Flames at the 16:32 mark.
  • Bradley went on a 16-0 run over the next six minutes to move in front, 19-7.
  • Jones responded with UIC's next two baskets, the second drawing the Flames to 19-11 with 8:42 to go in the half.
  • Junior forward Filip Skobalj (Belgrade, Serbia/Don Bosco-Schule Rostock) drained a left-wing three-pointer and Kennedy followed with a driving layup in traffic to pull UIC even closer at 22-19 with 5:13 remaining.
  • The teams then exchanged five-point runs, with Jones' layup off a pretty backdoor cut at the 2:57 mark bringing the Flames within 27-24.
  • A three-for-two trade that featured another bucket by Jones left UIC trailing just 30-26 with 2:20 to play.
  • Okani banked in a fadeaway jumper from the right block at the 1:15 mark to bring the Flames within 34-28 before the Braves scored the last six points of the period.
  • Jones led all players with 11 points and three assists in the first half.
 
SECOND HALF
  • Bradley continued its hot shooting to open the second half, making its first eight shots in the opening seven minutes while taking a 64-40 lead.
  • From there, UIC consistently chipped away at the Braves' advantage, starting with Rivera making shots on three consecutive possessions, the last to make it 66-47 at the 11:31 mark.
  • After a media timeout and two Bradley free throws, Kennedy scored his landmark 1,000th career point, posting up in the lane and muscling in a short turnaround jumper with 11:01 to play.


  • Ojukwu and Rivera ignited a 10-1 run for UIC by connecting on back-to-back three-pointers, the second leading to a Bradley timeout after the Flames closed within 72-57 with 8:25 to go.
  • Following a defensive stop, Rivera drew a foul and made the first of his two free throws. He missed the second, but sophomore center Cameron Fens (Dubuque, Iowa/Hempstead) alertly grabbed the offensive rebound and dropped in a hook shot for the unconventional three-point swing that made it 72-60 at the 7:39 mark.
  • Kennedy capped the run by splitting two free throws with 6:54 left (72-61).
  • Bradley managed to keep UIC at arm's length down the stretch by manufacturing offense at the free throw line for the final 9:30 of the game, scoring 11 of its final 13 points from the stripe.
  • Rivera's final bucket on a long jumper with 28 seconds left capped a 10-3 run that got UIC within 83-73 before two more Bradley foul shots closed out the scoring.
 
NOTES
  • Rivera just missed his career scoring high of 28 points that he set on Feb. 3 against Southern Illinois at Credit Union 1 Arena. Wednesday marked the seventh 20-point game of Rivera's career, with all seven coming this season.
  • Jones scored in double figures for the ninth time in the past 10 games, a stretch that started with UIC's first meeting against Bradley on Jan. 13 when he scored a career-high 25 points.
  • UIC connected on 10 three-pointers in a game for the 11th time this season and shot better than 35 percent from beyond the arc for the 16th time this year.
  • The Flames' .526 three-point percentage is their second-best mark from distance this season, topped only by a .632 efficiency (12-of-19) on Dec. 12 against Green Bay.
  • Ojukwu surpassed his previous season scoring high of six points on Nov. 19 against Aurora, while his three steals doubled his season total in that category (he had three in his first 19 games). In addition, Ojukwu was a career-best 2-of-2 from three-point range and has made three of his last four from distance.
  • Fens grabbed five rebounds in his six minutes of work, his second-highest rebounding total of the season behind a seven-rebound afternoon against Aurora on Nov. 19.
  • Wednesday marked the third time in the past five games the Flames' opponent has made 25 or more free throws in a game. Bradley's 25-of-27 (.926) percentage from the line was the highest by a UIC opponent this year.
 
UP NEXT
UIC returns home to Credit Union 1 Arena on Sunday for a 1 p.m. (CT) Missouri Valley Conference matchup with Belmont. ESPN+ will carry the game live, while the free live Flames Network radio broadcast can be heard at UICFlames.com.
 
Tickets for Sunday's game, and all remaining 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 day.
 
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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