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thevalley
Evette Tamayo
75
Winner Belmont BEL 16-11,9-7 MVC
60
UIC UIC 10-17,3-13 MVC
Winner
Belmont BEL
16-11,9-7 MVC
75
Final
60
UIC UIC
10-17,3-13 MVC
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Belmont BEL 46 29 75
UIC UIC 32 28 60

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

Men’s Basketball Comes Up Short Against Belmont, 75-60

Flames return to action at 7 p.m. (CT) Wednesday against Evansville at Credit Union 1 Arena

CHICAGO (Feb. 18, 2024) – Senior guard Toby Okani (Orange, N.J./Cushing Academy (Mass.)) scored a team-high 17 points to lead three UIC players in double figures, but the Flames were unable to turn back a hot-shooting Belmont squad, falling to the Bruins, 75-60 in Missouri Valley Conference action on Sunday afternoon at Credit Union 1 Arena.
 
Senior guard Isaiah Rivera (Geneseo, Ill./Geneseo/Colorado State) added 12 points and a career high-tying eight rebounds, while redshirt sophomore forward Jaden Brownell (Sandy, Utah/Alta) contributed 10 points for UIC (10-17, 3-13 MVC).
 
COACH'S COMMENTS
"I thought we got off to a great start," said head coach Luke Yaklich. "The first four-minute war was indicative of how we needed the next nine (four-minute segments) to go and it didn't. The eight minutes there in the middle of the first half, Belmont did a good job executing, got out in transition and got some easy threes. We allowed our offense to affect our defense. I thought we could have made some better passes, easier passes to get some better shots at times, and guys pressed a bit once we started struggling from the field. That's the recipe for having it snowball. We didn't share it enough at times and we did miss some open shots and some easy ones we usually make. At the other end of the floor, Belmont did a good job of scoring the basketball and we didn't provide enough resistance through the adversity of missed shots."
 
FIRST HALF
  • UIC opened the scoring with a pair of early buckets from Rivera and graduate student guard Marquise Kennedy (Chicago, Ill./Brother Rice/Loyola) in the first 75 seconds of the game.
  • Belmont scored the next four points, but Brownell put the Flames back up 6-4 on a layup with 17:14 to go.
  • The Bruins then used a 7-0 run to move in front for the first time (11-6, 13:30).
  • UIC pulled back within three points on three occasions in the next 90 seconds, the last on a dunk by Okani at the 11:57 mark to make it 16-13 Belmont.
  • Another 7-0 Bruins run led to a UIC timeout with 10:44 remaining.
  • Okani and junior guard Ethan Pickett (Pensacola, Fla./Cherokee/Triton) scored on consecutive possessions to draw a quick Belmont timeout 42 seconds later (23-17, BEL).
  • The Bruins added eight consecutive points to go ahead, 31-17 with 7:59 left.
  • A steal and breakaway dunk by Kennedy sparked an 11-4 UIC run that also included a pair of three-pointers by Okani and another by Skobalj to make it 43-32 with 1:20 to play before Belmont hit a late three-pointer to cap the first-half scoring.
  • Okani had a team-high 12 points and Brownell added seven points for the Flames in the opening 20 minutes.
 
SECOND HALF
  • Belmont scored the first six points of the second half, drawing an early UIC timeout (52-32, 19:28).
  • Rivera responded a three-pointer and sophomore guard CJ Jones (East St. Louis, Ill./East St. Louis) added a pair of baskets as the Flames trimmed the margin to 54-39 with 17:17 remaining.
  • Okani tipped in a Brownell miss at the 13:11 mark and UIC was within 59-46.
  • Jones converted an old-fashioned three-point play at the 10:33 mark and the Flames cut the deficit to 61-49, but that would be as close as UIC would get.
  • The Flames cut into the margin late with an 8-0 run on three points apiece from Okani and Brownell, sandwiched around a short bank shot from the right block by freshman guard Grant Welch (Moline, Ill./Moline).
 
NOTES
  • Rivera's eight rebounds were his highest total since coming to UIC and matched his career high set on March 9, 2023, against San Diego State in the Mountain West Conference Tournament quarterfinals (when Rivera was still attending Colorado State).
  • UIC topped its season average of 5.5 blocks per game with six rejections on Sunday, led by a career-high three for Skobalj and a career high-tying two for Kennedy.
  • The Flames recorded nine steals (one off their season high) by eight different players on Sunday.
  • UIC's eight turnovers marked the ninth time this season the Flames have had 10 or fewer giveaways in a game and this was their fewest since Jan. 20, when they had a season-low five at Valparaiso.
  • Prior to Sunday's game, UIC recognized Kennedy for scoring his 1,000th career point on Wednesday at Bradley by presenting him with a commemorative ball.
  • Welch made his first appearance and scored his first points since Jan. 17 when he made a late three-pointer against Murray State.
 
UP NEXT
UIC will play the back end of its two-game homestand at 7 p.m. (CT) Wednesday when the Flames welcome Evansville to Credit Union 1 Arena for their second Missouri Valley Conference meeting this season. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN+, while the free live Flames Network radio broadcast can be heard at UICFlames.com.
 
Tickets for Wednesday'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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