CHICAGO (Feb. 3, 2024) – Senior guard
Isaiah Rivera (Geneseo, Ill./Geneseo/Colorado State) scored a career-high 28 points, but Southern Illinois converted four free throws in the final 21 seconds to edge past UIC, 74-71 in a physical Missouri Valley Conference contest on Saturday afternoon before a season-high crowd of 4,056 fans at Credit Union 1 Arena.
Rivera knocked 7-of-13 shots from the field, including 3-of-5 from three-point range, and went a perfect 11-of-11 from the free throw line, the best performance from the stripe by a UIC player since Dec. 2019. Senior guard
Toby Okani (Orange, N.J./Cushing Academy (Mass.)) added a game-high 11 rebounds for the Flames (8-15, 1-11 MVC).
The two schools combined for 55 fouls and 60 free throw attempts in Saturday's game, with UIC dodging foul trouble all afternoon and seeing both of its point guards foul out. The Flames did go 25-of-27 (.926) from the free throw line, highlighting by a 14-for-14 effort in the second half and held Southern Illinois to 4-of-18 (.222) from the three-point line.
UIC took a 71-70 lead on two foul shots by Rivera with 33 seconds left. However, AJ Ferguson worked his way to the line on SIU's next possession and gave the visitors the lead with 21 seconds to go. Rivera's fadeaway jumper from the right elbow was just short and the rebound tumbled over the baseline back to the Salukis with 1.8 seconds to go. Xavier Johnson then made the last of his 18 foul shots (on 20 attempts) with 0.9 seconds remaining before UIC's full-court pass for a potential game-tying shot was tipped away as the horn sounded.
COACH'S COMMENTS
"Incredibly disappointed with the result, just like all of our guys are in the locker room," said head coach
Luke Yaklich. "You prepare to win. We had a good mindset, a great message by our alums last night at practice, a great crowd today and we took steps forward. We're two plays away from a W today and that's hard, but that's part of the business, part of the sport we sign up for and unfortunately, those two plays didn't go our way. Our effort was incredible. We played well for about 33 of the 40 minutes. I felt the start of the second half is the area of biggest concern, but (during) the other parts of the game, we were physical, we were tough and we played really well together."
FIRST HALF
- After spotting Southern Illinois the first basket of the game, UIC answered with six consecutive points from Rivera on an old-fashioned three-point play and a three-pointer from the top of the key at the 18:11 mark.
- The teams then traded scorers for the next four minutes before SIU drew even at 10-10 with 14:07 left in the half.
- The Flames countered with a 7-2 run across the next 90 seconds, capped by an acrobatic reverse layup from junior guard Ethan Pickett (Pensacola, Fla./Cherokee/Triton) that made it 17-12, UIC with 12:36 to play and led to an SIU timeout.
- UIC remained in front by a one-possession margin for another six minutes before putting some separation on the Salukis with a 10-2 run, including four points from sophomore center Cameron Fens (Dubuque, Iowa/Hempstead), and grabbed a 33-24 lead with 3:03 to go.
- Southern Illinois closed the gap at halftime with an 11-2 run over the final three minutes, including a tip-in by Ferguson just before the horn.
- Rivera led all scorers with 19 points in the first half, making his first five shots from the floor, including both three-point attempts.
SECOND HALF
- Southern Illinois made an early 14-3 run on UIC during the first four minutes of the second half to take a 45-38 lead.
- UIC came back with six consecutive points to claw within 45-44 on a jumper by Rivera with 14:33 remaining.
- The Salukis took their largest lead of the game (56-48) with 10:34 to play.
- From there, the Flames went on a 19-4 run across the next six minutes to flip the momentum squarely in their favor
- The run started with consecutive three-pointers from sophomore guard Steven Clay (Milwaukee, Wis./Menomenee Falls), Rivera and finally, redshirt sophomore forward Jaden Brownell (Sandy, Utah/Alta), which gave UIC a 57-56 lead with 8:56 left.
- The Flames eventually got their advantage up to 67-60 when sophomore guard CJ Jones (East St. Louis, Ill./East St. Louis) made two free throws at the 4:18 mark.
- SIU scored the next six points on four foul shots from Johnson, bracketing a layup by Ferguson, to make it 67-66 UIC with 1:58 left. Ferguson's layup was the only basket UIC allowed to Southern Illinois during the final 10:33 of the game.
- Rivera and Johnson then traded four free throws apiece, the last pair by Rivera that gave the Flames a 71-70 lead with 33 seconds left.
- Ferguson was fouled on the ensuing Salukis' possession and made his two foul shots with 21.3 seconds remaining.
- Rivera's shot from the right elbow to regain the lead with five seconds left came up just short and the rebound caromed out of bounds back to SIU with 1.8 ticks to go.
- Johnson was fouled on the inbounds play and made two free throws with 0.9 seconds to play.
- UIC had one final opportunity to tie the game, but its full-court pass was tipped away as the horn sounded.
NOTES
- Rivera's 28 points surpassed his previous career high of 25 points on Nov. 10 in the Flames' home-opening win over Little Rock.
- Rivera also set career highs with 11 free throws made and 11 attempted, erasing his previous bests of six made free throws and eight attempts which he set back on Jan. 6 vs. Valparaiso.
- Rivera's 11-for-11 performance at the foul line was the best by a UIC player since Dec. 2, 2019, when Jamie Ahale also made all 11 of his free throws in a victory over San Diego at the Boca Raton (Fla.) Beach Classic.
- UIC's .926 free throw percentage was its second highest of the season with a minimum of 10 attempts, topped only by a .933 mark (14-of-15) in the Flames' Nov. 14 win at Loyola.
- Ten of the past 11 games in the UIC-Southern Illinois series have been decided by 10 points or less, with an average margin in those games of 5.8 points. It's also the third one-possession game in the past four series meetings between the Flames and Salukis, not including the teams' first game this year, which was also a one-possession spread with less than two minutes to go.
- For the season, 13 of UIC's 23 games have been decided by 10 points or fewer, including seven MVC games.
- Saturday's crowd of 4,056 fans was the largest of the season for UIC.
UP NEXT
UIC is back on the road Wednesday for a 7 p.m. (CT) conference matchup at Illinois State. The game will be televised live on ESPN+ and can be heard live and free of charge on the Flames Network through
UICFlames.com.
Tickets for 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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