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Winner take all: Flames, Panthers in rubber match
AUTOMATIC NCAA BID ON THE LINE
(3/08/04)
There’s no love lost between UIC and Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and expect more of the same when the two teams take to the U.S. Cellular Arena court Tuesday night in the Horizon League championship game.
From the coaches down to the players, there are bitter feelings on both sides, especially after UWM defeated the Flames 75-73 in last year’s Horizon League semifinals in the same arena.
The recent trend has seen rabid crowds in attendance and extreme physical play during the games. There were 136 personal fouls and 175 free-throw attempts in three games last year. This season, in the two meetings, there were 90 fouls and 97 free-throw attempts.
Guard Cedrick Banks had 27 points and Aaron Carr added 14 points to lead the Flames. Two Flames also had double-doubles: Martell Bailey had 14 points and 10 assists, while Armond Williams had 12 points and 12 rebounds.
Dylan Page had a game-high 31 points for Milwaukee, but the Horizon League Player of the Year suffered an ankle injury after making a three-pointer in the final seconds. Page has been slow to recover from the injury, and for the Panthers to win, they need a Page that can score from inside and outside.
UWM won the season’s first meeting 78-62 at U.S. Cellular on Dec. 23. The game was close for 30 minutes before the Panthers went on a 12-0 run to salt the game away. Page had 25 points and Ed McCants added 21 to lead UWM. Banks had 19 for UIC, but just three in the second half.
Tuesday night’s game is probably the most important in the history of the series with the Horizon’s automatic NCAA tournament bid at stake with a big, partisan Milwaukee crowd expected.
“We don’t play the crowd, we play the team,” Collins said. “We know it’s going to be a tough game. We know it’s going to be a hostile crowd, but that’s what makes [the rivalry] so good.”
UIC (23-7) advanced to the championship game with a 65-56 victory over Butler in Saturday’s semifinals as Banks scored 22 and Williams had 10 points and 12 rebounds. It was UIC’s 11th straight win.
UWM (19-9) held off Detroit 58-50 in the other semifinal as Ed McCants scored 20 points and made six three-pointers.
HORIZON LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP AT A GLANCE
Site: U.S. Cellular Arena, Milwaukee
Date: Tuesday, March 9, 2004
Game time: 8 p.m.
TV: ESPN
TV talent: Dave Revsine (play-by-play), Bob Valvano (analyst)
Radio: WMVP-AM 1000 (tape delay at 11 p.m.)
Radio talent: Dave Wills (play-by-play), Dick Nagy (analyst)
Coaches: Jimmy Collins, UIC; Bruce Pearl, UWM
Series history: UWM 24, UIC 16.
Postseason history: UWM defeated UIC 75-73 in the 2003 Horizon League semifinals at U.S. Cellular Arena. … In 2002, the Flames upset UWM 75-63 in the first round of the Horizon Tournament at Cleveland State en route to the league title.
Key bench players: F Jovan Stefanov, F Elliott Poole, F-G Aaron Carr, C Josip Petrusic, G Marcetteaus McGee.
Key bench players: F-G Kalombo Kadima, C Nate Mielke, G Mark Pancratz.
HORIZON LEAGUE TOURNAMENT RESULTS, SCHEDULE TUESDAY, MARCH 2 OPENING ROUND #4 Detroit 62, #9 Cleveland State 36 #8 Loyola 76, #5 Wright State 59 #6 Butler 88, #7 Youngstown State 57 FRIDAY, MARCH 5 2ND ROUND (at Butler) #4 Detroit 60, #8 Loyola 55 #6 Butler 72, #3 Wisconsin-Green Bay 50 SATURDAY, MARCH 6 SEMIFINALS (at Butler) #1 Wisconsin-Milwaukee 58, #4 Detroit 50 #2 UIC 65, #6 Butler 56 TUESDAY, MARCH 9 CHAMPIONSHIP (at UWM) #2 UIC at #1 Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 8 p.m. |
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This will be the ninth meeting in three years between UIC coach Jimmy Collins (pictured) and Panthers coach Bruce Pearl, with their series tied at 4-4.
Pearl (pictured) was ejected during UIC’s 86-82 victory in Chicago Feb. 5 as the Flames rallied from a 10-point second-half deficit to spoil what had been an undefeated conference season for UWM.