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Flames dance past Panthers
POOLE, McGEE AMONG THE HEROES
(3/09/04)
MILWAUKEE—A pair of high school teammates came through for UIC in the Horizon League championship game at U.S. Cellular Arena Tuesday night.
But it wasn’t the pair you thought it was.
The Farragut High connection was clutch for UIC as sophomore forward Elliott “Butch” Poole and freshman guard Marcetteaus McGee shined in the Flames’ 65-62 victory over Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
“I had scored some baskets earlier in the game,” Poole said. “I just figured with a 1-on-1 opportunity, I could take my man to the basket.”
On UWM’s ensuing possession, senior Cedrick Banks poked the ball away from Milwaukee star forward Dylan Page and Poole grabbed the loose ball. The Panthers then fouled McGee (five points), who split a pair of free throws with 5.7 ticks left before Milwaukee’s Ed McCants missed a three-pointer at the buzzer, sealing the Flames’ second NCAA tournament bid in three years and bringing UIC’s student section onto the floor to celebrate.
UIC coach Jimmy Collins was not shocked to see his younger players undeterred by the pressure of playing in championship game.
“I’m not really surprised,” Collins said. “When the ball goes up, guys forget about all that and just play. I’m happy that they brought their practice game to the floor.”
UIC showed great composure in the face of 10,254 screaming fans, despite flirting with several opportunities to crumble.
“We can’t have doubts,” Collins said. “You can’t quit midway through, you’ve got to fight to the final horn. I thought the thing that got us over the hump was that we fought through adversity”
The Flames showed no fear as Poole and Williams took turns trying to score on the Panthers in the low post.
“My shots didn’t fall, so we started to get it to the post players,” Banks said. “They did tremendously well on the block.”
UIC embraced the physicality of the Panthers’ interior defense.
“I like the game anyway it comes,” Williams said. “I know Milwaukee plays a physical game, so I tried to mentally prepare myself for it.”
UIC opened the game with an 8-2 run and took a 33-26 lead at the half, but the Panthers (19-10) made their move early in the second half.
McCants, who had 19 points for Milwaukee, made a three-pointer with 16:02 left to cap off a 12-4 run and give the Panthers a 38-37 lead.
Page responded with another three-pointer on the next possession to put UWM back ahead and the lead seesawed until Aaron Carr nailed a three-pointer from the left corner with 3:50 left to put UIC up 58-57.
Banks scored on a floater and Poole hit a short turnaround jumper to put the Flames up 62-58 with 2:49 left. UWM rallied again to tie it at 62-62 on McCants’ sixth three-pointer of the game with 1:52 left.
The game stayed knotted until Banks made a steal in the final minute, leading to Poole’s go-ahead basket.
UWM missed several easy shots inside, particularly by Page, who was 6-of-15, but had a game-high 20 points. The Panthers also struggled at the free-throw line, shooting just 8-of-20 (40 percent), while UIC, which usually struggles, made 16-of-24 for 66 percent.
“We missed a lot of shots we’d normally make,” UWM coach Bruce Pearl said. “You can attribute some of those missed shots to good defense and hard physical play.”
UIC now awaits its seeding and opponent for the first round of the NCAA tournament, which will announced shortly after 5 p.m. Chicago time this Sunday.
“It was sweet beating UWM [for the title],” Collins said. “but it would have been sweet to beat Detroit or Butler too. It’s just about getting to the dance. Of course, we enjoyed beating UWM here in Milwaukee, I’d be lying out of neck.”
STARS STRUGGLE: Banks and Bailey didn’t play up to their usual all-conference selves. Banks was 5-of-14 from the field and 2-of-7 from three-point range.
“I felt I was open enough,” said Banks, who also had seven rebounds and two steals. “Their defense was looking for me. I though some [more] would fall.”
Bailey did not score and had just three assists and committed nine turnovers. In fact, Bailey had 17 turnovers in two tournament games. He was also in foul trouble for most of the second half.
“I was just forcing the ball into the post,” Bailey said. “Sometimes they weren’t open.”
In addition, Carr got scratched in his face midway through the second half, while going after a loose ball along with Banks and UWM’s Joah Tucker. He needed to be bandaged up by Flames’ trainer Mike Gilmartin before returning to the game.
FLAMES FANS: Eleven buses with UIC students made their way to U.S. Cellular Arena. There were at least 600 students in attendance, no counting fans that drove up on their own. As the final buzzer sounded, the group, mostly clad in red “Fury” T-shirts, stormed the court in jubilation.
Also in attendance were former Flame Corry Tibbs and former Loyola forward Corey Minnifield, who joined in the Flames in the postgame celebration.
ALL-TOURNAMENT: In addition to Williams, Banks and Poole, Milwaukee’s Ed McCants and Butler’s Avery Sheets were named to the all-tournament team after the game.
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 65, #1 Wisconsin-Milwaukee 62
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Poole (pictured), who finished with 10 points on 5-of-8 shooting, spun past Milwaukee forward Adrian Tigert on the block and scored on a layup to put UIC (24-7) ahead 64-62 with 34.6 seconds left in the game.
The Flames’ regular leaders, Westinghouse grads Cedrick Banks (14 points, 5-of-16 shooting) and Martell Bailey (three assists, nine turnovers) had subpar stat lines, but senior forward Armond Williams made up for it by recording his second straight double-double with 10 points on 4-of-9 shooting and 10 rebounds. Williams (pictured) was named tournament MVP, while Banks and Poole were also named to the all-tournament team.
The lead changed hands five more times until UWM took a 51-46 lead on a Page three-pointer with 9:53 to play. UIC charged back with a 7-0 spurt as McGee (pictured) scored on a driving baseline layup to put the Flames back ahead by two with 6:53 left.
BATTLE OF ATTRITION: Bailey and Williams both suffered leg cramps during the game. Bailey, in fact, had to come out of the game in the final seconds, putting McGee on the floor at a critical moment. When Bailey first suffered the cramp with 3:17 left, Carr and McGee (pictured) had to carry him off the court.