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Scott slowed by knee swelling

(12/26/02)

Junior center Joe Scott’s knee couldn’t quite take the grind of five games in 10 days.

Scott’s right knee started swelling up on Sunday after UIC’s victory over Wisconsin-Green Bay and hampered him in Monday night’s loss to Indiana State in Terre Haute, Ind. He started, but played just five minutes and went scoreless on 0-for-2 from the field.

According to UIC sports information director Mike Cassidy, Scott (pictured) was still favoring his knee, so coach Jimmy Collins replaced him with senior Kyle Kickert. Kickert played 24 minutes and grabbed nine rebounds to go with four points in the Flames’ 70-53 loss to the Sycamores.

Cassidy said that Scott was back at full speed in practice on Thursday and should be ready for Saturday night’s game against Northern Illinois in its new Convocation Center in DeKalb.

The Flames are currently 6-3 overall and 1-0 in the Horizon League and went 4-1 in the recent five-game stretch.

Scott suffered a torn right anterior cruciate ligament in last season’s season opener with Indiana State and retained two years of eligibility.

SCOUTING THE HUSKIES: Northern Illinois enters Saturday’s contest at 4-5 after a 72-65 victory at Illinois State on Dec. 21. Junior guard P.J. Smith from Proviso East was named the Mid-American Conference Player of the Week after pouring in a career-best 35 points against South Florida.

Smith leads NIU with a 12.6 points per game average, while Elgin grad Marcus Smallwood averages 10.9 points and 9.2 rebounds per game. Smallwood could be a load for the Flames’ frontcourt to handle.

NIU also boasts 37 percent shooting from the outside, led by Smith, junior Al Sewasciuk and freshmen Todd Peterson and Anthony Maestranzi.

The Flames lead the series between the former conference rivals 17-13 with UIC winning the last two contests, including an 86-69 victory at the Pavilion Dec. 15, 2001.

Saturday’s game tips of at 7 p.m. and will be available only on the Northern Illinois’ radio network: WAUR-AM 930 in Aurora and WLBK-AM 1360 in DeKalb.

In other news: Flames' winning streak stopped cold by Sycamores (12/23/02) Carr's drive makes it four straight wins for UIC (12/22/02) Flame On: UIC torches Northwestern (12/20/02) Flames look for even-keel against NU(12/18/02) Banks' birthday bash: Flames burn Samford (12/17/02) Bailey, Banks tame Salukis (12/15/02) Banks should return against SIU (12/12/02) Newton, Indiana too much for Flames (12/08/02) Flames face tough test at Indiana (12/05/02) Bailey earns Horizon Player of the Week(12/02/02) Flames snare big road victory at ISU (12/01/02) Flames hold Pavilion party, defeat Eastern Illinois (11/25/02) Evansville puts out Flames in opener(11/23/02) Carr may be key in opener (11/20/02) Banks ruled ineligible for four games (11/18/02) UIC goes 2-0 in exhibition play (11/15/02) Flames put up 107 points in exhibition opener (11/08/02)