Williams, Schneiderman efforts not enough for Flames against Butler

(1/05/03)

The Horizon League battle between Butler and UIC Saturday afternoon was as good as advertised.

Butler forward Lewis Curry tipped in Duane Lightfoot's miss with 17.5 seconds left to break a tie and Lightfoot added a free throw with 5.2 seconds remaining as the Bulldogs grabbed a 68-65 victory over the Flames at the UIC Pavilion.

Butler (11-1, 1-0) led 58-45 with 12:11 left on runner by Avery Sheets, but the Flames countered by scoring 20 of the game's next 27 points to tie the game with 2:12 to play. Martell Bailey's putback of his own miss completed the comeback for UIC (7-4, 1-1), but it was the last basket in the game for the Flames.

Jonathan Schneiderman, who finished with 15 points and four three-pointers, missed a desperation 23-foot off-balance three-point attempt off the back iron at the buzzer.

Junior Armond Williams (pictured) was a force in the post for the Flames, scoring a career-high 26 points on 10-of-14 shooting and tying a career-best with 11 rebounds. Williams had a chance to tie the game after Curry's basket, but his short runner was off the mark.

The Flames scambled back into the game without much offense for their leader, Cedrick Banks. Banks had just four points on 2-of-8 shooting and didn't make his first field goal until there was 8:10 left in the game. Bulldog guard Brandon Miller led the defensive charge against Banks, who was averaging 17 points per contest coming in.

"Brandon is a tough competitor," Butler coach Todd Lickliter said. "But he's also very intelligent. He's watched Cedrick a lot [on film] and knew his tendencies—and he had some help."

UIC coach Jimmy Collins said that Banks handled the ball too much and that took away from his offense.

"Ced's is at his best when he's moving without the ball," Collins said. "He’ll make the adjustment, because he’s a smart ballplayer.”

UIC dropped its ninth straight to the Bulldogs, who have won five straight over the Flames on the road and have gone 10-1 at the Pavilion in the last five years, including MCC tournament games.

"They're a really good team," said a flabbergasted UIC coach Jimmy Collins. "They've beaten me nine [straight] times."

The Bulldogs had more to celebrate besides a critical conference victory. Senior Darnell Archey went 3-for-3 from the free-throw line to set a new NCAA mark for consecutive free throws without a miss with 76 and counting. Archey broke the mark on a free throw with 2:23 left in the first half to complete a three-point play and put Butler ahead 31-25.

Bruce Horan's three-pointer from the right corner at the first half buzzer gave Butler a 40-33 halftime advantage.

“We came out of the blocks a little slow,” Collins said. “We knew Butler would not. You’ve got to come out of the blocks quickly to play Butler close.”

Curry led the Bulldogs with 17 points, while Lightfoot had 11 points and Archey finished with 10 points.

Bailey contributed seven points and seven assists, while Schneiderman added six assists for UIC, who never led in the game and only tied the game once.

"We were well-prepared for this game,” Schneiderman said, “I thought this was one we should have got."