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Vikings continue Flames freefall
UIC DOESN’T HAVE ENOUGH MUSCLE, HUSTLE
(1/20/06)
Visiting Cleveland State outmuscled and outhustled the Flames, extending UIC’s misery with an 87-83 victory.
The Vikings (7-9, 3-3) had five players in double figures, outrebounded the Flames 46-40 and pilfered 12 steals.
“They’re like barracudas,” said UIC coach Jimmy Collins (pictured). “When the ball hits the floor and they have 3 or 4 guys diving after it.”
Meanwhile, the Flames’ dive to the bottom of the Horizon League standings continued with their fifth straight loss. UIC is 8-10 overall and 1-5 in conference play and it has yet to win in the 2006 calendar year.
Cleveland State was especially tough on the offensive glass, grabbing 24 and converting them into 27 second-chance points. The Vikings intensified their game in the second half, outscoring UIC 47-39.
“They came out in the second half a lot tougher,” UIC senior forward Justin Bowen said. “They were a lot tougher physically and mentally and it took its toll on us. We fought back, but we didn’t have enough fight to win the game.”
Maybe the Vikings learned something from their coach during the course of the game. With 12:16 remaining in the contest, CSU coach Mike Garland, upset after a string of calls didn’t go his way, threw a demonstrative fit on the Vikings’ sideline.
The tirade nearly merited a technical foul and in fact, the coach received a warning, but his assistants Rick Albro and Sean Bledsoe quickly grabbed Garland and pulled him toward the bench.
“Our team is becoming increasing more competitive day-by-day. Our rebounding is really coming back.”
When Garland flew off the handle, CSU trailed 62-58, but the Vikings responded almost immediately with an offensive rebound basket by Patrick Tatham, which he converted into a traditional three-point play.
The Vikings eventually went on a 19-9 spurt to turn the game around and established a 77-71 lead that they would never relinquish.
CSU put on a show of power with its three post starters – 6-foot-7-inch, 275-pound Purdue transfer Ije Nwankwo, 6-7 junior Tatham and 6-foot-5 freshman J’Nathan Bullock, who could have accepted a Division I scholarship in football – combining for 30 points and 20 rebounds.
“That’s our game, pound it inside,” Garland said. “We have the bodies and the strength to do that. That’s what we tried to do, play inside-out on them.”
Junior guard Raheem Moss led a balanced CSU attack with 16 points on 6-of-11 shooting and had four steals. Junior point guard Carlos English contributed 15 points, nine assists and four steals.
Nwankwo had 14 points, Frashon McGee had 12 points and eight rebounds off the bench, and Tatham narrowly missed a double-double with 10 points and nine rebounds.
The Vikings, after some down times with a lack of quality depth, finally have a full roster of at their disposal. The team had experienced more than its share of injuries and academic casualties over the past three seasons, at times playing with just seven players dressed.
“It’s great to have [a full roster],” Garland said. “It’s like coming to gunfight with a six-shooter instead of a water pistol,” Garland said. “We were unfortunate in the past, but the Lord blessed us and we’ve stayed healthy.”
The Flames received career games from Bowen (26 points, 13 rebounds) and freshman guard Josh Mayo (22 points). Bowen was 10-of-14 from the field with three steals and Mayo was 7-of-10, including four three-pointers. Mayo also had five assists.
Sophomore forward Othyus Jeffers struggled to find his shot, going just 3-for-11, but he did tally eight points, nine rebounds and a team-high seven assists.
The Vikings took the lead for good at 70-69 on two free throws by Bullock with 8:24 left. English stole the ball on the ensuing possession and scored on a layup to keep the heat on the Flames.
Nwankwo scored on a spinning layup to put CSU ahead 77-71 with 6:09 to play, but UIC had some fight left.
Mayo penetrated to the basket and hit a layup and was fouled. He converted the three-point play to pull UIC within 79-78 with 4:33 to go.
“Coach [Collins] has definitely encouraged me to drive more,” Mayo said. “My shot hadn’t been on in the last couple of games. When you’re shot’s not on, you’ve got to drive and try to get other people open.”
The Flames whittled the deficit down to one point again at 83-82 with 1:49 left when Bowen made a putback basket.
On the ensuing possession, Jeffers blocked a shot and several Flames batted the ball around. The ball then rolled on the floor and the Vikings were able to snatch it and reset their offense. Moments later, Moss buried a 17-foot jumper to make it 85-82 with 1:00 left.
“We need to be getting loose ball and long rebounds,” Collins lamented. “Our guards haven’t taken it upon themselves to be aggressive in that area. We stress and talk about it.”
The Flames trailed 85-83 after Moss missed two free throws. Collins called timeout with 16 seconds left and tried to set up a tying or winning shot.
Sophomore Karl White took the ball from the top of the key and drove down the right side of the line, but his leaning layup attempt rimmed out with 4 seconds left. The Flames were forced to foul with 2.1 seconds to play and Victor Morris buried two free throws for the final margin.
“Karl was an option when he turned the corner,” Collins said. “Josh was supposed to get the pass [on the wing]. Karl thought there was man in between him and Josh, so he took it all the way. It really wasn’t a bad shot and it looked like he might have gotten fouled. We’re still searching for go-to players, someone like Cedrick Banks.”
UIC opened the game with an 8-2 lead, which included six points from Bowen. The Vikings rallied back for a 23-18 advantage when English buried a three-pointer from well beyond NBA range with 11:57 left before halftime.
Bowen scored on a follow shot with 2:05 left in the first half for a 41-34 lead. Bowen had 16 points in the opening stanza as UIC took a 44-40 lead into intermission.
“UIC was going right at us, scoring right on us in the first half,” Garland said. “There is no way you can leave Justin Bowen open like we did. We were also over-helping off Mayo. We did some crazy things defensively, which is not like us.”
Mayo scored the Flames’ first seven points of the second half, including a three-pointer with 18:21 remaining to put the UIC back in front by its largest margin at 51-44.
“My guys fought hard, but the cards were stacked.” Collins said. “Mike [Garland] got himself some big, rugged people. The better team won the game.
“We’re not doing the small things right now, like blocking out, faking before we pass and making free throws, and maybe I am mostly to blame.”
The victory for CSU snapped a seven-game losing streak in the series with UIC and was its second straight Horizon League road victory and third consecutive conference win overall.
Garland was overjoyed with the victory, but also gave credit to the Flames.
“Jimmy Collins is one of the finest coaches in this league,” he said. “I needed to win the game, but I also hate to beat Jimmy Collins, because I remember my first year here (in 2004), he could have picked his score on me and he never did. That’s just the kind of person he is.
“Our kids came here with the intent to win this basketball game and we were tough down the stretch. We were fortunate to make the plays down the stretch to win the game.”
FLAMES LOSE ZIMNY: Back-up point guard Greg Zimny, who had been getting minutes as of late to give Mayo some rest during the game, injured his right shoulder in the first half.
Zimny dove after a ball and separated his shoulder. UIC spokesman Mike Cassidy said that the injury “could keep him out 4 to 6 weeks.”
He played a spirited and effective four minutes, scoring on a tough reverse layup and handed out two assists in four minutes.
In point-guard related news, Cassidy said that senior Rocky Collum is starting to go through full practices again but is not yet in game shape. Junior D.J. Smedley will likely get some more minutes in the meantime.
FLAMES FLICKERS: UIC recorded seven blocked shots in Thursday’s game, led by Danijel Zoric’s three. Jeffers had two and Bowen and Jovan Stefanov each had one. The Flames also had seven against Wisconsin-Milwaukee two weeks ago. …
Bowen did establish a new career-high in points with 26, surpassing his 23-point efforts against Georgia Southern and Davidson. He tied his career-best with 13 rebounds, which he also accomplished against Denver in the championship game of the Top of the World Classic. It was his sixth double-double of the season. …
Mayo’s 22 points was better than his previous high of 21, which came against Georgia Tech in a 73-51 victory on Nov. 25. …
The Flames were solid offensively, handing out 23 assists to just 13 turnovers and shooting 49 percent from the field. …
The Titans (9-11, 3-4) have struggled at times, losing both senior center Ryvon Covile and sophomore guard Brandon Bell to season-ending injuries. Even their top scorer, junior Brandon Cotton, missed three games recently with an injury to his left hand.
Cotton returned to action on Wednesday and scored 13 points in a 72-71 loss to Wisconsin-Milwaukee. The Titans wasted away a 10-point lead in the final minutes of the game. It was Detroit’s first home loss of the season, dropping the Titans to 7-1 at Calihan.
Cotton is averaging 15.6 points per game, while sophomore guard Jon Goode has provided a presence at the point, averaging 11.2 points and 2.9 assists per outing.
Torvoris Baker and Chuck Bailey are the Titans’ primary post players. Baker averages 9.8 points and 7.6 rebounds per game, while Bailey has averages of 10.4 points and 6.4 rebounds. Bailey leads the Horizon League in field-goal percentage at 58 percent.
Detroit likes to play a game with a score in the 60s. The Titans are dead-last in the conference at 61.8 points per game, but have the league’s third-best defense (65.8 points).
What does UIC need to do to bounce back?
“We need to carry over our practice habits into the game,” Bowen said. “We work hard, but need to execute better in the game. Our mental approach needs to be a lot better. Every possession counts in a game.”
Saturday’s game can be seen via video stream live via the internet for free at www.horizonleague.org. It will also be audio streamed on the internet at www.espnradio1000.com and www.uicflames.com.
and can be heard live on ESPN Radio 1000 (WMVP-AM).
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The unhappy New Year continued for the UIC Flames at the Pavilion on Thursday night.
“I think my energy transferred over to the team,” said Garland (pictured). “I’m kind of a fiery guy and I know that I wear my emotions on my sleeve. They needed to see how badly I wanted to win.
MAYO IS TOPS: Mayo entered the week 24th in the nation, but more importantly the No. 1 freshman, in free-throw percentage in Division I basketball. Entering Thursday’s game, Mayo (pictured) was 46-of-52 from the line for 88.5 percent. However, he missed three free throws and went 4-for-7 from the line. He was also No. 1 in the Horizon League.
UP NEXT: The last-place Flames, looking to snap a five-game losing streak, begin a two-game road trip with a visit to Detroit on Saturday for a 3 p.m. tip at Calihan Hall.