Long road over for now

Flames limp home after rough stretch

By Mike Pankow

January 25, 2016

Mike Pankow/Whoosh! Dikembe Dixson scored a career-high 29 points against Wright State.

The worst could be over for UIC and it couldn’t come soon enough.

Despite a career-best 29 points by freshman Dikembe Dixson, the Flames dropped their ninth straight game Sunday afternoon to close out a run of six of eight on the road to start Horizon League play.

Mark Alstork scored 19 points to lead a balanced effort as surprising Wright State took an 80-66 victory at the Nutter Center in Fairborn, Ohio.

JT Yoho scored 16 points, Biggie Minnis contributed 13 points and six assists and Grant Benzinger added 11 for the Raiders (13-8, 7-1), who remained tied atop the Horizon League with preseason favorite Valparaiso after sweeping a five-game homestand.

Dixson shot 9-for-18 from the field and 11-for-15 from the free-throw line in recording his career high in points to go with nine rebounds for the Flames (2-17, 0-8), who return home this week and begin their own five-game homestand with seven of their next eight at the Pavilion.

Sophomore Tai Odiase scored 13 points and Lance Whitaker added eight points for UIC.

Dixson scored seven points, including a three-point play, as the Flames opened a 17-11 lead with 12:23 left in the first half. The Raiders answered with seven straight points, capped by Michael Karena’s layup, for an 18-17 lead.

Markese McGuire hit two free throws to give UIC the lead back, but Yoho countered with a jumper and the Raiders went on a 10-0 run for a 28-19 advantage with 7:23 left.

The Flames whittled the lead back down to six, but Minnis capped WSU’s 11-2 spurt with a 3-pointer for a 44-29 lead late in the first half.

UIC scored the final three points of the half, but the Raiders’ 61.5 percent shooting helped them surge to a 12-point lead at the break.

Back-to-back layups from Dixson and McGuire pulled the Flames to within 49-42 with 15:58 remaining, but Alstork responded with two consecutive 3-pointers to put WSU back up double digits.

The Flames could get no closer than nine points the rest of the way.

FLAMES FLICKERS: UIC shot a respectable 41.5 percent from the field, but it made just 2 of 12 3-point attempts and 57.1 percent (20-for-35) from the free-throw line. … Dixson had seven of the Flames’ 15 turnovers. … The Flames outrebounded WSU 40-27, including 14-3 on the offensive end. … Michael Kolawole has six points and seven rebounds in a career-high 38 minutes, but he missed his final nine field-goal attempts after hitting a 3-pointer early. … Freshman forward Hassan Thomas played 18 minutes, the most since the season opener against San Francisco. He had two points and five rebounds. … Wright State shot 53.7 percent from the field. … UIC won all three meetings with the Raiders last season, including a comeback victory in the Horizon League tournament. … WSU coach Billy Donlon recorded the 100th win of his coaching career.