Willie Green “Money” at the Pavilion

(1/28/03)

UIC coach Jimmy Collins missed Monday’s game with Detroit with the flu—what he missed probably would have made him sicker.

The visiting Titans crashed the boards en route to a 44-33 rebounding advantage and Detroit’s Willie Green set a UIC Pavilion record with 43 points as the Titans gained a measure of revenge in an 80-73 victory and ended the Flames’ five-game winning streak.

“I was thinking about that last second shot I missed against [UIC] last weekend on ESPN2 at our house,” said Green, who shot 18-of-29 from the floor and 7-of-9 from the foul line and also grabbed nine rebounds. “Since then, I’ve been thinking about [the rematch].”

Detroit (10-8, 5-4 in the Horizon League) avenged a 77-74 loss to the Flames at Calihan Hall nine days ago, and Green was the main catalyst. Green broke former Wright State guard Keion Brooks’ record of 41 points from a Jan. 4, 1999 game.

“Once a good player gets started, he’s hard to stop,” said UIC’s Cedrick Banks of Willie Green’s effort.

Terrell Riggs contributed a team-high 11 rebounds with 15 points, while Ben Green, Willie’s cousin, added nine boards.

“Willie Green and Terrell Riggs dominated this game,” said UIC associate head coach Mark Coomes, who took Collins’ place on the bench. “It was a physical game, especially with Willie creating contact. They beat us to loose balls and long rebounds.”

“They were aggressive,” said UIC forward Armond Williams, who finished with 11 points and 10 rebounds. “They just wanted the ball more than us.”

Banks matched Willie Green nearly shot-for-shot in the first half as Green outscored Banks 19-18 in the opening half as the Titans grabbed a 37-36 lead at the break.

Banks, however, tired in the second half, and finished with 27 points on 10-of-22 from the field. Martell Bailey, who is now nation’s top assist man, had 18 points and seven assists.

The Flames’ other nemesis of late, their lackluster free-throw shooting, hurt them. UIC (12-5, 6-2) shot just 11-of-23 (48 percent) from the line as Detroit put the game away down the stretch.

Jonathan Schneiderman’s three-pointer with 7:39 left pulled the Flames to within 59-57, but the Titans went on a 15-5 run that included eight points from Willie Green.

“The kids played hard,” Coomes said. “They just didn’t have bounce.”

ARMOND GAINS ANOTHER HONOR: Armond Williams picked up his second Horizon League Player of the Week award, the conference announced Monday.

Williams had a career-game against Loyola with 30 points and 15 rebounds in an 81-77 win over the Ramblers Jan. 22. He capped off the week with an 18-point, seven-rebound game at Youngstown State last Saturday.

He currently ranks second in the Horizon in field-goal percentage (at 65 percent) and fifth in rebounding at 7.4 per game and 10th in scoring (13.7).

SICKNESS: In addition to Collins having the flu, several other Flames, including Banks and Armond Williams also felt a little sick.

“There are no excuses in basketball,” Coomes said. “The flu is going through our team a little bit, but there no excuses. We just have to come out and play.”

UP NEXT: The Flames hit the road for their first match-up with Wright State at the Nutter Center Wednesday night. The Raiders (7-10, 1-6) limp into the game in last place, but always remain dangerous at home. Raider forward Seth Doliboa is the Horizon League leader in scoring at 22.4 points per game.

The game tips off at 6 p.m. (Central time) and will be broadcast on ESPN Radio 1000.