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Flames divided and conquered UIC BLOWS ANOTHER LEAD, FALLS TO CSU February 6, 2009
While the Vikings stood united in their come-from-behind 66-63 victory, the divided Flames just keep plummeting. UIC lost its second straight game in which it held double-digit lead and the frustration is building within team. “I almost get tired of saying, ‘That’s one we should’ve won.’ We played a lot of them that we should have won,” UIC coach Jimmy Collins said. The Flames have lost five other games in which they held double-digit leads, including contests against Milwaukee, Butler, Youngstown State, Green Bay and Bradley and almost blew a double-digit lead in the final minutes against Horizon League cellar-dweller Detroit. “Losing games where we’re up by 13, 15—this is like the eighth or ninth game—it’s just getting ridiculous,” said UIC senior center Scott VanderMeer, who barely missed a triple-double with 13 points, 10 rebounds and eight blocks. “If we’re losing these games, then we’re not playing like a team. People are loafing, people are playing scared, we’re just not together strong. “It’s very frustrating,” VanderMeer continued. “Too many of the guys on our team are just falling apart. Coach [Collins] just said in the meeting that we’re wilting and we have three or four guys not doing what they need to do, not playing their roles or not playing hard enough. I didn’t get enough rebounds. I thought I got my hand on a lot of balls. It’s a team effort. We need to come together, because there aren’t too many guys that aren’t together with everything right now.” Lost in the story of the Flames’ collapse was the homecoming of CSU freshman guard Jeremy Montgomery, who scored a career-high 21 points and hit 5 of 7 three-pointers. Montgomery, a Lincoln Park High School graduate, drilled a three-pointer with 24.2 seconds left to give the Vikings (16-8, 7-5 Horizon) their first lead of the second half at 64-63.
J’Nathan Bullock hit two free throws with 6.5 ticks remaining for a three-point lead and UIC’s Josh Mayo missed a potential game-tying three-pointer at the buzzer. “It was a good look,” said Mayo as he was leaving the Pavilion for the night. Mayo returned from a left ankle sprain and played 36 minutes, scoring 10 points. Collins said Mayo “wasn’t 100 percent.” UIC (10-12, 3-9) trailed for most of the first half before rallying for 33-31 halftime advantage, thanks to two threes by Robo Kreps in the final 1:34 of the period. The Flames looked poised to pull away early in the second half as Kreps hit two more treys in the first minute for a 39-31 lead before CSU coach Gary Waters called a quick timeout. VanderMeer converted a three-point play with 17:15 to play as UIC took an 11-point lead at 44-33. Tori Boyd’s three-pointer put the lead at 11 again (48-37) with 16:01 remaining. However, the Flames went cold as CSU’s defense put on some additional pressure. UIC shot just 33 percent with 11 turnovers in the second half. After Jeremy Buttell’s putback put UIC up 50-40 with 12:38 to go, CSU trimmed the lead quickly with eight straight points, started by a Montgomery three-pointer and aided by two Norris Cole layups. “This was a really hard-fought game,” Waters said. “I thought (UIC) played extremely hard. I’ve got to give our kids credit. They were resilient, they kept fighting back. When you continue to focus and not give up, good things happen.” No team had more than a six-point advantage for the rest of the game. Kreps hit a pair of free throws for a 63-59 Flames lead with 1:04 remaining. Montgomery hit a floater with 47.2 seconds left to cut it to two points. Then it appeared Kreps was bumped out of bounds as he was dribbling into the frontcourt with 39 seconds remaining. No foul was called and the officials awarded possession to CSU, setting up Montgomery’s winning shot. “They were [bumping me] the whole game,” said Kreps, who led UIC with 19 points, including four threes. “We got some of those calls and we didn’t get some. One play doesn’t make a ballgame. We could have made plays earlier. That [turnover] definitely hurt us, but it didn’t lose us the ballgame.” After Montgomery’s go-ahead three, the Flames called timeout to set up a play with 16 seconds to go. The ball was inbounded to Boyd, who caught the ball at the top of the free-throw line and forced up a wild shot in traffic that missed badly with 12 seconds left. VanderMeer grabbed the rebounded, but the officials said he was on the baseline. “That definitely wasn’t the shot we wanted, but the mismatch was there,” Collins said. “[Tori] had ample time to pass the ball out. I wanted him to have the ball. If he just jumped up and shot it (right away), it would have been a better looking shot. Stuff happens.” In addition to Montgomery’s breakout game, CSU got 12 points and five assists from Cole and 10 rebounds from D’Aundray Brown. Four Flames scored in double figures, including Kreps (19), VanderMeer (13), Boyd (11) and Mayo (10), but it wasn’t enough as UIC lost its fourth straight game. Collins and the players were left searching for answers. “At this particular point, it ain’t just the players, maybe the coaches aren’t putting enough fight into it,” Collins said. “I was always told that players made plays, but maybe something we’re doing coaching-wise isn’t sticking with them. “I’ve got six guys that really, really try to do what the staff has asked them to do,” Collins continued. “Then I’ve got some others that are off on their own path. It doesn’t take but one bad apple to spoil the whole barrel. I can’t go through the season eliminating guys, eliminating guys … pretty soon, I’ll have to play Coach [Mark] Coomes. I’ve got to ride with what we got.” A pained VanderMeer summed up how the Flames’ recent divide has destroyed the team chemistry. “We’ve got a month left,” VanderMeer said. “We’ve got a core group of guys that hang out all the time, working to try to get better. Then we’ve got guys who aren’t around as much off the court and on the court. That hurts a team. Kevin Garnett said one time, that his team hangs all the time. Their whole team is always together. That’s just not the situation with us, and it’s kind of sad, because it’s my senior year. I just don’t want to go out like that.”
Point guard Spencer Stewart was not ready to make his return from a bruised navicular bone in his right foot. He had the boot removed on Monday and has worked on conditioning. He is expected to be in uniform for Saturday’s game against Youngstown State. FLAMES FLICKERS: It was announced earlier in the week that UIC will host Southern Illinois at the Pavilion in the BracketBuster event on Feb. 21 at 7 p.m. That means the Flames will travel to play the Salukis next season in what should be another action-packed schedule, which includes a road game at DePaul and a game against Illinois at the United Center. … CSU guard Cedric Jackson, proving why he’s one of the Horizon League’s best defensive players, came up with a great block from behind on Mayo’s layup attempt with 17:00 left in the game. The play led to Chris Moore’s three-point play on the other end. … Mayo now has 1,545 career points, surpassing Ivan Daniels (1981-85) for seventh place on UIC’s all-time scoring list. Daniels, a draft pick of the Indiana Pacers, had 1,538 points with the Flames. Brian Hill (1988-92) sits in sixth place with 1,578 points. … VanderMeer’s eight blocks were a season-high and one short of his career-high nine, which also came against CSU on Jan. 27, 2007. UP NEXT: UIC returns to action on Saturday night at the Pavilion, taking on Youngstown State. The Penguins (7-15, 4-8) defeated Loyola 60-49 on Thursday night. YSU beat the Flames 80-70 last month in Youngstown, but it has never won at the Pavilion. The game tips off at 7 p.m. with video coverage on the Horizon League Network. Audio coverage with the Flames’ voices, Adam Levinson and Kenny Williams, can be heard on WIND-AM 560. |
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