Drake's 1-man show

CARTER SPOILS UIC’S OPENER

November 11, 2013

Whoosh! photo Senior forward Hayden Humes scored 10 points in the Flames’ season-opening loss on Saturday night.

UIC wanted to open its 2013-14 season in grand style Saturday night.

But a one-man show on the visiting team stole the spotlight.

Five-foot-11 guard Richard Carter sliced and diced for a career-high 38 points and Drake survived a late flurry from the Flames to a hold on for a 61-59 victory before a crowd of 5,245 at the UIC Pavilion.

The Flames (0-1), who led by as many as nine in the first half and trailed by as many as nine in the second half, had several chances to tie or take the lead in the final minute and Hayden Humes’ finger-roll attempt fell off the front rim as the buzzer sounded.

Carter finished 12-for-17 from the field and 12-for-12 from the free-throw line. He also came away with four steals for the Bulldogs (1-0).

“Carter had a night, I mean, he made more free throws than our team did (10-for-17),” UIC coach Howard Moore said. “Just being in attacking mode and getting to the rim, which is something we really take a lot of pride in as far as keeping people out of the paint, but he’s a crafty kid.”

Gary Ricks added 10 points for Drake while no other Bulldog had more than four.

Junior guard Marc Brown continued his stellar play from the exhibition, ending up with a team-high 20 points on 6-for-12 shooting and 8-for-12 from the foul line, to lead UIC. Senior guard Kelsey Barlow, the transfer from Purdue, contributed 11 points, seven assists and three steals in his first game as a Flame. Humes, the fifth-year senior forward, finished with 10 points.

Brown led an early charge with six points and a nifty assist to Will Simonton as the Flames opened a 14-8 lead. Humes and junior guard Joey Miller drained 3-pointers on consecutive possessions to give the Flames a 20-12 advantage with 9:30 before halftime.

Jake Wiegand, in his first official career start with the Flames, converted an old-fashioned three-point play to give UIC its largest lead at 23-14 with just over 5 minutes remaining in the first half.

Carter kept the Bulldogs in the game in the opening half, scoring 14 points to pull Drake within 30-25 at halftime.

Humes drilled a 3-pointer to start the second half to give UIC an eight-point lead, but the Flames went cold and Carter got hot.

Carter hit a layup off an Aaron Hawley steal as the Bulldogs took their first lead of the night at 39-38 with 14:28 remaining in the game.

Brown hit a free throw to put UIC back up 42-41, but Drake went on an 11-1 run, which included a steal and layup by Carter and 3-pointer by Ricks, for a 52-43 lead with under 8 minutes to play.

UIC tightened up its defense and Barlow connected on a 3-pointer to slice the deficit to 56-54 with 3:24 left. Sophomore Gabe Snider knocked down a 3-pointer of his own with a lucky roll to pull the Flames within 58-57 with 2:34 left.

Carter scored his final basket of the evening on a layup with 2 minutes to go for a 60-57 lead. Brown answered with a layup to cut the deficit back to one.

After a Drake miss, the Flames looked for the lead but Barlow missed a jumper with 31 seconds left. Karl Madison split a pair of free throws moments later, leaving the door open for the Flames.

Snider missed a potential go-ahead 3-pointer with 10 ticks to go, but Barlow grabbed the offensive rebound and called timeout. The Flames then had a really good look from Humes, whose shot rolled off.

“It was down. It was in and it came out,” Moore said. “Again, it shouldn’t have come down to that possession. We’ve got some work to do. It was a wake-up call.”

The Flames continue their season-opening four-game homestand against Roosevelt on Wednesday night.

FLAMES FLICKERS: Carter’s 38 points was just five shy of the UIC Pavilion record of 43, which was set by Detroit’s Willie Green in the Titans’ 80-73 win on Jan. 27, 2003. … Moore started Humes and Wiegand up front with Brown, Barlow and freshman Lance Whitaker at the three guard spots. … Brown tied his career high with five assists. … Snider hit two 3-pointers to establish a career high of six points in 13 minutes off the bench. He also added a career-best four rebounds. … The Flames were outrebounded 37-30 overall and allowed 45.5 percent shooting in the second half. … Drake won despite its starting frontcourt combining for just two points on 1-for-14 shooting. … The Flames committed 15 turnovers while the Bulldogs made 18. … The Flames honored Chicago basketball youth advocate Sonny Parker before the game. His nephew, Jay, is a junior guard with UIC. His son, Jabari, is a freshman at Duke.