Scrappy Flames earn road victory

STEFANOV SHOT, TEAM BALANCE BEAT ISU

(12/1/04)

There’s nothing like playing an intrastate rival that brings out the best in the UIC Flames.

The Flames improved to 22-5 against teams from Illinois in the past four years with a hard-earned 60-56 victory over Illinois State at Redbird Arena on Tuesday night.

Jovan Stefanov (pictured) scored on a driving layup off a feed from Marcetteaus McGee with 22 seconds left in the game to put UIC ahead 58-56.

Vince Greene threw the ball away on the Redbirds’ ensuing possession. Illinois State immediately fouled Elliott Poole, who calmly sank the two game-clinching free throws with 7.3 seconds remaining.

Justin Bowen led a balanced scoresheet for the Flames (2-2) with 14 points, while Poole finished with 12 points and freshman Karl White continued his streak of good play with a career-high 11 points.

Stefanov had seven points and five rebounds and McGee added eight points, six assists and five rebounds.

UIC shot 51 percent from the field (23-for-45) and 81 percent from the free-throw line (13-of-16). The Flames’ defense held Illinois State to 39 percent shooting.

Senior guard Cedrick Banks had just two points on 1-for-8 shooting, but provided a team-high six rebounds and helped the Flames’ defense keep Redbirds’ sharpshooter Trey Guidry quiet.

Lorenzo Gordon led Illinois State (4-2) with 13 points and six rebounds. Guidry had just nine points on 3-of-13 from the field.

The Flames led for the majority of the game. Trailing 4-2 in the early moments of the game, UIC went on a 9-0 run, capped by Banks’ only basket of the game, a layup about seven minutes into the contest.

UIC led 33-26 at the break, despite five Redbird three-pointers in the opening half.

Poole scored a bucket off the glass in the first minute of the second half to put the Flames up 37-28, but ISU rallied back with a quick 6-0 run that ended with Greg Dilligard dunk.

Poole’s 15-foot jumper with 4:35 left put UIC ahead 54-46, but the Redbirds made their final charge.

Neil Plank hit two free throws with 1:40 to play to pull the Redbirds within 56-55. On ISU’s next possession, Greene was fouled.

With 56 seconds left, Greene, who had made a team-record 56 straight free throws, had the chance to put ISU ahead. After making the first shot, he missed the second, snapping his streak at 57 and leaving the game tied at 56-56.

The victory was sweet for coach Jimmy Collins, who tied Bob Hallberg as the winningest coach in school history, with his 133rd career victory. He can break the mark with a victory over Wisconsin-Milwaukee on Saturday night.

SMITH LEAVES TEAM: Redshirt sophomore Mike Smith left the team, coach Jimmy Collins announced Monday. He played in one game this season after redshirting last year.

Smith, who was a highly-regarded prep at Shepard High, had an injury-plagued freshman year, averaging 1.0 point per game in nine games. He was expected to compete for playing time in the backcourt this season.

Collins had termed this “a learning year” for the 6-foot-2 guard.

Smith was not with the team in Saturday’s 80-66 victory over South Dakota State last Saturday.

Smith is the second player to leave the team this season, following freshman walk-on forward Leonard Wakefield, who left just before the start of the regular season.

MORE NOTES FROM TECH: Georgia Tech dropped to No. 4 in the Associated Press poll, likely because of the tough time the Yellow Jackets had at the Pavilion in last week’s 60-59 victory.

Georgia Tech improved to 4-0 with a 99-68 victory over Michigan Tuesday night. In fact, the Jackets had 59 points against the Wolverines – at the half, just one point less than the Flames permitted to Tech the entire game.