Mayo, Flames fired up, take it out on Milwaukee

ALL IS WELL FOR UIC IN HORIZON OPENER

December 7, 2007

Whoosh! photo Josh Mayo scored 29 points as UIC routed Milwaukee in its Horizon League opener.

After a humbling second half last weekend at Illinois State, UIC coach Jimmy Collins was on the warpath leading up to the Flames’ Horizon League opener with Milwaukee.

Collins called out the Flames’ defense as “embarrassing” after a 26-point loss against the Redbirds and ripped the team in the Daily Herald for being too selfish and not settling into roles.

Apparently the Flames took Collins’ words to heart as they shot 60 percent from the field and steamrolled Milwaukee 91-73 at the UIC Pavilion on Thursday night.

Junior guard Josh Mayo helped UIC rebound in style, scoring 29 points on 10-for-12 shooting with five threes.

“We really got it at Illinois State,” said Mayo, referring to postgame tongue-lashings last weekend. “We knew that we didn’t play up to our capabilities in that second half. We just had to come back with some fire in us. [Coach Collins] yelled at us a little bit, but it never hurts.”

Whether it is finding a crease in the defense and taking the ball to the basket or drilling long-range bombs, Mayo barely missed on this night.

“For some reason, Milwaukee was giving him a little too much room,” said sophomore point guard Spencer Stewart, who had nine points and six assists. “He had half-a-step, he’s was able to make a move, create space and get a shot up.”

Things looked a little bleak early when Milwaukee took a 17-10 lead and the Flames had more turnovers than field goals in the first 9 minutes (6 to 4). Finally UIC settled down and went on a 19-4 run, started by freshman Robert Kreps’ three-pointer and capped by a Stewart three. That put the Flames up 29-21 with 6:34 left in the first half.

“Now this is the way to start off your conference [season],” Collins said. “I was a little concerned with the way we played the second half [at Illinois State]. I was concerned with how our energy level was going to be: Were we going to come out sulking or were we going to come out and play?”

UIC pushed the advantage to double digits with another 11-2 spurt, which included one of the game’s most exciting sequences. With 2:10 left before half, junior Scott VanderMeer rejected Torre Johnson’s dunk attempt, leading to another three-pointer by Mayo seconds later.

The Flames led 44-32 at halftime, but the Panthers showed a little fight, trimming the lead to 51-42 on Roman Gentry’s stickback with 16:16 to play. The Flames then quashed any thoughts of a Milwaukee comeback with a 9-0 spurt, which included two more Mayo three-point baskets.

“Mayo is a talent,” Milwaukee coach Rob Jeter said. “We understand that he’s going to score points. When you allow guys to get into a rhythm, it gets easier.”

Whoosh! photo Milwaukee’s Torre Johnson scored a game-high 30 points, but he didn’t get enough support.

UIC never led by less than 12 for the rest of the contest.

After some early sloppiness, Collins was pleased with Stewart and the way the Flames ran their offense.

“I think Spencer did a tremendous job especially in the first half,” Collins said. “In the second half, he helped settle guys down.”

UIC had 22 assists compared to 13 turnovers.

Mayo may have scored the bulk of the points, but he had plenty of support. VanderMeer contributed 10 points and four blocked shots and Kreps added a career-best 14 points on 5-for-8 shooting, including three treys for UIC (4-4, 1-0), which had lost four of its previous five games.

Johnson, a 6-foot-6 senior transfer from Oklahoma State, looked like a pro, scoring a game-high 30 points for the Panthers (3-5, 0-1), using a variety of layups, mid-range jumpers, short jumpers in the lane and perimeter shots. Deonte Roberts and Ricky Franklin each added nine points for Milwaukee.

Perhaps feeling a little like counterpart did the other night, Jeter ripped into his Panthers.

“When you let them shoot 60 percent, you can’t win games,” Jeter said. “It was lack of defense, a lack of our ability to guard.”

Whoosh! photo Robert Bush had season-high eight points in his third game since returning from a knee injury.

WELCOME HOME, BUSH: Senior forward Robert Bush played 15 minutes in his first game at home since returning from his left knee injury. He scored eight points on 3-for-5 shooting and hit two three-pointers as the Flames were sealing the victory in the second half.

“I told Robert, ‘You’re going to play a little more, so just relax,’ ” Collins said.

Bush, who was once projected as the starter at small forward, had just four points over 28 minutes in two games. Bush said he’s starting to feel more comfortable.

“It felt to come back and play at home,” said Bush, with a pack of ice on the left knee after the game. “I had the crowd behind me and that gave me a little boost. It’s tough to come back from an injury like this on the road. I felt like the old me from the end of last year.”

Whoosh! photo Spencer Stewart could only chuckle when asked about his 65-foot basket that beat the shot clock in the second half.

WOW!: With just over a minute left in the game and the Flames trying to run out the clock, Milwaukee’s Allan Hanson tipped the ball away from the Flames’ frontcourt and it rolled out of bounds at the other end of the floor. With just three ticks on the shot clock a hand in his face, Stewart simply flipped up a 65-footer and buried the shot.

“Three seconds left on shot clock, so I knew I had to get it off,” Stewart said.

“He practices that all the time,” added a joking Mayo.

VanderMeer was ready to grab the ball or tip it in the basket when the ball went right through the basket.

On the Flames’ next possession with Stewart handling in the backcourt, fans were yelling from him to duplicate the feat.

FLAMES FLICKERS: Walk-on Ebenezer Noonoo made his season debut in the final minute of the game, missing a three-point shot. It was his first game action since he suffered a knee injury. In fact, it was the first time all 13 Flames on the roster played in a game. Walk-ons Jimmy Harding and Alex Tkaczuk each made their third appearances of the season. …

Sophomore Jeremy Buttell, now coming off the bench, grabbed a team-high nine rebounds. However, the Flames did some inefficiency on the boards as Milwaukee outrebounded UIC 33-26, including 16-7 on the offensive end. …

Senior Karl White Jr. returned to the starting lineup, replacing Tori Boyd at the small forward spot. … Milwaukee’s Tim Flowers, making his return to Chicago, went just 1-for-8 from the field with four points, five rebounds and five blocks. … UIC was the only Horizon League team to defend its home court on opening night of conference play: Butler won at Detroit, Valparaiso upended Wright State and Green Bay won at Loyola.

UP NEXT: The Flames entertain Green Bay on Saturday at the UIC Pavilion with a tip time of 3 p.m.

The Phoenix is 6-2 and opened Horizon League play with a 69-63 victory over Loyola at the Gentile Center on Thursday night.

Green Bay’s star forward Mike Schachtner had a game-high 20 points for his fourth 20-point game this season, while the versatile Terry Evans matched his career-best effort with 16 points, and added team highs in rebounds (7), assists (4), blocked shots (3) and steals (3).

Schachtner leads the league at 19.8 points per game and connects on 57 percent of his field-goal attempts. Other threats include Rahmon Fletcher (12.4 points), Evans (9.5 points, 7.5 rebounds) and Ryan Tillema (8.8 points).

Green Bay shoots 49 percent from the field and averages 74.6 points per game, so it will be a stiff test for UIC.

If fans can’t make it the UIC Pavilion, the game will be available on Lakeshore Public TV, video streamed on www.horizonleaguenetwork.tv and audio streamed on www.uicflames.com.