Armond hammers Huskies

(12/29/02)

UIC junior forward Armond Williams could do no wrong in Saturday’s contest at Northern Illinois Saturday night.

The 6-foot 5-inch sparkplug from Austin High School scored 21 points on 6-of-9 from the field, grabbed 10 rebounds and blocked two shots. He even shot 9-of-10 from the free-throw line as the Flames trounced their in-state rivals 77-45 at the new Convocation Center in DeKalb.

Williams keyed UIC’s 20-2 second-half run with 10 points.

“It seemed like [Williams] hit he every shot, made every free throw and got every rebound,” said an admiring NIU coach Rob Judson.

The Flames (7-3) broke open a 40-29 halftime lead with a swarming dcfense and ruthless aggression on the boards. UIC held the Huskies to just 31 percent shooting and out-rebounded NIU 48-28.

“I thought UIC played great,” Judson added. “Their effort showed. The board effort and the field goal percentage defense—those are effort stats.”

And Williams wasn’t the only Flame with a great effort. Jonathan Schneiderman scored 15 points and made three three-pointers. Aaron Carr scored 14 points, grabbed eight rebounds and handed out four assists.

Martell Bailey, coming off the bench, contributed 13 points and seven assists. Bailey did not start, because he was suffering from stomach flu that caused him to miss some practice time.

Cedrick Banks, who had a red-hot start after missing the Flames’ first four games, struggled for his second straight game, scoring just seven points on 3-of-12 shooting.

P.J. Smith was the only Huskie in double figures with 14 points on 6-of-10 shooting. Marcus Smallwood added eight points and seven rebounds for NIU.

UIC handed Northern Illinois (4-6) its worst home defeat since 1989—when Iona smashed the Huskies 81-48. It was the Flames’ largest margin of victory on the road in their Division I history.

“I’m surprised by the margin, but my team can play when we stay focused and do crazy things,” UIC coach Jimmy Collins said. “Northern Illinois was out of sync tonight. I applaud my team’s defensive effort tonight. When you shoot that poorly (42 percent) and turn the ball over 15 times, it has to be the defense.”

NOTES

STATE CHAMPS: The Flames improved to 5-0 against other schools from Illinois, boasting home victories against Eastern Illinois and Southern Illinois and road wins over Illinois State, Northwestern and now, NIU. The Flames will play at two more games against a state school—the Horizon League contests with Loyola.

In fact, the Flames are 6-0 in games played in Illinois (also including a home win over Samford), 1-0 in Wisconsin and 0-3 in Indiana.

UP NEXT: The Flames open up their Horizon League home slate with perennial power Butler Saturday, Jan. 4. Tip time is 3 p.m. with ESPN Radio 1000 handling the broadcast.