Never has one team so desperately wanted to visit a Dayton suburb.
On a night when Illinois-Chicago appeared as if it might sink below the horizon in the early going, the Flames rallied to defeat Wisconsin-Milwaukee 83-77 Tuesday at the UIC Pavilion.
Their first-round Horizon League tournament victory moved them into the quarterfinals Friday night at Wright State in Fairborn, Ohio, for UIC vs. Loyola III.
“The city rivalry goes to Dayton, Ohio,” said a happy coach Mark Coomes, after the Flames’ fifth victory in their last six games made them the unlikeliest hot team in the conference.
The Flames (14-17) hit 29 of 33 free throws, including a 14-for-14 performance by guard Josh Mayo, who had 22 points. They also made 10 of 19 three-pointers to stymie UW-Milwaukee (9-22) in the second half. The win joyfully prolonged a season that had more than its share of disruption stemming from sidelined players and coaches.
UIC hit 50 percent from the floor in the second half and rode the back of an energized Robert Bush, a 6-foot-4-inch junior guard from Harvey, who had a career-high 21 points, including two critical threes in the first half when the Panthers had the Flames down 10 points.
“They were real big,” Coomes said of Bush’s early shots against a team his club split with during the regular season. “He kept us in the game.”
The Panthers, who had no foul shots in the first half, have a squadron of outside shooters. Paige Paulsen and Ricky Franklin gave Milwaukee what it was looking for in the first half as it built 10-point leads four times. The Flames’ defense helped close the gap to 36-34 at the half and jump-started an immediate second-half push. A Bush three-pointer provided the Flames’ first lead, 41-40, and they never lost it.
Bush said the way UIC whipped passes around the perimeter freed him up. “Ball movement had a lot to do with it,” he said.
UIC equaled Milwaukee with 10 three-pointers–Bush nailed four and guard T.J. Gray three–in essence beating the Panthers at their own game.
“We’re getting better as the season goes on, at the right time,” Coomes said of his sixth-seeded team.
The seventh-seeded Panthers collected 21 assists and made only 10 turnovers, usually a winning combination, but they shot only 9 of 15 at the line.
“We just didn’t produce the one stat that matters,” Milwaukee coach Rob Jeter said, meaning winning. “I’m not feeling real good about tonight.”
Milwaukee chased UIC all of the way to the finish by fouling the Flames and hoping for missed free throw. Mayo, however, was 8 of 8 in the game’s last 1:20.
“I figured they had to [foul],” Mayo said. “I tried to get to the ball as soon as possible.”
It was win or go home in one of the first college tournament games of the 2007 season. Milwaukee’s season is finished; the Flames move on. After topping Loyola (20-10) by six points and one point in the regular season, the Flames face the Ramblers again.
“It should be another good game,” Mayo said.
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Horizon League tournament
Friday-Saturday in Dayton, Ohio; Championship at highest remaining seed
FIRST-ROUND RESULTS
Youngstown St. 82, Detroit 80
Keston Roberts had 20 of his 31 points in the first half and the Penguins (14-16) hung on after blowing a 17-point second-half lead to defeat the visiting Titans (11-19).
Wisconsin-Green Bay 78,
Cleveland State 59
Troy Cotton scored 19 points and Ryan Evanochko had 16 as the Phoenix (17-14) beat the visiting Vikings (10-21) for the third time this season.
FRIDAY’S SECOND ROUND
Gm 4: Loyola vs. Illinois-Chicago, 5
Gm 5: Youngstown State vs. Wisconsin-Green Bay, 7
SATURDAY’S SEMIFINALS
Butler vs. Gm 4 winner, 4
Wright State vs.
Gm. 5 winner, 6
CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
Tuesday 8 (ESPN)
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lfreedman@tribune.com
