Youngstown State never has beaten Illinois-Chicago at the Pavilion, and the host Flames weren’t about to relinquish that perfect mark Saturday night.
UIC improved to 9-0 at home against the Penguins as junior guard Josh Mayo scored a game-high 21 points in an 86-72 Horizon League victory.
“The way we won was important to me,” Flames coach Jimmy Collins said. “We really, really had a balanced attack. We talked all week about moving the ball and not being impatient on offense, and we were able to do that tonight.”
Youngstown State, 2-17 overall against UIC since 1992-93, limped out of Chicago 0-2 in a week that also included a last-second loss Thursday night at Loyola.
The victory was the second straight for the Flames (12-10, 6-5). The Penguins (7-15, 3-9) have lost six straight and eight of their last nine.
Youngstown led for exactly 90 seconds before a Mayo layup gave UIC a lead it never would relinquish.
Freshman guard Robert Kreps then stepped in as big gun as he scored 11 points — including a pair of three-pointers — in an eight-minute span as the lead grew from 18-12 to 34-20 by the time he was through with 5 minutes 9 seconds left in the half.
Illinois-Chicago went on to a 42-38 halftime lead.
The Penguins, who shot 29 percent (9 of 31) in the opening half, abruptly reversed fortunes through the first 6:28 on the second.
Youngstown State hit 6 of 10 from the field in that span — including six points from guard Vytas Sulskis — to trim the deficit to 51-45.
The Penguins drew no closer. Mayo hit back-to-back three-pointers over 52 seconds and guard Robert Bush added a quick basket off an inbound feed as the lead quickly was back to 12 points at 59-47 with 12:40 to play.
Mayo, who leads the nation in three-point shooting percentage (55.6 percent) was 5 of 7 from beyond the arc.
“If I had a vote for player of the year in the conference, he’d be the guy,” Youngstown State coach Jerry Slocum said. “He’s really carrying this group.”
Kreps had 15 for the Flames, guard Karl White Jr. added 11 and Scott Vandermeer and Robert Bush had 10 apiece. Sulskis topped the Penguins with 18.
