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Pressure cooks up trouble

UIC falls into Illinois State trap

By Mike Pankow

December 17, 2015

Mike Pankow/Whoosh!

Freshman Dominique Matthews scored a career-high 20 points Wednesday in the Flames’ loss to Illinois State.

UIC had its opportunities to break open a close game against Illinois State on Wednesday night.

Instead, it was the Flames that broke down, crumbling against a trapping defense midway through the second half of a 72-60 loss to the Redbirds at the UIC Pavilion.

The Flames appeared to be on their way to their first win of the season against a Division I team before ISU stung the home team with a 24-5 blitz, thanks mostly to a trapping defense that knocked UIC out of rhythm.

DeVaughn Akoon-Purcell scored 18 points for the Redbirds (5-6) while MiKyle McIntosh gave the Flames fits with 14 points and 11 rebounds. Paris Lee, who was the cog during the big second-half run, finished with 17 points.

Freshman Dominique Matthews scored a career-high 20 points to lead the Flames (1-7), who shot 29.3 percent in the second half en route to their fifth straight loss. Senior Paris Burns contributed 14 points and freshman Dikembe Dixson added 12 points and 10 rebounds for his second consecutive double-double.

Burns and Matthews combined to score the first 16 points of the second half for the Flames, who opened a 47-39 lead with 14:20 remaining.

UIC missed out on extending the lead to double figures on two straight possessions, then the Redbirds turned up the heat.

After having some success with the trap in the first half, ISU dialed up the pressure, forcing three turnovers on UIC’s next four possessions.

“We got up eight in the second half, then we had three bad possessions in a row offensively,” UIC coach Steve McClain said. “Bad offensive possessions led to easy baskets for them and got their confidence back. That’s part of the process of how do you react to that, how you come back from that. I give Illinois State credit. They really came after us.”

Lee scored six straight points to cap a 7-0 run to cut the Redbirds’ deficit to 47-46 with 12:03 showing.

After the teams traded free throws, Lee scored on a driving layup to out ISU on top 50-49 with 10:29 remaining. Then UIC went stone cold as the Redbirds put the game into cruise control.

While the Flames were in the process of missing 16 consecutive field-goal attempts over a span of 12:06, the Redbirds kept building the lead.

Akoon-Purcell slammed home an alley-oop dunk and converted a layup on consecutive possessions for a 59-50 lead. Lee scored on a layup after a steal to boost the margin into double digits with 6:07 left and the Flames never challenged again.

“We had unbelievable energy in the last half of the second half,” Illinois State coach Dan Muller said. “We finally started playing with the right mindset and the energy we need and it was certainly fun to watch.”

Unlike in the Illinois game Saturday where he has hampered by fouls after an early scoring explosion, Matthews saw plenty of time in this contest.

Matthews, who scored all 18 of his points against Illinois in the first half, again got off to a hot start, scoring the Flames' first five points.

After the Redbirds led by as many as four points, Matthews continued his scoring binge, giving the Flames an 18-17 lead on his second 3-pointer of the game.

The game seesawed for a while until Lance Whitaker drilled a 3-pointer from the right elbow to give UIC a 27-24 lead with 3:41 before halftime.

The Flames had difficulty stopping McIntosh on the inside as he scored 10 points to keep the Redbirds afloat in the first half. UIC wrested the lead away once McIntosh went to the bench with two fouls.

Dixson hit two free throws and assisted on Jake Wiegand's layup in the final 1:08 of the half to give the Flames a 31-28 lead at the break, only the second time this season UIC has led at halftime.

Matthews' 11 points in the opening half led the Flames.

“We came out as a team,” Matthews said. “Our defensive intensity was there [in the first half]. We just needed that the whole game. Every practice and every game, we’re learning something new each time. In this game, we learned that we need to continue to fight when we get hit.”

Burns' 3-pointer with 15:23 left in the game gave the Flames a 45-37 lead before things started to go south.

“The kids came out with the right mentality,” McClain said. “We’re getting closer. We’re playing hard. We’re getting to the point we understand how hard you have to compete. Now it’s that next step for us.”

TIGHTENING ROTATION: UIC used just eight players — the fewest the Flames have used in a game this season. McClain explained that the matchups dictated his rotation for the night.

“There just wasn’t the matchups out there tonight,” he said. “I felt other guys were playing well. I knew we were going to play smaller in this game because of what they do. It was just one of those nights where eight or nine was enough.”

Matthews and Dixson each played a season-high 39 minutes while Burns saw 31 minutes of action.

FLAMES FLICKERS: Junior forward Najeal Young is day-to-day with a left ankle injury he suffered against Illinois. He might miss one or two more games. ... In a close call with 8:43 left in the first half, officials were quickly to wave off a Wiegand layup as the shot clock was running down. The Flames' bench protested to no avail. … The Redbirds took a 14-7 lead in the all-time series after beating the Flames for the sixth straight time. UIC’s last win in series came in 2004 when the Flames won 60-56 at Redbird Arena. Jovan Stefanov hit the go-ahead basket with 22 seconds left in that game. … Sophomore center Tai Odiase struggled with the Redbirds’ athletic players, finishing scoreless on 0-for-4 from the field with four rebounds and one block in 26 minutes.

POSTGAME VIDEOS:

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