No. 6 UIC Posts 83-77 Victory Over No. 7 UW-Milwaukee In First Round Of Horizon League Championship

Feb. 27, 2007

Final Stats

CHICAGO (AP) - Josh Mayo scored 22 points and Robert Bush added a career-high 21 points as Illinois-Chicago advanced to the Horizon League quarterfinals with an 83-77 win over Wisconsin-Milwaukee on Tuesday night.

Leading 68-66 with 1:54 left in the game, Scott Vandermeer finished a break with a dunk for Illinois-Chicago (14-17) and Mayo hit four consecutive free throws, giving the Flames a 74-66 lead with 47.7 seconds remaining.

Paige Paulsen hit a 3-pointer with 24.1 seconds left to cut the Flames lead to 77-74, but Mayo answered with a pair of free throws. He was 8-of-8 from the charity stripe in the final 1:20 and made all 14 of his free throw attempts in the game.

Paulsen led the Panthers with 17 points and Ricky Franklin added 16.

Trailing 67-58 with 5:04 left, Avery Smith made a game out of it by scoring seven consecutive points for the Panthers. He converted a three-point play that cut the Flames' lead to 68-66. Smith finished with 16 points.

Bush's 3-pointer gave the Flames a 41-40 advantage early in the second half, their first lead since the opening minutes of the game. Mayo added to it with a pair of free throws and 3-pointer, putting Illinois-Chicago up 53-43 with 10:43 to go in the game.

Jovan Stefanov and Vandermeer both scored 10 points for the Flames, who were 29-of-33 from the line as a team. Vandermeer also had eight rebounds and blocked five shots.

The Flames closed out the first half by outscoring the Panthers 10-3. Stefanov, who made all 10 of his points in the half, made a 3-pointer to cut the Wisconsin-Milwaukee lead to 36-34 at the break. Paulsen scored 10 points in the first half to lead the Panthers, who had a 10-point lead midway through the period. Franklin added eight points for the Panthers in the half.

Wisconsin-Milwaukee ended its season at 9-22 and Illinois-Chicago will face Loyola of Chicago in Dayton in Friday's quarterfinals.