UIC Lone Winner on Wednesday

Men’s Basketball Scoreboard (Nov. 13)
UIC 87, Roosevelt 65
#rv/rv Georgetown 88, Wright State 70
#--/rv Illinois 64, Valparaiso 52
San Francisco 91, Cleveland State 82

UIC collected its first win of the season on Wednesday night, while Valparaiso and Cleveland State each hung tough in difficult road losses. Wright State suffered its first loss of the year at Georgetown.

UIC 87, Roosevelt 65
Behind Marc Brown’s career-high 25 points, UIC pulled away from visiting Roosevelt in the second half to grab its first win of the season, 87-65, at the UIC Pavilion.

Leading by nine at the half, UIC (1-1) used a 19-6 run early in the second half to effectively put the game away.

For Brown, the effort was his second consecutive game with 20 or more points. Going 11-for-14 from the floor, the junior is just one of two players in the Horizon League this season to open with two straight 20-plus point efforts.

UIC used a 19-6 run early in the second half to go in front 62-38, permanently distancing themselves from the Lakers and holding at least a 15-point lead for the remainder of the contest.

The Flames owned the paint as they outscored Roosevelt 56-20 on the interior. UIC shot an impressive 60 percent from the floor (36-of-60), hitting that mark for the first time since Dec. 6, 2007. The last time UIC sank over 30 field goals in a single game was against Roosevelt on Nov. 15, 2010.

Sophomore Gabe Snider helped ignite UIC’s second half run, scoring all eight of his points in just over a two minute span that included two threes. Making his first career start, Snider set a career-high in points for the second straight game. Freshman Markese McGuire ripped off eight second half points as well, making his first UIC appearance. Sophomore Jake Wiegand tied a career-best with nine points, while grabbing four rebounds.

The Flames’ defense caused 20 Laker turnovers which were converted into 24 points as UIC limited their own miscues to 11. The Flames received 28 points from its bench and bested Roosevelt on second-chance opportunities, 17-4.

Senior Kelsey Barlow recorded his second straight 11-point outing, adding five assists, four rebounds and two steals in just 19 minutes of action. Fellow senior Hayden Humes chipped in six points and grabbed a team-high five boards, while junior Ahman Fells tacked on seven points and three rebounds.

#rv/rv Georgetown 88, Wright State 70
Returning home after opening the season in South Korea, Georgetown showed no signs of jetlag, pulling out to an early lead on Wright State and rolling to an 88-70 win over the Raiders.

Wright State (1-1) shot just 37.9 percent in the loss, while Georgetown was aided by eight first-half 3-pointers, enabling the Hoyas to build a 50-31 lead at the half. Overall, Georgetown shot 57 percent from the floor in the opening 20 minutes.

A JT Yoho three tied the game at 5-5 two minutes in, only to see Georgetown retake the lead for good with a 14-2 run. The margin eventually grew to 42-19 on a Markel Starks three before the Raiders outscored the Hoyas 12-8 over the final 4:46 to make it 50-31 at the break.

The lead seesawed between 15 and 25 in the second half as the Hoyas shot 50 percent overall for the game, were 10 of 22 from three, and 22 of 34 at the foul line. The Raiders, meanwhile, shot 39 percent altogether, were seven of 23 from three and made 19 of 22 free throws. Georgetown led 32-24 in points in the paint and 16-4 in second-chance points while WSU had a 25-20 edge in points off of turnovers.

Kendall Griffin paced the Raiders with 15 points while Yoho and Miles Dixon each had 14.  Matt Vest added eight points and seven rebounds and Reggie Arceneaux had eight points off the bench.

D'Vauntes Smith-Rivera led Georgetown (1-1) with 25 points while Starks had 23.

#--/rv Illinois 64, Valparaiso 52
Valparaiso trailed by just two points with 6:43 to play, but Illinois held off the visiting Crusaders over the final minutes to take a 64-52 victory at the State Farm Center.

Bobby Capobianco’s 3-pointer from the left side brought Valparaiso (201) withing 49-47 and capped a 10-2 Crusaders run, but it would prove to be the final field goal for Valpo over the next five minutes. Illinois would score 13 of the next 14 points to pull away late.

Trailing by eight coming out of halftime, the Crusaders' deficit remained right around there for a good bit of the second half. Valpo went on a 7-1 spurt early in the half after Illinois scored the first basket out of the break, closing the gap to within 36-32, but could not get it down to one possession at that point. The Illini answered with a 9-2 run of their own to earn their largest lead to that point, going ahead 45-34 with 14:16 to play.

The teams traded baskets over the next six minutes, but that amounted to just two buckets apiece, as the Crusaders were still down 49-39 with 8:30 to go. But Valpo was able to string together baskets to quickly move within one possession. LaVonte Dority started the run with a mid-range jumper, and then following a long-range miss from the Illini, Dority found himself with room to shoot and knocked down a 3-pointer, bringing Valpo within five.

After forcing another empty possession from Illinois, the Crusaders came down and missed a triple. Capobianco’s 3-pointers brought Valpo within two points, but with the chance to tie or take the lead on each of their next two trips, Valpo couldn't come up with points, and Illinois then scored on four straight possessions as the Crusaders went over six minutes without a field goal.

Illinois jumped out to a double-digit lead quickly on Wednesday, going up 15-5 just over six minutes into the game before freshman Lexus Williams made it a single-digit game with a 3-pointer. Later in the half, a pair of baskets from freshman Alec Peters bookended a fast-break layup by Jordan Coleman, as the Crusaders cut the Illini lead to two points.

The game remained within two possessions for almost the entirety of the remainder of the half, with a pair of free throws by Coleman bringing Valpo within 28-25 with one minute to play in the opening period. But Illinois connected on a pair of free throws, and with the chance to run the game clock nearly all the way down, the Crusaders turned the ball over. The Illini took advantage of their extra possession, knocking down a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to make it 33-25 at the break.

Coleman led Valpo on Wednesday with 15 points and also paced the Crusaders on the glass with eight rebounds. Dority added 12 points, but no other Valpo player was able to get to double figures. The Crusaders shot just 32.7 percent (17-of-52) from the floor and 55 percent (11-of-20) from the foul line, but did connect on 7-of-18 from behind the 3-point line.

Rayvonte Rice paced four Illinois (3-0) players in double digits with 18 points and also pulled down eight boards. Joseph Bertrand chipped in 14 points, while Jon Ekey came up with a game-best 15 rebounds. Illinois shot just 31.8 percent (21-of-66) from the floor, but grabbed 18 offensive rebounds and committed just eight turnovers.

San Francisco 91, Cleveland State 82
Seemingly in control midway through the second half, Cleveland State was stunned by an 18-1 San Francisco run, carrying the Dons to a 91-82 victory at the War Memorial Auditorium.

Cleveland State (1-1) led by nine, 65-56, with 9:17 to play following a layup from Sebastian Douglas, but were outscored 35-17 the rest of the way by a resurgent San Francisco squad.

The Dons turned to a full-court press in an attempt to disrupt Cleveland State’s offense, the press worked, forcing turnovers and sending USF to the free-throw line. Free throws brought San Francisco within three, 67-64, before a 3-pointer from Tim Derksen tied the game with 6:47 to play.

A Derksen layup gave USF a lead it would not relinquish, and Avry Holmes continued the burst with a three from the corner.

Bryn Forbes would bring Cleveland State within 75-71, but a 3-point play from Matt Glover pushed the Dons lead back to seven, 78-71, and the Vikings would draw no closer than five the rest of the way.

Cleveland State’s bench carried it for most of the evening, especially in the first half. With Forbes and Marlin Mason limited by foul trouble, the Vikings bench scored 25 of the team’s 38 first-half points, helping the Vikings take a three-point edge at the half.

Douglas scored 11 of his team-high 15 points in the first half, while Charlie Lee added 14. Forbes and Trey Lewis each finished with 12.

Mark Tollefsen had a game-high 18 for San Francisco, while Derksen had 17. Cole Dickerson and Holmes posted 14 apiece. Glover finished with 10.

Two Horizon League teams will tip on Thursday, Nov. 14. Detroit will open the 2k Classic benefitting the Wounded Warrior Project at No. 19/20 Connecticut at 7 p.m. ET, with ESPN3 carrying the game. Youngstown State will host Warren Wilson in its home opener at 7:05 p.m ET, with the Horizon League Network providing live coverage.