UIC, WSU Enter Holiday with Victories

Men’s Basketball Scoreboard (Nov. 27)
UIC 94, Wagner 76 (Gulf Coast Showcase)
Wright State 73, Alcorn State 55
Kent State 83, Youngstown State 79

UIC took third in the Gulf Coast Showcase with a win over Wagner, while Wright State collected a victory against Alcorn State entering the Thanksgiving holiday.

UIC 94, Wagner 76
Kelsey Barlow poured in a career-high 38 points, tied for the third-highest total in program history, as UIC took third at the Gulf Coast Showcase with a 94-76 win over Wagner.

Barlow’s output was the top single-game output by a Flame since Cedrick Banks scored 39 versus Wright State on Feb. 23, 2005. Barlow went 8-of-11 from the field, 5-of-8 from behind the arc and 17-of-19 from the foul line, while adding eight rebounds and five assists to his stat line.

UIC (3-4) started fast by jumping out to a 12-4 lead within the first three minutes of the contest and never looked back. The Flames led 46-37 at the half and midway through the second period exploded for an 18-2 run, putting the game out of reach.

Barlow’s 17 made free throws ties for the second-highest mark in program and UIC’s team total of 34 made foul shots is the most in over a decade. The last time the Flames attempted 40 free throws was Feb. 15, 2006. Providing UIC with ample trips to the foul line was the five technical fouls Wagner drew during the game, including two on Head Coach Bashir Mason.

Freshman Pat Birt tied a career-high for the second consecutive night with 11 points on 4-of-6 shooting, while Wiegand also matched a career-best with 11 points. Sophomore Gabe Snider shot 4-of-6 as well for eight points as junior Marc Brown added seven.

UIC shot the ball well, hitting 27-of-53 (50.9 percent) from the floor, while holding the Seahawks to 25-of-62 (40.3 percent) overall and just 2-of-14 (14.3 percent) from behind the arc.

The Flames’ ninety four points matches the highest team total in the Howard Moore era when UIC downed Roosevelt by a final of 94-54 on Nov. 15, 2010.

Wright State 73, Alcorn State 55
Up just six at the half, Wright State opened the second half with an 11-0 run en route to a 73-55 decision over Alcorn State Wednesday night at WSU's Nutter Center.

The Braves scored the first five points of the game, only to see the Raiders answer with six straight as part of a 22-6 run overall to go up 22-11 with 5:18 remaining in the first half. Alcorn State, however, closed to within five later in the period and only trailed 30-24 at the break thanks to an Anthony Evans three in the closing seconds.

Wright State (4-3) shot 46 percent from the field in the opening 20 minutes compared to 37 percent for Alcorn State.

Cole Darling keyed WSU's 11-0 run to start the second half with seven points, all of those coming in a 1:45 span, to extend the margin to 41-24 with 15 minutes remaining. The Raider advantage eventually grew to as much as 22 on four occasions, the final being 59-37 on two AJ Pacher free throws at the 6:50 mark.

The Raiders hit 13 of 23 shots in the second half to end up at 51-percent overall while holding the Braves to 36 percent for the game. WSU also made 16 of 21 foul shots, 15-of-19 after halftime, and led 30-14 in points in the paint and 23-15 in points off of turnovers.

Darling led Wright State with 18 points, all but two coming in the second half. Jerran Young had 13 off the bench, while Miles Dixon added 11. Pacher chipped in nine points and seven boards.

Kent State 83, Youngstown State 79
Kamren Belin scored a career-high 32 points as Youngstown State fought back to push Kent State to the limit before dropping an 83-79 decision to the Golden Flashes at the M.A.C. Center.

Belin scored 25 points in the second half, which eclipsed his previous career high of 24 against Cleveland State set in January. He was 7-of-14 from the field, including four 3-pointers and was 14-of-15 from the free-throw line.

Ranked 17th in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major poll, Youngstown State (6-2) dropped a road contest at the team voted 21st in the same poll.

YSU trailed by a dozen at halftime, but quickly erased most of the deficit at the outset of the second half to pull tie the contest at 44 when Belin made three straight free throws after being fouled on a 3-point attempt. At one stretch early in the second stanza, Belin scored 10 consecutive YSU points.

The contest was later tied a 56 with 12:22 remaining and following two Mark Henniger free throws at the 12:10 mark the Penguins could never get the lead again.

The Penguins trailed 65-58 following a 9-2 spurt, but Ryan Weber and Marcus Keene converted back-to-back 3-pointers to cut the deficit to one. The lead went up to eight at 80-72, but Weber knocked down a 3-pointer and a steal and breakaway dunk by Kendrick Perry brought YSU within 80-76 with 1:30 left.

The Guins played soild defense for most of the shot clock, but Kris Brewer was fouled and converted two free throws with 55.1 seconds left. Perry drove the lane and kicked it out to an open Belin who drained a 3-pointer with 47.7 to once again make the contest a one-possession game.

YSU again played good defense as Kent State ran the shot clock down and Brewer's shot missed the mark, but the ball bounced out of bounds of the Penguins with 11.2 ticks left. Brewer split a pair of free throws with 10 seconds left and Weber's three with four seconds left was just off the mark.

Perry scored 15 while Weber chipped in 10 on the night. Leading Kent State was Derek Jackson who scored 15 points. He was one of five KSU players to score double figures.

For the first 16-plus minutes of the first half, neither team led by more than three points and the score was deadlocked 10 times.

The Penguins did a good job pounding the ball inside as their first six field goals of the contest were layups. Belin connected from behind the 3-point arc to put the Guins in front 17-14 at the 10:02 mark.

After neither team could muster an advantage, Weber's 3-pointer in the corner tied the game at 22 with 4:56 remaining and 51 seconds later, Perry's layup off a nice feed from Amiker tied the game with 4:05 left.

But from there Kent State caught fire making three straight 3-pointers while an Amiker free throw was the only score for the Penguins in that span as the Golden Flashes built a 33-25 lead.

KSU scored the final five points in the last 44 seconds as Devareuax Manley drained a 3-pointer from the top of the key and Darren Goodson added a layup just before the halftime buzzer as the Penguins trailed 42-30.

The Guins made 10-of-25 shots (40 percent) in the opening half while Kent State shot 40.6 percent (13-of-32. At one point KSU was shooting just 25 percent (3-of-12).