McCammon helps Loyola battle past UIC

If Geoff McCammon hadn't shown up at UIC Pavilion on Friday night, then the national ESPNU audience might have wondered if anyone in Chicago shoots straight.

While everyone else on the floor teamed up to shoot 32 percent, McCammon's unerring eye made the difference in this intra-city rivalry.

The junior from Conant High School poured in a career-high 26 points - including 6 of 7 from 3-point range - to lift Loyola to a 55-50 Horizon League victory over UIC before 5,666 fans.

The Ramblers (12-5, 3-4) broke a three-game losing streak overall and a five-game dry spell against their biggest foe.

"It's our Army-Navy game," said Loyola coach Jim Whitesell. "It's your Bears-Packers."

While most possessions appeared to invoke the Bears-Packers ethos - multiple bodies colliding in the paint and beyond with few whistles to keep them apart - McCammon kept finding open space beyond the arc.

He was never more alone than on his final 3-pointer.

Loyola came out of a timeout holding a 49-46 lead with 3:49 to play. The Ramblers then ran their patient motion offense to perfection and Terrence Hill found McCammon uncovered on the wing for an easy 3-pointer.

Incredible coaching, right?

"He was supposed to be running through (to the other side)," Loyola forward Andy Polka said with a smile.

Maybe that's why the Flames (5-12, 1-6) left McCammon open - because they anticipated a cut that never came.

Of course, that doesn't explain why McCammon wriggled free for 3 first-half 3-pointers and then two more on Loyola's first two possessions of the second half.

"We talked about closing out on shooters and making them make the next move," said UIC coach Jimmy Collins. "Guys were, like, kind of trotting out at them. You can't trot out and give a guy an opportunity to get hot.

"Because once he gets hot, it doesn't matter if you don't trot out the next time - because he'll hit it in your face."

Meanwhile, UIC couldn't hit anything to save face after Robo Kreps' 3-pointer with 8:39 left made it a 46-46 battle.

From that point forward, the Flames got nothing except 4 Kreps free throws.

UIC missed its final 12 field-goal attempts - 6 of them from Kreps - as the Flames shot 19 percent for the half and 31 percent for the game.

"If any of us said we had a good game, besides Geoff, we'd be lying," Polka said. "But the most important thing is we went back on defense and we stopped them."