Mayo, Flames KO Bradley
For the past couple of weeks, boxing took over the UIC Pavilion. But it's doubtful that any fighter, pound for pound, could match up with Josh Mayo on Saturday night, as the UIC guard delivered one knockout blow after another.
Mayo scored a career-high 34 points to lead the UIC Flames to a mild upset victory over midmajor power Bradley 84-75 in both teams' season opener.
"We came out there and said we weren't going to be afraid of these guys," Mayo said. "We knew they had some great players and they were coming out to get us. We said we would come at them as hard as we could and we maintained it throughout the game."
It wasn't the prettiest of games, with the referees strictly enforcing proper ballhandling and cracking down on illegal screens. The teams combined for 43 turnovers and 42 fouls.
Mayo -- who hit 11 of 17 shots, 3 of 4 3-pointers and all 9 of his free throws -- scored 24 points in the second half to stave off a tough Bradley squad and give coach Jimmy Collins a win in his return to the Flames bench.
Collins missed the final 19 games of last season with health problems, and he seemed rejuvenated to be back.
"Just like old times," Mayo said. "It's great to have him back."
Jeremy Crouch hit five 3s and scored 19 points to lead Bradley, Sweet Sixteen entrants in the NCAA and NIT tournaments the last two seasons. Point guard Daniel Ruffin, the nation's active leader in assists, had 14 of them to go along with 14 points and 7 turnovers.
Mayo said he was inspired to rough up Ruffin.
"That's exactly why I went at him the way I did," Mayo said. "A lot of people say he's better than me."
That kind of attitude can only mean good things for the Flames. A few inches shy of his listed height of 5-feet-11, Mayo has to shoulder the scoring burden for a team missing three would-be starters -- Robert Bush (injury), Othyus Jeffers (transfer) and T.J. Gray (transfer) -- from last season's team.
A preseason all-conference pick, Mayo's previous career high was 26 points, and he has averaged just more than 11 points in his first seasons. This could be his breakout year, and, if his supporting cast keeps it up, this could be a good season for the Flames.
Freshman forward Tori Boyd scored 11 points off the bench, sophomore Spencer Stewart added 10 points and 6 assists in only 16 foul-plagued minutes, and small, but feisty, freshman guard Robert "Robocop" Kreps added 7 points and 5 rebounds, tying him with Mayo for the team high. Scott VanderMeer added 7 points and 5 blocks.