Flames overcome sloppy play to advance
It's not enough for Illinois-Chicago to survive and advance at this time of the year.
Not when No. 14 Butler, playing on its home court, stands as one of three firewalls separating the Flames from the NCAA Tournament.
Illinois-Chicago advanced to the Horizon League tournament's second round with a 70-59 victory over Youngstown State on Tuesday night at the UIC Pavilion, but didn't pick up much momentum in the process.
"That's all coach (Jimmy Collins) said once we got back in the locker room," said UIC junior center Scott VanderMeer, who contributed 7 points and a game-high 13 rebounds.
"We can't beat other teams in the league if we play like this tonight."
Not only did the fourth-seeded Flames commit an uncustomary 19 turnovers, they managed just 2 baskets in the final 12:27.
That meant the hosts spent much of their 18-point lead trying to put away the ninth-seeded Penguins (9-21).
UIC did connect on 11 consecutive free throws in the final four minutes to ensure it would win its Horizon League tournament opener for the seventh year in a row.
The Flames' reward? A third meeting with eighth-seeded Loyola, which went on the road and upset fifth-seeded Milwaukee 57-51.
The Flames (17-14) and the Ramblers (12-18) meet in the second round for the third time in the last four years.
They play at 7 p.m. Friday at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, with the winner getting Butler in Saturday's second semifinal.
"It's going to be tough," said junior guard Josh Mayo. "It's hard to beat a team three times, but we're looking for a little payback from last year (when Loyola ended UIC's season at Hinkle). We're going to go out there and play with a lot of energy."
Collins, who hopes his team will have to play back-to-back nights in Naptown, tried his best to conserve his players' energy and con opposing scouts.
Nobody played more than Mayo's 28 minutes as Collins twice subbed five guys at a time.
"What I'm trying to do is find out who is going to play when we need them to play," Collins said. "I'm thinking we need bodies. We've got to have backup. I might have experimented a little too much and threw their rhythm off.
"That won't happen anymore. From this point on, we're going to go out and we're going to go with the guys that we rode in here on."
Senior Robert Bush led UIC with 14 points. Mayo added 13 while taking just 7 shots while Spencer Stewart contributed 10 points and 4 assists.