Flames fulfill Collins' worst fears in loss
Illinois-Chicago coach Jimmy Collins was concerned about a weeklong holiday layoff and the effect it would have on his team.
Collins' worst fears were realized in UIC's 71-66 Horizon League loss to Wisconsin-Milwaukee on Tuesday night at the Pavilion.
"Hopefully, we are not going to play like this the rest of the conference run," Collins said. "We didn't play with any intensity, and it's uphill now. When you lose a home game, it's uphill."
Senior center Scott VanderMeer agreed with Collins' analysis about the lack of intensity, and the 7-footer also questioned some of his teammates.
"I saw it during the warmups," VanderMeer said after scoring 18 points and pulling down 9 rebounds. "It seemed like no one was excited, and this is a conference game. It seemed like half of the guys on the team didn't want to be here. We have to regroup because this is conference and this is what we play for."
The competitive fires might have been flickering, but the Flames (8-4, 1-1 in the Horizon League) played well enough in the first half to build a 27-19 lead on a 3-pointer by Josh Mayo.
But when James Eayrs and Avery Smith each answered with 3-pointers of their own in the final minute before intermission, UWM held a 34-33 halftime lead and clearly had the momentum.
That continued in the final 20 minutes and the Panthers (7-5, 3-0) came away with an important victory.
"Coming into UIC and winning, that's big," said Smith, who led UWM with 15 points. "I think teams around the league are going to start taking us seriously."
Teams around the Horizon League are probably going to play tighter defense on Eayrs as well.
Looking more like a football lineman at 6-feet-7, 310 pounds, Eayrs lit up UIC in the second half, draining 4 of 5 shots behind the 3-point line. On the night, the burly junior scored all 15 of his points from long distance on 5-for-9 shooting.
"We knew he could shoot the ball," Collins said. "We talked about it and talked about it. He's a great shooter. He picked his spots and we didn't rotate back in time."
Mayo struggled in the second half (2-for-8) but led all scorers with 18 points.
Loyola 88, Alcorn St. 53: Walt Gibler recorded season highs of 19 points and 8 rebounds, and host Loyola won its fourth straight and sixth in the last seven games by beating Alcorn State (2-11) at the Gentile Center. Marcus Thomas added 14 points and Geoff McCammon had 10.
UCF 89, Chicago St. 75: Tournament MVP Jermaine Taylor poured in 38 points to lead Central Florida (8-4) past Chicago State in the championship of the UCF Holiday Classic at Orlando, Fla. John Cantrell led Chicago State (7-7) with 29 points.
Arkansas 96, Oklahoma 88: Michael Washington had 24 points and 11 rebounds, holding his own against Oklahoma's Blake Griffin, and host Arkansas (10-1) upset fourth-ranked Oklahoma (12-1), which got 35 points from Willie Warren.
• Associated Press contributed.