Men’s basketball edged by Detroit
Jake Wiegand scored 13 points Wednesday at Detroit.
The men’s basketball team (5-17, 0-8) dropped a closely contested road game at Detroit (10-13, 3-5) Wednesday night by a final score of 74-68.
In a game that witnessed nine ties and five lead changes, the score was knotted at 61 with 5:46 left to play, but the Titans outscored UIC, 13-7, down the stretch.
Junior Marc Brown paced UIC with 24 points, one shy of his career high, and senior Kelsey Barlow added 18 points and seven rebounds.
The Flames return home for a Saturday contest against Valparaiso at 3 p.m. at the Pavilion.
Detroit was on the verge of going up double digits as they lead, 37-29, with 42 seconds left in the first half. After a called timeout by the Flames, sophomore Jake Wiegand pulled UIC to within six with a layup just before the break. Wiegand recorded 13 points and eight rebounds and is averaging 11.4 points and 7.2 boards in his last five games.
The Titans kept UIC at arm’s distance in the opening minutes of the second half and held a 45-38 advantage at the 16:50 mark. Over the next three-and-a-half minutes, the Flames went on a 14-5 run to take a two-point lead. Barlow was the main contributor for UIC in the first seven minutes of the second period with nine points. He finished the second half with 14 points.
After a few traded buckets, Juwan Howard Jr. scored seven of Detroit’s eight straight points to give the Titans a 61-54 lead with 8:20 left to play. The Flames answered with seven consecutive points to knot the tally at 61 with 5:46 on the clock. UIC’s momentum didn’t last long as Detroit used back-to-back threes by sophomore Anton Wilson to go in front permanently. A Barlow triple with 19 seconds left pulled UIC to within two, but Wilson’s three-point play on the opposite end sealed the Flames’ defeat.
In five of the last six games, UIC has either held the lead or been tied with less than six minutes to play.
Brown, Barlow and Wiegand combined for 55 of UIC’s 68 points tonight as Jordan Harks and Will Simonton chipped in eight and five, respectively. Brown has now scored 20 or more points on four occasions this season.
Freshman Marcus White saw his first game action this month with 11 minutes.
