UIC Falters, then Regroups to Advance in Horizon Tourney

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – The 6-7 game figured to be the best of the four first round games in the Horizon Tournament.  It saw the 15-14 UIC Flames in the seventh spot (7-11 in conference), with early wins at Vanderbilt and Georgia Tech, visiting the improved 11-18 Youngstown State Penguins in the sixth spot (also 7-11 in conference, but with two head-to-head wins over the Flames serving as the tiebreaker).  They met for the right to go to Hinkle in Indy to face the winner of Cleveland State-Detroit (that turned out to be CSU, but not nearly as easily as you might have expected).

With the Penguins doing a superb job defending the Horizon’s second leading scorer Josh Mayo (shockingly, it was Kelvin Bright – with lots of help – who did the job on Mayo most of the night), UIC turned to two unexpected sources of offense in the first half last night, forwards Rob Eppinger and Tori Boyd (averaging 5 and 10 points per game, respectively).  By half-time Eppinger had nine on 4-6 shooting, all within five feet of the goal (he would finish with 20 and 14 monstrous rebounds, 7 offensive), while Boyd also had nine at the half, hitting his first three attempts from the arc (finishing with 15 on 5-9 shooting).  And with these two scoring 18 of UIC’s 35 first-half points (Mayo had just 5 at the intermission, Robo Kreps 6 and Scott Vandermeer 3), the Flames went into the locker room up 10 at 35-25.  They would need every one of those to withstand Vytas Sulskis’ and the Penguins’ second half run.

But before turning to that second half, in this writer’s view, this game was won in the last 7½ minutes of the first half.  That was when Vandermeer committed his second foul at the 12:24 mark, taking a seat for the rest of the half.  At that moment UIC led by 13, at 25-12.  Over the next 7½ minutes, with the league’s best rebounder and shot-blocker on the bench, the Penguins could manage just 12 more points, and could cut the UIC lead by only 3.  That was the point in the game when YSU needed to make hay, and UIC’s backcourt defense, forward rebounding, and ability to control the ball kept YSU from gaining more than those 3.

Interestingly, in Jerry Slocum’s ever-changing lineup, star forward Sulskis played this night off the bench (along with high-scorer Bright).  Sulskis played only 12 minutes in the first half, despite not picking up a single personal foul.  But as the teams broke the huddle for the second half, everyone in the gym knew that in order for YSU to catch the Flames and win the game, Sulskis had to dominate.

And dominate he did, right from the very first possession, when he hit center Jack Liles smartly on a pick and roll, Liles’ first points of the game on a thunderous dunk immediately closing the gap to 8.  As he did in the loss at Cleveland State two weeks ago, Sulskis would utterly dominate the second half, scoring 17 in the stanza on 5-10 shooting, including 2-4 from the arc, dished out two assists, and grabbed four rebounds.  For the game, Sulskis talled 20 points, three assists and six boards.

Early in the half, after UIC had restored its 10-point lead at 37-27, YSU went on a 7-0 run to pull within 3, 4 of which points came on a jumper and two free throws by Sulskis.  Later, after neither team could score for a period of over 2 minutes, YSU went on a 6-0 run on an old-fashioned three-point play by former walk-on forward Zack Rebillot, and a trey from Sulskis, pulling the Pens within 1, 52-51, mid-way through the half.  Later the Pens went on yet a third mini-run, one of 5-0 giving them a four-point lead, 62-58, at the 15:23 mark.  That final run included a shot near the goal by Sulskis, as well as a trey by Kelvin Bright (held to just 7 in the game on 3-6 shooting).

But like Bill Russell told us countless times on television in the 70s, so often a team roars back, roars back, roars back, pulls even, takes a breath and loses, and thus it was with the Penguins last night.  After Bright gave YSU that four-point lead at 15:23, UIC righted the ship, and over the final 4:37 outscored the Penguins 15-6.

With UIC entering the final minute up 1, the Pens continued to defend Mayo well, Sirlester Martin blocking Mayo’s in-close attempt from the left at 19:26 (I thought blocking with his armpit).  After UIC rebounded, team defense forced Mayo to miss again from in front of the rim at 19:30.  The biggest play of the game followed, as Eppinger grabbed the hotly contested rebound of Mayo’s miss, and was able to score inside with a foul, that three-point play at 19:33 extending the UIC lead to four and icing the game.

After the game, I talked with UIC Coach Jimmy Collins about his team’s current five-game winning streak (and 6 of 7), which followed a five-game losing streak from late January into February.  I reminded him how disappointed he seemed with his team after the loss to Wright State in Dayton, how he’d labeled his team’s play “selfish” that night.  Collins responded that instead of playing “like individuals” as they had mid-season, his team has now “finally bought in” to what the coaching staff is asking.  He then kept it general by saying that lots of voices seemed to have the ears of his players mid-season – “too many people, and the only ones with the players’ interests truly at heart are the coaches.”  Still generally, Collins said he’d been able to eliminate or reduce the number of outside influences.

Also, speaking as if these issues are really one, Collins indicated that “we’ve made some changes.”  When I asked what changes, he pointed to “the smaller roster for tonight’s game.”  Certainly the principle change appears to have been the suspension of Chicago freshman forward Jelani Poston (from Harmony Community School in Cincinnati), and Collins acknowledged that some of Poston’s behavior had been disrupting.  Staying general because of the personal nature of the conversation, Collins did allude to Poston’s improved mental health being a goal of his staff, and made clear that Poston will have every opportunity to be part of the program next season.

For now, though, it’s on to Indy to face CSU in a Horizon quarter-final game on Friday, and from the confidence displayed by Collins after last night’s win, it would appear that the way the Flames are playing right now, this Friday could provide the best opportunity they’ve had to defeat the Vikings this year.

Horizon News and Notes

• In other Horizon League first round games, CSU defeated Detroit 56-43, Wright State beat Valpo 68-56, and Wisconsin-Milwaukee bested Loyola 77-68.
• The two quarter-final games in Indianapolis Friday night will pit Wright State against Milwaukee at 6 pm eastern, and Cleveland State against UIC at 8.
• In Saturday’s semi-finals, Butler will face the Wright State-Milwaukee winner at 7, and Wisconsin-Green Bay will face the CSU-UIC winner at 9.
• The conference final will be played next Tuesday night at 9 pm, on the home court of the highest remaining tournament seed.
• If you can’t be in Indianapolis for the rest of the tournament, catch Friday night’s two quarter-final games on the Horizon League Network, Saturday night’s two semifinal games on ESPNU, and the final Tuesday night on ESPN.