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March Madness is in full swing with numerous local teams involved and here is the latest…..
The Illinois Fighting Illini won their first NCAA Tournament game in two years with Friday’s victory over Colorado by the final score of 57-49. The Illini were able to contain Buffaloes star forward Andre Roberson by limiting him to 9 points and 8 rebounds. They also managed to get him to foul out. Nnanna Egwu did an excellent job keeping Robertson under wraps.
John Groce’s team also did well against Colorado’s reserves as they only allowed five points off of the Colorado bench. D.J Richardson, Tracy Abrams, and Brandon Paul all scored in double figures despite the fact that the team only shot 30 percent from the field. The Illini who are the seventh seed in the East Region will take on the second seeded Miami Hurricanes on Sunday.
Miami was one of the best teams in college hoops this year. They won the regular season title of the Atlantic Coast Conference and at one point was ranked the number one team in the country. They are heavily favored this year and the Illini will have quite the task on Sunday. Of course the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame will wish they could play on Sunday, but that will not be the case.
The seventh seeded Irish of the West Region suffered yet another early round NCAA Tournament loss as they were embarrassed by tenth seeded Iowa State with a final of 76-58. Iowa ran away with this one early as Mike Bray’s team looked lost on defense from the get go. Iowa State scored in every way possible. Inside, outside, in transition, and off of turnovers.
Notre Dame’s star guard Jerian Grant was held to just nine points while also committing five turnovers. The Cyclones shot 40 percent from the floor and left Irish fans shaking their heads in disbelief. ISU will play the second seeded Ohio State on Sunday. The Cyclones better enjoy this victory now because the Buckeyes are a Final Four favorite this year and are loaded with talent.
On Thursday night, Bryce Drew’s 14th seeded Valparaiso Crusaders were eliminated by the third seeded Michigan State Spartans 65-54 in the Midwest Region. Perhaps the Bryce Drew game-winning shot clip from 1998 will finally stop airing on television.
The other tournament involving local teams is the College Insider Tournament. After coming off an historic first round victory over Chicago State on Wednesday night, The UIC Flames will hit the road for their second round match up. It was announced on Friday afternoon that the Flames will take on Northern Iowa in the second round of the CIT.
Illinois-Chicago leads the all-time series with UNI 11-10 and they have a lot of talent heading into this one. The Panthers from Cedar Rapids will have their work cut out for them on Saturday night. The Bradley Braves also participated in this year’s CIT. They defeated Wisconsin-Green Bay in Peoria on Wednesday night. They will get another home game this weekend when Tulane makes it’s way to Carver Arena for that second round match up.
Finally, things are almost official for “The Catholic Seven”, or should I say the “new” Big East Conference. You already know that the re-birth of the Big East will take place on July 1st. Here are the newest developments…….
Xavier, Creighton, and Butler have decided to join which will make this a 10-team conference. Also, the league has signed a 12-year television deal with Fox Sports to carry many of the conference games including the new Big East Conference Tournament which will still take place at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
In August, Fox Sports is expected to return with a national network, similar to the one they had from 1997-2005. The Speed Channel will become Fox Sports 1, and Fuel TV will become Fox Sports 2. All of this will take place in August. The future looks bright for all parties involved, hopefully DePaul’s basketball program will start to head in the right direction as well.
Saturday night, I will be covering the Chicago Rush’s 2013 season opener from Allstate Arena. The arch-rival Iowa Barnstormers will be in town with former Rush head coach Mike Hohensee calling the shots. It’s always a bittersweet moment when “Coach Ho” comes back to Rosemont. But that is what makes this rivalry so special.
Kickoff will be at 7pm, and always you can get game updates from me via Twitter @GabeSalgado82. Along with the hashtags #Q101Sports and #REDemption…….
Gary Talton (4) finished the game with 16 points.
The Flames began the second half the same way they finished the first half, sluggish. The Flames only managed two baskets within the first four minutes of the half. The Vikings kept finding ways to get open shots and challenge UIC inside the paint. Marlon Mason and Charlie Lee were the starts of the show for Cleveland State tonight.
They combined for 33 points, 9 rebounds, and 11 assists. Turnovers and missed shots were once again the issue for the Flames. Josh Crittle scored 11 tonight but should have had more as he missed numerous shots. Most of his misses were free throws, the others were easy layups and short jumpers which wouldn’t go.
Not helping matters was the fact that CSU out-rebounded UIC 38-24. Josh Crittle struggled in the box against the undersized Viking players he went up against. The Flames did try to mount a comeback midway through the half. At one point they went on a 15-2 run. But CSU always found a way to stop the Flames momentum.
Foul trouble was also a problem as Crittle and his backup center Will Simonton had three fouls each. Daniel Barnes had four fouls on his own but did managed to finish second in scoring with 14. Barnes and Talton managed to put together quite the effort in the second half. Forward Anthony Kelley also did his best to boost Howard Moore’s squad as he scored seven of his 11 points in the final frame.
But in the end it wasn’t enough as the Vikings did plenty of damage in the first half, and managed to do enough in the second half to stay ahead. The Flames just could not come up with a solution to stop CSU’s jump shot frenzy tonight and their winning streak now ends at three games. CSU wins 77-66
They have now won eight in-a-row at the UIC Pavilion, they are now 11-12 (3-6 Horizon League) on the 2012-2013 season. The Flames fall to 14-9 (5-5 Horizon League) and they now head on the road for the next four games. This will be the most difficult trip of the season for UIC.
They have to go to Valparaiso, Youngstown State, Loyola, and UW-Milwaukee. The Flames are 3-1 against those four teams this season. So hopefully that statistic will give them a little hope as they continue through the month of February. As for Cleveland State, they will get a little bit of home cooking as they welcome Youngstown and Valpo to Northeast Ohio next week.
The Flames still have a chance to get an NCAA Tournament bid, this loss is just one dent in the road. Here is tonight’s box score:
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The Flames are struggling so far. They are only 4-8 from the free throw line, 10-24 from the field, only 2-7 from three point range, and they’ve committed six turnovers. All of which have lead to points for Cleveland State.
Hayden Humes has been the lone bright spot for UIC, he leads his team with 10 points. Gary Talton has been held in check by CSU’s defense. He’s only scored once tonight and Josh Crittle hasn’t fared much better as he only has five points. He’s also only shot 1-5 from the foul line.
The Vikings have been able to hit wide open shots, apply pressure on defense, and they’ve managed to keep the Flames star players under wraps. UIC will need to come out disciplined in the second half. They need to stop committing turnovers, Gary Talton, Daniel Barnes, and Josh Crittle need to get their motors going, and they need to tighten up on defense.
The Flames may have the size advantage, but CSU has been countering with their speed and quickness. This will be a very interesting second half as the Flames will need to go all out to keep Cleveland State from snapping their three-game winning streak.
Here is the halftime box score:
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The Flames are on the court for early warm-ups.
The Flames are red hot and they look to continue to burn the competition here at the UIC Pavilion on the West Side tonight. But winning their fourth in-a-row will not be easy. The Cleveland State Vikings have defeated UIC in their last seven trips here to the pavilion.
The good thing is the Flames have the advantage and momentum heading into tonight’s contest. While the Flames have been on the winning track, CSU has lost four consecutive games. Currently the 14-8 Flames are in a three way tie for third place in the Horizon League along with Wright State, and Youngstown State with a conference record of 5-4.
CSU is second to last place with an HL record of 2-6 and are just 10-12 overall. The Flames barely managed to pull of the victory against Wisconsin-Green Bay on Thursday night. Six points in the final minute from UIC center Josh Crittle pushed the Flames past the Phoenix for the 60-57 victory.
Crittle has been a dominant force in the paint for UIC. Even when the Flames lose, Crittle is always battling and leading his team. Of course the fire that keeps this Flames team going is the backcourt combination of Seniors Gary Talton and Daniel Barnes. Talton averages 13 points-per-game while Barnes averages 10 per game.
This week the Flames are one player short and will probably stay that way for the rest of the season. According to the UIC Athletic Department, Freshman center Matt Gorski was dismissed from the team for “A violation of team rules”. When I asked the team about what violation was committed, they refused to elaborate any further.
Another player that has kept UIC competitive recently is Junior forward Hayden Humes. The 6’8″ Valparaiso native has scored 45 points and grabbed 25 rebounds in his last five games combined.
The Flames will need everything they have in their arsenal to keep their winning streak going. Especially since the Vikings have given them fits in the past. Tonight the Flames have the chance to inch themselves closer to the top of the Horizon League.
It will be a fun game to watch. You can follow me during the game on Twitter @GabeSalgado82 #Q101Sports
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