ILLINOIS-CHICAGO 74, BUTLER 71 (OT)

Official Basketball Box Score Illinois-Chicago vs Butler 01/31/04 2:00 pm at Indianapolis, Ind. (Hinkle Fieldhouse) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VISITORS: Illinois-Chicago (15-7)(6-4) TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS ## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 25 Bowen, Justin....... f 1-4 0-0 2-4 0 1 1 2 4 0 0 0 0 30 30 Williams, Armond.... f 6-11 0-0 5-8 3 5 8 2 17 1 1 1 1 42 42 Scott, Joe.......... c 4-4 0-0 2-4 1 1 2 2 10 0 0 1 0 35 03 Bailey, Martell..... g 2-10 1-3 8-9 2 5 7 2 13 11 2 0 2 40 34 Banks, Cedrick...... g 8-16 6-10 0-0 2 5 7 1 22 1 2 0 0 42 04 Stefanov, Jovan..... 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 15 McGee, Marcetteaus.. 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 5 32 Carr, Aaron......... 1-5 0-1 0-0 0 2 2 1 2 0 0 0 0 13 44 Poole, Elliott...... 1-1 0-0 2-2 1 0 1 2 4 0 0 0 0 8 50 Petrusic, Josip..... 1-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 5 TEAM................ 2 2 Totals.............. 24-53 7-14 19-27 12 20 32 13 74 14 6 2 3 225 TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 11-25 44.0% 2nd Half: 11-23 47.8% OT: 2-5 40.0% Game: 45.3% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 3-8 37.5% 2nd Half: 4-6 66.7% OT: 0-0 0.0% Game: 50.0% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 5-5 100 % 2nd Half: 8-13 61.5% OT: 6-9 66.7% Game: 70.4% 5,1 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HOME TEAM: Butler (8-11)(4-6) TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS ## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 22 Monserez, Mike...... f 3-8 2-4 3-5 5 3 8 4 11 5 4 1 0 41 24 Ligon, Brian........ f 2-4 0-0 0-0 1 2 3 2 4 1 0 1 0 24 35 Smalligan, Jamie.... c 2-7 2-4 0-0 0 2 2 5 6 0 0 0 0 25 03 Horan, Bruce........ g 4-10 4-10 0-0 0 3 3 4 12 2 0 0 0 40 21 Sheets, Avery....... g 7-17 3-6 2-3 0 5 5 1 19 4 2 0 0 42 01 Lightfoot, Duane.... 7-9 0-0 0-0 4 3 7 1 14 1 0 2 0 33 34 James, Jeff......... 1-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 2 0 1 0 0 6 44 Brooks, Nick........ 1-1 1-1 0-0 0 1 1 3 3 0 1 0 0 14 TEAM................ 1 1 1 Totals.............. 27-57 12-25 5-8 10 20 30 21 71 13 9 4 0 225 TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 11-23 47.8% 2nd Half: 13-24 54.2% OT: 3-10 30.0% Game: 47.4% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 3-8 37.5% 2nd Half: 8-11 72.7% OT: 1-6 16.7% Game: 48.0% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 1-2 50.0% 2nd Half: 4-5 80.0% OT: 0-1 0.0% Game: 62.5% 2 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Officials: Michael Conlin, Rick O'Neill, Sid Rodeheffer Technical fouls: Illinois-Chicago-None. Butler-None. Attendance: 5005 Score by Periods 1st 2nd OT Total Illinois-Chicago.............. 30 34 10 - 74 Butler........................ 26 38 7 - 71 ------------------------------------------------------------------------

DAVE'S POSTGAME ANALYSIS
A furious second-half comeback pulled the Butler Bulldogs from an 11-point deficit and sent the game into overtime, but the visiting Illinois-Chicago Flames were able to pull out a 74-71 win in the extra session. The first half was a back-and-forth affair, with eight ties and five lead changes. The Bulldogs held their biggest lead of the game at 20-15 with 8:25 left. An Avery Sheets fastbreak layup gave the Bulldogs a 25-22 advantage with 3:33 remaining in the half. But that would be the last time Butler would hold the lead for the remainder of the contest, as a conventional three-point play by UIC's Martell Bailey tied the score at 25 and a basket by Armond Williams gave the Flames a 27-25 lead. UIC would remain in the lead until the final 30 seconds of regulation. Butler trailed 27-26 when Jeff James caught a breakaway pass and threw down a dunk with three seconds showing on the clock to give the Bulldogs what would have been a 28-27 lead, but he was called for a traveling violation at midcourt, giving UIC the ball back for one last possession. Butler had one foul to give before the Flames would be in the bonus, and Bruce Horan tried several times to draw a whistle once the ball was inbounded. But nothing was called, and Bailey sank a three-pointer at the buzzer to make is 30-26 at halftime. That five-point swing would prove to be huge down the stretch.
The Flames continued to build their lead throughout the second half. UIC led by as many as 11 on three different occasions, the last of which came after a Cedrick Banks three-pointer made it 56-45 with 5:36 left. That three-pointer capped a run of 11 straight UIC points from Banks, a flurry which spanned just over two minutes. The Flames led by nine at 58-49 with three minutes left, but that's when Butler's three-point machine got rolling. Back-to-back three-pointers from Horan made it 58-55 at the 2:15 mark. A Joe Scott layup and a pair of Bailey free throws pushed the lead back to seven at 62-55 with 1:22 on the clock, but consecutive triples from Sheets and Mike Monserez cut the UIC lead down to one at 62-61 with 0:41 remaining. Bailey was fouled and connected on both free throws to make it 64-61. Jamie Smalligan then buried fifth Butler three-pointer of the final two-and-a-half minutes of regulation to knot things up at 64 with 0:28 to go. UIC's Aaron Carr missed what appeared to be the final shot of the half, but Sheets got the ball and heaved up a desperation three-quarter court shot that went halfway down before breaking the hearts of the Butler faithful and bouncing out. On to overtime...
Scott and Duane Lightfoot exchanged layups on the first two possessions of the extra session. Armond Williams converted a conventional three-point play, but Horan responded with his fourth and final three-pointer of the game to make it 69-69 with 3:18 left. Bailey sank a pair of free throws, but a Lightfoot basket with 2:10 remaining tied it back up at 71. UIC took the lead for good when Williams split a pair of free throws to give the Flames a 72-71 lead with 0:58 to go. Monserez missed a three-pointer with around 25 seconds left, but felt his attempt had missed the rim, so when he grabbed the rebound he immediately put up another three-point attempt to try and beat the shot clock. Unbeknownst to Mike, the shot clock had been reset, and his second attempt was no good and rebounded by UIC. Butler was forced to foul Justin Bowen, who made the second of two free throws to make it 73-71 with 0:16 remaining. Monserez drew a foul with five seconds left, but missed the front end of his one-and-one and was forced to foul Bailey. Martell made the second of his two free throws, and Butler called timeout to set up one final play. Sheets caught a long inbounds pass from Monserez, but his momentum was carrying him in front of the three-point line. Avery tried to rush up a three-pointer, but it appeared he was in front of the line when he took the shot. A moot point, as it bounced away and into UIC's possession, and the Flames had won their first game at Hinkle under coach Jimmy Collins, snapping a 10-game losing streak to Butler with a 74-71 win.
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Sheets. I'm not sure how Avery was still standing by the end of overtime. It's cliche', but he left absolutely everything he had on the floor. He led the Bulldogs with 19 points along with five rebounds and four assists. He also spent a great deal of the game chasing Banks along the baseline on defense as he sprinted from one side of the court to the other and back again, fighting through constant screens as he defended the Flames' leading scorer.
Lightfoot had 14 points, seven rebounds, and two blocked shots off the bench. Horan finished with 12 points, all from behind the arc, along with three rebounds and two assists. Monserez added 11 points, eight rebounds, and five assists. Smalligan had a pair of three's for six points and two rebounds. Brian Ligon added four points and three rebounds. Nick Brooks had three points, and James added two. UIC was led by Banks' game-high 22 points and seven rebounds.
Lots of "if only"s in looking back on this game: if only James hadn't been whistled for traveling; if only we could have gotten a foul on the final possession of the first half and forced UIC to inbound the ball again; if only Avery's shot at the buzzer had gone in; if only two of our top free throw shooters hadn't missed three free throws...or any number of other things that could have gone Butler's way and changed the outcome of the game. "It is a game of inches, and you're fighting for every possession," Butler coach Todd Lickliter said afterwards. Butler had its best shooting performance of the season, finishing the game at 47%, including a season-high 48% from three-point range, marking the second time in three games that the Bulldogs have shot better from behind the arc than inside it. The Dawgs shot a blistering 73% (8-of-11) from long range in the second half. The difference in the game was foul shooting. The Flames attacked the basket and got to the line 27 times, connecting on 19 for 70%. UIC was shooting 61% from the charity stripe entering the game. The Bulldogs, 77% foul shooters on the season, were only 5-of-8 from the line (63%). A tough loss, but one that hopefully the Bulldogs can learn from.

The Bulldogs step away from Horizon League play for the final game of a four-game homestand when the IPFW Mastodons come to Hinkle Fieldhouse. Game time is Wednesday, February 4, at 7:00 p.m. EST. Hope to see you there.

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