UIC DEFEATS EVANSVILLE

HORIZON LEAGUE BANKS WIN AGAINST THE MISSOURI VALLEY CONFERENCE

By CigarBoy

When teams from the Horizon League and the Missouri Valley Conference play, it is almost always a very competitive, hard fought game. The two conferences are two of the top so-called Mid-Major conferences that geographically border each other right in the heart of the nation's Midwest. They compete for national recognition, players, and even fans. They are both usually ranked in the 10 to 14 range in the conference RPI rankings. So, the stage was set on Friday night as the Horizon League and the Missouri Valley Conference clashed on the court for the first time this season.

The Cedrick Banks Show rolled into Evansville and put on quite a production for the 8,416 fans who turned out at the historic Roberts Stadium for a Missouri Valley Conference/Horizon League match-up between Evansville and the University of Illinois-Chicago. When the dust settled, the UIC Flames, lead by Cedrick Banks, torched the Purple Aces 70-54, using their speed and quickness to overcome a young, but scrappy, Evansville team

It started slowly about a minute into the first half when UIC's Joe Scott banked in a jumper and ended at the half with Evansville leading 28-25 on a 9 of 26 shooting performance. UIC was equally cold shooting--just 11 of 33 from the field, including 1 of 10 from three-point land. Horizon League Pre-season Player of the Year Cedrick Banks was held to 2 points, shooting just 1 of 9 from the field in the first half.

The young Evansville team, which features 5 freshmen on the squad, did a good job in the first half of breaking up UIC's offense and keeping Banks off balance. The Purple Aces were paced in the first half by 6' 8" sophomore forward Lee Deywane who scored 10 points. Aaron Carr put in 7 points to lead UIC in the first half. UIC coach Jimmy Collins summed it up by saying, "That is the worst half we have played this year. It wasn't just us, they had a lot to do with it "

In the second half, UIC found its offense, shooting a blistering 65 percent while holding Evansville to 37 percent shooting. Banks came alive by going 9 of 10 from the field and 2 for 2 from the line to lead all scorers with 26 points. Carr added 16 points while Elliot Poole chipped in 10 for the Flames. Deywane was the only Evansville player in double figures ending up with 14 points. For Evansville, in addition to poor shooting, turning over the ball more than 20 times really hurt the team's opportunities.

"I think in the first half, the Purple Aces really played pretty well. They took us out of our rhythm offensively. In the second half we had to make an adjustment to get Banks open," said Collins. "The Purple Aces were coming over the top and we started having him (Banks) flair to the baseline. Then he exhibited more patience and Elliot Poole did a really good job for us."

The youth of the Purple Aces became more evident as they subbed later in the game and fell further behind. After reflecting for a moment on his team's performance, Evansville coach Steve Merfeld said, "Obviously, offensively we were not in synch. It is frustrating and disappointing but I am not discouraged. It is just when we sub, we go so young and we are indecisive with the things we are trying to do whether it be in transition or at the half court level."

UIC was picked to win the Horizon League this year. It came down to experience in the way of 5 seniors for UIC overcoming a young team that played hard but made a lot of little, yet meaningful, mistakes. In a couple of years, Evansville will be the team with a lot of senior players and they will be winning these games.

Time Outs

At the 14:20 mark in the second half Cedrick Banks took over the offense for both teams scoring 12 straight points and 14 straight for UIC before Marcetteaus McGee scored a bucket for the Flames.
This was UIC's fourth game of the season and only the first one for Evansville.
Jimmy Collins downplayed his team's win by saying, "I don't think the score was any indication of how handily we won the game. We have very little room for error. We have to play well to win every game."
Under the heading of "from lemons to lemonade" Steve Merfeld when asked what he liked best about his team's performance said, "We played hard and competed. I thought all the freshmen showed signs of doing some good things. But what I like the most is that there is so much room for improvement."
When asked about the game and Cedrick Banks, Evansville player Andre Burton, who had his head down in his hand mumbled, "It was tough, I don't know, I don't know." I think by the time the season is over there will be a lot of players in shock and saying the same thing about Banks.
UIC goes to 3-1 and Evansville is 0-1
On Monday the Flames and Purple Aces play again at the Pavilion on the campus of UIC.

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