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Not Much of a Contest

1/08/04
by John C. Thomas
Loyola fans are used to going to the UIC Pavilion to witness a loss. Before Thursday night’s 77-59 setback to the Flames, the Ramblers had lost 14 games in a row under the Pavilion roof dating back to 1988. Sadly, Thursday night’s debacle wasn’t even a contest as three UIC guards outscored the entire Loyola team through the first 37 minutes of the game.

Loyola started the game with more spirit than the Flames. Coach Jimmy Collins was forced to call a time out after Demetrius Williams slammed home an alley oop dunk to put Loyola ahead 10-4 with 15:51 left in the first half.

But that was about it for the Loyola highlights. Two minutes later, the Flames tied the game at 10-all, and the hosts went ahead for good at 18-16 with 11:20 remaining in the half. UIC got their first double digit lead at 31-21 on an alley oop dunk by Justin Bowen with 3:48 left in the half. The Flames led 36-25 at the break.

As in the first half, LU started the second half showing a little spunk. The Ramblers scored the first three points of the period and got two quick fouls on starting center Joe Scott. But after a timeout, the Flames poured it on. A 7-0 run put UIC on top by 15 with 16:50 left to play. Less than seven minutes later the Flames led by 20, and another Pavilion disaster was in the books.

Coach Farmer, obviously irritated by the performance tried mix-and-match rotations, and finally ended up with Antoine Smith, rookie Andre Knox, rookie Tyrelle Blair, DaJuan Gouard and Jason Telford on the court to end the game.

A trio of UIC guards combined for 55 of the Flames’ 77 points, led by Cedrick Banks with 23, Aaron Carr with 22, and Martell Bailey with 10. Meanwhile, Loyola was led in scoring by Terrance Whiters with 14.

Loyola shot 34% for the game to the Flames’ 52%, and UIC shot 47% from behind the arc. Meanwhile, the Ramblers were 2-of-16 from behind the arc.

The Ramblers fall to 6-6 overall, 2-1 in conference while the Flames improve to 11-5, 2-2 in the Horizon.

What made this loss more dispiriting than in years past is that the Flames did not look particularly devastating. They made 15 turnovers to Loyola’s 13, and they had very little offensive firepower up front. It was the same story for the Ramblers as in many other losses, and even some of the wins-- bad shot selection, horrible defense against the three pointer, difficulty with a zone defense, and near zero ability to spread the defense with long range shooting.

Next up is the team picked to be the runner up in the conference, UW-Milwaukee. Since the trip is only 90 miles and the game is on a Saturday afternoon, expect a large Milwaukee turnout. This will also be the first home game with students in class.