Flames drop tough road contest at Dayton
Jay Harris added eight points and four rebounds against Dayton. Photo: Timothy Nguyen
The UIC men’s basketball team (2-5) dropped a tough road matchup at Dayton (4-1) Saturday, 75-41.
The Flames play a four-game homestand, starting Tuesday at 7 p.m. against Grand Canyon at the UIC Pavilion. The Antelopes are coached by three-time NBA All-Star Dan Majerle.
At Dayton, the Flames held a 10-8 lead with 8:42 left in the first half, but the Flyers outscored UIC, 48-25, in the final period for their seventh straight home win.
Junior Jake Wiegand paced UIC with a team-high 11 points and six rebounds. Wiegand has scored 10 or more points in 5-of-7 games so far this season. He continues to lead the Flames in scoring (16.4) and rebounding (8.4).
The Flyers were led by preseason first team All-Atlantic 10 senior Jordan Sibert with 22 points on 4-of-6 three-point shooting. Dayton ended the day 8-of-16 from behind the arc.
With Dayton in front 22-16 at the 1:59 mark in the first period, the Flyers scored five straight points to end the half at 27-16. The Flames played strong defense for most of the first half as they held the Flyers to 27 points and forced eight turnovers. UIC entered the contest giving up an average of 39.5 points in the first half through six games.
Dayton continued its offensive spurt to start the second period by scoring three straight buckets. The Flyers put the game out of reach by the 12:49 mark as they shot ahead 51-20 on the heels of a 16-0 run that included four triples.
Junior Jason McClellan saw his first action of the season with five points, two rebounds, two assists and two blocks in 19 minutes.
Fifth-year transfer Jay Harris added eight points and four rebounds as junior Gabe Snider sank a pair of threes in the second half. Snider is shooting 44 percent (8-of-18) from downtown on the season.
Freshman Tai Odiase has recorded at least one blocked shot in all seven of his collegiate games, including one versus the Flyers to bring his season total to 15.
