Illinois State had five players in double figures, but could not find consistent scoring throughout the game and fell to Illinois-Chicago, 78-65, to lose its third straight game tonight at Redbird Arena.
Illinois State (0-3) was led by Vince Greene and Trey Guidry with 14 points apiece, while Gregg Alexander turned in 12 points for the Birds. Freshman Marcus Arnold had a career-high 11 points and six rebounds, while Andy Strandmark was the other Redbird in double figures with 10. Strandmark also led the Birds on the boards with a game-high eight rebounds.
UIC (2-1) was led by Martell Bailey with a game-high 20 points, while Armond Williams and Aaron Carr contributed 14 and 11 points respectively. The Flames overpowered Illinois State in the paint winning the scoring battle 38-12 and the rebounding battle 41-27.
Illinois State opened the game on fire shooting 6-for-8 from the field and jumping out to an early 16-7 lead at the 15:58 mark. Alexander led the way early for the Birds hitting two three-pointers during the run. However, the Illinois State shooting went sour for the remainder of the first half as the Redbirds shot 3-for-19 over the rest of the period.
UIC went on an 11-0 run during the middle stretch of the first half and took its first lead of the game at 21-20 with 7:20 remaining before the break. The Flames used the post to their advantage outscoring the Birds in the paint 18-4 and winning the rebounding battle as well 24-14 in the first half.
Arnold took Illinois State on his shoulders to open the second half scoring the Redbirds first eight points to tie the game, 36-36, with 17:24 remaining in the game. Illinois State came out of the locker room with an 11-2 run and a three-pointer by Guidry helped give the Birds their first lead since the 7:20 mark of the first half at 39-36. Two more three-pointers by Guidry and Greene respectively kept the game close with just over 14 minutes to play.
Illinois State, however, went into another scoring drought and managed only two points over nearly a six-minute stretch in the middle part of the second half as UIC took back the lead and extended it to nine at 58-49 at the 8:40 mark. The Flames seemed to be unable to miss their field goals in the latter part of the second half and shot 16-for-23 (.696) in the final period, including 10 of their final 11 shots.
Illinois State stays at home to host Chattanooga on Monday, December 2. The game is slated to begin at 7:10 p.m.
