Dec. 20, 2008
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NORMAL, Ill. - Illinois State's Champ Oguchi shrugged off a slow start from behind the arc and scored a team-high 18 points as he helped the Redbirds remain undefeated after a 67-60 win over UIC on Doug Collins Court at Redbird Arena Saturday. Illinois State improved to 11-0, its best start since winning the first 13 games of the 1977-78 season.
Oguchi missed his first seven three-point attempts before connecting on back-to-back shots with 2:24 left in the game and pushed Illinois State's lead to 11. Oguchi scored nine points in the final three minutes and 12 in the second half while keeping the Redbirds in front of the Flames (7-3).
Osiris Eldridge (14), Lloyd Phillips (10) and Brandon Sampay (10) joined Oguchi in double figures with Eldridge and Dinma Odiakosa contributing double-double efforts. Odiakosa led all players with 13 rebounds and Eldridge pulled down 11 boards.
Illinois State led 34-27 at the break on the heels of a strong first half by Eldridge, who led all players with 10 points in the opening frame. UIC's Rob Eppinger gave the Flames a six-point advantage after hitting a free throw at the 10:35 mark and produced the largest lead over the Redbirds by any team at Redbird Arena this season. The Redbirds answered with a 25-12 run to close the half.
Both teams dueled for control in the second period as the game saw eight lead changes over the final 20 minutes. Illinois State charged to a 37-27 lead out of the break but the Flames rallied to tie the game at 43. The game was tied four points later at 47 before back-to-back putbacks by Odiakosa gave Illinois State a five-point advantage. UIC's Josh Mayo cut the lead to three, but a jumper by Sampay and the three-pointers by Oguchi proved too much to overcome.
Mayo led all scorers with 22 points and threw up 27 shots in the game. Scott Vandermeer added 10 points for the Flames and Tori Boyd contributed nine points and a team-high seven rebounds.
Illinois State out-rebounded the Flames 49-38, leading to a 16-11 advantage in second chance points. Illinois State shot 22-of-60 (36.7 percent) for the game while UIC shot 25-of-70 (35.7 percent). Illinois State turned the ball over 15 times and both teams tied with 10 assists.
Illinois State turns its focus to Missouri Valley Conference play and opens the league slate at Missouri State Sunday, Dec. 28. The Redbirds return home on New Year's Eve and host Evansville, Dec. 31 at 2:05 p.m.
