The Salukis men’s basketball squad looked to build on back-to-back wins on Wednesday, Jan. 7 when they traveled to Chicago, Illinois to take on the Illinois-Chicago Flames. UIC walked away with a 70-57 victory over the Salukis, their first victory of the conference season. The loss dropped the Salukis to 2-4 in the Missouri Valley Conference.

It took both teams a while to warm up in the Windy City. They combined to go three for their first 15 shots from the field, leaving the score 4-3 Salukis four minutes in.

The Flames heated up from there, aided by multiple trips to the free throw line. SIU, on the other hand, found themselves in a nearly two-and-a-half minute scoring drought. Both sides going in opposite directions meant UIC jumped ahead 12-8 with 11:30 left in the first half.

SIU saw the game continue to slip away little by little. The Salukis brought it down to a one point game, but a handful of quick turnovers and a 7-0 Flames run put that to bed quickly. UIC came away with a 21-13 lead with 6:17 left until halftime.

The game continued to favor the home side as the clock wound down in the first half. SIU committed three more turnovers while the Flames scored five more points, doubling up the Salukis 26-13 heading into the final media timeout of the half.

It seemed like SIU had finally made some headway, cutting the lead to eight, before guard Damien Mayo Jr. committed a flagrant foul on UIC guard Ahmad Henderson II with 0.6 left in the half. Henderson made both free throws, but missed the ensuing last-second heave, giving the Flames a 31-21 advantage going into the locker room.

UIC had a double digit lead after a half despite shooting 28% from the floor. Much of that could be credited to a 10-13 mark from the free throw line and forcing 11 SIU turnovers. Nobody really took the reins scoring-wise for the Salukis, as forwards Rolyns and Prince Aligbe shared the points lead with Mayo, with them all scoring 4 points each.

Prince Aligbe’s pass out of bounds to start the second half seemed like an omen of things to come for the Salukis. The Flames continued to stop SIU just enough and score themselves just enough to keep extending the lead. They extended it all the way to 42-27 six minutes into the half.

The Salukis started to claw back as the second half reached the middle stages. A hot stretch of five made baskets in a row brought the score to 50-39 UIC, forcing a timeout with 10:21 left in regulation.

That was about as close as the visitors could make it for the time being. SIU stayed hot on offense, but the Flames found the bottom of the net just as often, keeping the lead a respectable 55-43 with 7:16 left in the matchup.

SIU finally got within five with 2:35 on a floater from Mayo. That ended up being the last points of the night for the Salukis. Immediately afterwards, UIC got four points on one possession, making the score 66-57 with a mere two minutes remaining. A handful of free throws later, the Flames got to celebrate a 70-57 victory on their home floor. 

The three point shooting continued to be an issue for SIU, as they shot a lowly 5-17, good for 29%. Mayo was the only player for the Salukis to make it to double digits, scoring 17 points in the loss. 

The now 8-9 Salukis get a week off to rest and recover before hosting the Drake Bulldogs on Wednesday, Jan. 14 at 7 p.m., inside the Banterra Center.

Sports reporter Eli Hoover can be found at [email protected] or on Instagram @hoovermakesart

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