Southern Illinois University
4-1
UIC
3-2
Men's Basketball Loses Heartbreaker to UIC, 73-71
12/14/2002 | 12:00:00 | Men's Basketball
Dec. 14, 2002
CHICAGO, Ill. - Martell Bailey hit a five-foot jump shot with three seconds left to lift Illinois-Chicago to a 73-71 victory over Southern Illinois in front of a crowd of 6,746, including a large turnout of Saluki fans, at the UIC Pavillion.
After a timeout, the Salukis (4-1) had an opportunity to tie the game, however the inbounds pass to Jermaine Dearman was deflected, and time ran out before he could re-gain possession.
Southern Illinois trailed much of the second half and by as many as eight before rallying to tie the game, 71-71, when Stetson Hairston split one of two free throws with 33 seconds left.
Illinois-Chicago (3-2) then called a timeout and set up a play to run the clock down and take the last shot. The 5-foot-10 Bailey drove to the basket with eight seconds left and initially lost the ball into the arms of Dearman, but he regained control and lofted the game-winning shot over the outstretched arms of the 6-foot-8 Saluki forward.
The Salukis got off to a poor start in the game, falling behind 13-2 in the first four minutes of the contest. But SIU used a withering defense to regain control and took its first lead, 20-19, on a jumper by Sylvester Willis at 9:55.
The lead changed hands several times before Dearman dropped in a jump shot to put SIU ahead, 29-28. From there, the Salukis led the rest of the first half, and by as much as six points, but were never able to secure a comfortable lead, eventually settling for a 40-39 halftime advantage.
After extending to a 46-41 lead on a 3-pointer by Kent Williams, Southern was outscored 19-7 during the next eight minutes and found themselves trailing, 60-53.
The Salukis battled back valiantly, with solid inside play from Dearman, who finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds. However, missed free throws were a critical factor in the game, as the Salukis converted just half of their shots from the charity stripe.
Hairston led the Salukis with a career-high 22 points. Williams added 11 points on 4-of-12 shooting from the field. UIC was led by Cedric Banks, who scored 22 points in his first game of the season after sitting out the Flames' first four games for academic reasons.
Postgame Quotes
Head Coach Bruce Weber:
"We didn't play together. We had four assists, and that's the big key, we're not sharing the ball. I hope it's not consciously that they're not sharing the basketball. I hope it's that they're trying to do too much and trying to win the game on their own. But we have to share the ball."
"Stetson played great and kept us in the game. The bench played great in the first half and kept us in the game, but Stetson and Jermaine (Dearman) can't have six turnovers (each)."
"To our credit, we got back into it. If we had won the game, we probably don't deserve it, but it was kind of ironic how the game ended on a deflected pass, and it rolls around, and (UIC) has the aggressiveness to get the ball."
"We have to learn by failure. I told them all along, don't let failure be your motivator. Hopefully, they'll learn before it's too late. We talked amongst ourselves about being 9-0 (in non-conference), but now the best we can do is 8-1, and that's not going to be easy because we still have the next two on the road. We're going to have to come together as a team."
"Free throws were our nemesis last year. (Rolan) Roberts really struggled, but we thought we'd be better this year. It probably made a difference in the game. If Stetson makes both free throws, you go up one, and now you have a lot more pressure on them than a tie game. Maybe they rush down and take a shot. We didn't make 'em, and it could have changed the game. When you're not ready to play, and you're not into it, you don't have the fire in the belly, you're not going to make free throws. You miss your layups and you break down."
"It was a very physical hard fought game. (UIC) wanted to win. It's a good rivalry game."
"We were horrible at the start. We didn't have any energy. Our bench did a great job and really got us back in there. Offensively, when we had a chance to extend the lead, we played dumb and made turnovers and offensive fouls."
F Jermaine Dearman:
"It's a wakeup call. You hate to learn about it this way, but we have to learn from it right now. This was our first real test. Now we see how we have to play on the road. It just takes a little more effort. I don't think we had that tonight, including myself. I think me and Kent (Williams) should have stepped up in this kind of situation and pull everybody together and take control of the game."
"It was hard for us to stop the screens up top. Their guards got going, wheeling and dealing, and we we're having to help so much that somebody was eventually open. I think if we could have slowed down their penetration a little bit, it would have probably helped."
