#HLMBB Recap: #MotorCityMadness Day Three
Joey Yashinsky
No. 4 Oakland 62, No. 5 IUPUI 55
In the last quarterfinal of the Little Caesars Horizon League Men’s Championship, it was the No. 4 seed Oakland Golden Grizzlies advancing after a 62-55 victory over the No. 5 seed IUPUI Jaguars.
Oakland sprinted to an early 22-9 lead, but aided by 3-pointers from T.J. Henderson, Nick Rogers and Jaylen Minnett, the Jaguars clawed all the way back to even things at 28 heading to intermission.
The second half was a nip and tuck affair. IUPUI grabbed the lead on five different occasions, but never by more than three points.
Greg Kampe rolled the dice and reinserted his All-Horizon First Team performer, Jalen Hayes, with 12 minutes still remaining and Hayes saddled with four fouls. The move paid off handsomely.
The senior Hayes scored right away to put Oakland up 46-43. He sank a jumper to push the lead to five. After IUPUI stormed back to tie the game at 50, Hayes corralled a Kendrick Nunn miss, put it back in and drew a foul in the process. The Golden Grizzlies went up three and would never trail again.
“I’ve been in this program for a while, and Coach Kampe and I have a really good relationship,” said Hayes. “So I just told him I was good to go and that I wasn’t going to foul. It was as simple as that. When I got back into the game, I stayed locked in and tried to will our team to a win.”
Hayes finished with 13 points and seven rebounds, one of four Oakland players to reach double figures.
Nunn, the Horizon League Player of the Year led all scorers with 18 points, but shot just 6-of-20 from the field. Nick Daniels chipped in 13 and Isaiah Brock added 10.
Brock came up with two game-changing plays in the final minute. He tipped in a Nunn miss with 55 seconds on the clock, pushing Oakland’s cushion to three. He also swatted away a D.J. McCall drive attempt on the ensuing trip, giving the Golden Grizzlies possession and allowing them to salt the game away at the stripe.
IUPUI received a sterling performance from Aaron Brennan. The senior forward led the Jags with 14 points, including an all-important triple with 4:21 left that evened the game for the final time. He also secured a game-high nine rebounds.
Junior guard D.J. McCall added 12 and was a perfect 6-of-6 at the free-throw line.
Newcomers to the Horizon League, Jaguars’ head coach Jason Gardner was pleased with his team’s maiden brush with Motor City Madness.
“Unbelievable atmosphere, unbelievable arena,” said Gardner. “I think it’s the best arena in the country. You know we want to win like everybody else does, but first year, it’s been a great experience.”
IUPUI concludes its season with an 11-19 record.
With the victory, Oakland (19-13) advances to the semifinals of the Little Caesars Horizon League Men’s Basketball Championship Monday at 7:00 p.m. against No. 8 seed Cleveland State. The game will be televised on ESPNU.
No. 6 Milwaukee 80, No. 3 UIC 75
In Sunday night’s first quarterfinal of the Little Caesars Horizon League Men’s Basketball Championship, it was the No. 6 seed Milwaukee Panthers advancing with an 80-75 victory over the No. 3 seed UIC Flames.
After a 37-37 first half in which no team led by more than six, it was Milwaukee junior guard Brock Stull that took over the game in the final 20 minutes.
Stull poured in 19 of his game-high 25 points in the second half. No play was bigger than his difficult step-through 3 with under 90 seconds left and the Panthers nursing a delicate five-point lead.
“It looked good,” said Stull. “Felt good as soon as I released it.”
Milwaukee initially jumped out to an 8-2 lead, but UIC responded with an 11-0 surge, helped by a pair of triples from sophomore Jordan Blount. The Panthers turned the ball over just three times in the opening half and eight for the game. UIC had 16 miscues on the night.
With just over five minutes to go in the game, sophomore Dikembe Dixson rattled in a clutch 3 to reduce Milwaukee’s advantage to one, 63-62. But sophomore Bryce Barnes knocked in a jumper, Stull scored four straight, and the Panthers had wrestled back the momentum.
The Flames were led by Tarkus Ferguson’s 23 points on 7-of-10 shooting. Marcus Ottey tallied 14, Dixson had 13 and Blount scored 10 with seven rebounds.
Horizon League Defensive Player of the Year Tai Odiase blocked three shots, but was held to just one field goal on four attempts.
Milwaukee got an outstanding game from senior post player Brett Prahl. The “Prahl Driver” contributed 14 points and helped to keep Odiase away from the basket on offense.
All-League Second-Teamer Jeremiah Bell scored 12 points. Sophomore Bryce Nze finished with 10 points and nine rebounds while logging 39 minutes.
Despite the loss, UIC head coach Steve McClain was hopeful that his team’s season would continue.
“I think we’ll get the opportunity to keep playing,” McClain said. “When I look at this team and where we’re at compared to a year ago -- what we’ve accomplished with the conference wins, the road wins, I don’t think there’s any question we’ll get an opportunity.”
UIC’s record drops to 17-15.
With the victory, last year’s tournament runner-up Milwaukee (16-16) advances to the Motor City Madness semifinals Monday at 9:30 p.m. The Panthers will take on the No. 2 seed Wright State Raiders. Milwaukee won both regular season meetings by a combined six points.