Will be a sneaky tough game tonight. Last game they beat Yale by 12, and Yale gave Purdue all they could handle last night, losing 92-84. UIC is a small, quick Guard oriented team, hope Windham is able to go. Nick will need to take advantage of his inside game again to lead the Cats.
UIC
- Thread starter NJCat
- Start date
I am waiting for Hungry Jacks opponent analysis where each team is comparable to the Lakers!
Nice find on this. After reading your post, I scanned their kenpom profile, and noticed UIC has a new coach, Rob Ehsan. he coached at UAB from 2016-2020, but was fired after going 76-57. He then was an assistant coach at Stanford since then until getting tabbed to lead the Flames this season.
He's got UIC playing a bit faster than what they did under his predecessor. Granted, 7 of the 10 are transfers, so in essence it's a totally different team. Against the Bulldogs, UIC ran out 10 guys who played at least 10 min, but among the starters:
- Filip Skobalj, 6'7" wing who went 40.9% (56/137) from 3FG last year, and went 2/8 in that game over 30 min of play. So he's gonna get his shots up.
- Ahmad Henderson, 5'9" soph transfer guard from Niagra who went 11 on 10 shots (8-8 from FT), 7 ast, 2 reb, 2stl, 2 TO over 30 min
- Sasa Ciani, 6'9" soph transfer from Xavier who put in 13 on 9 shots (5/8 on inside 2FG) and 11 reb in 23 min
- Tyem Freeman, 6'5" senior transfer from Kent State who went 19 on 11 (5/9 from 3FG, and went 25/53 at KSU last year), 5 reb, 1 stl over 23 min
As stated earlier, while Yale was ravaged by the portal, they still hung tough at Mackey Arena so this isn't exactly a cakewalk. Look for UIC to try to play fast and force TOs (Yale turned it over 20.8% against the Flames compared to only 13.7% against Purdue).
Edit: Haha, this is what I get for attempting to write a preview while also working at the same time and also not checking the board. Combined my preview into this thread.
This has the makings of a very tricky game for the 'Cats.
First, UIC has a new coach, who spent the previous 4 seasons as an assistant at Stanford under Jerod Haase, but before that was the head coach at UAB for 4 years following...the departure of Haase to Stanford after UAB won Conference USA in 2016. He treaded water at UAB finishing between 6th and 8th, then Andy Kennedy took over and immediately elevated UAB. But I digress.
In addition to the new coach, they also have a whopping 8 transfers out of the 10 players they played in their only D1 game so far, which was an upset win over a scrappy Yale team that hung with Purdue last night for most of the game. So take all this with a grain of salt given the lack of data available.
Starters:
G - Ahmad Henderson. A 5'9" guard who played for Greg Paulus' Niagara team last season. He started the whole year until hitting the freshman wall late in the season. Not a great shooter despite taking the most shots on the team last year, though he is an excellent FT shooter. Might be playing the role of a pure PG this year vs more of a combo role last year. Hopefully we should be able to bully him with our size.
G - Javon Jackson. A 6'3" guard who played at Utah St. last year in a reserve role and spent his first year in D2. Was a good 3-point shooter at 38.8%, but much of that damage was done against poor teams. He struggled greatly against top-100 competition, and he seems to be more of a catch-and-shoot player. Appears to be their primary ballhandler when he's on the court. Against Yale, he managed to score 13 points on 5-7 shooting in 12 minutes, but also had 3 turnovers and fouled out(!). Has great hair.
G - Ethan Pickett. A 6'4" guard who's one of the two holdovers from last season at UIC. Former JUCO player for his first two seasons. Was a fairly efficient player last year for the Flames, generally either scoring at the rim or taking 3s, though was largely the 5th option on offense. Didn't do much against Yale, seemed to hang out at the 3-point arc on offense waiting for a pass, and then would seek to drive to the hoop.
F - Filip Škobalj. The rarest of creatures, a player who's stayed at one school all 4 years. A beefy 6'7" stretch-4 from Serbia, he was the best shooter in the MVC last season, shooting 63.6% from 2, 46.7% from 3, and 82.4% at the line in conference play, though 77% of his shots came from 3. He also struggled against stronger competition last year. He has a very quick trigger when it comes to shooting, though only shot 3-10 against Yale. Played center when UIC went small.
F - Saša Ciani. A 6'9" transfer from Xavier, he was one of two freshman reserve centers last season, and eventually fell out of favor late in the year. Had trouble staying on the court due to foul issues. Was an exclusively below the rim player last year, though had an efficient double-double against Yale with 13 points and 11 boards, including the first three-pointer of his career. Not afraid to put the ball on the floor and drive to the basket, seems decently athletic. Hopefully Nicholson is ready to body him.
Reserves:
G - Jordan Mason. A transfer from Texas St. following two mostly unspectacular seasons there. Another player who took the most shots on his team last year despite not being particularly efficient. Had lost his starting spot midway through the season though got back in the lineup following a season-ending injury to another player. Against Yale, he was pressed into more playing time due to Jackson's foul trouble. He was the primary ballhandler when he was in the game as well, showed great vision kicking it out to teammates for open 3's, and was very athletic driving to the hoop while drawing a few fouls. Also had a couple steals in the game.
G - Tyem Freeman. A lanky 6'5" wing in his 6th year of college basketball, from Missouri St. to JUCO to UCF to Kent St. to UIC. Last year with the Golden Flashes he took a leap in his shooting in limited minutes, making 47.2% of his 3s including 57.1% against top-100 teams. He made 5 of 9 against Yale, and had very good spacing to get himself open shots.
G - Joshua Reaves. A 6'4" grad transfer from Mt. St. Mary's who is also primarily a 3-point shooter. Started every game last year and could fill up the scoresheet when he was on. Not known for defense, and was shut out on offense against Yale in just 14 minutes.
F - Modestas Kancleris. Another grad transfer, originally a 3-star recruit from Lithuania who went to Creighton but never got established due to injury, then went to Cal Bakersfield for the last two seasons before coming to UIC. A bit gangly and awkward, but has a good handle for a 6'9" guy and decent post moves with a good energy when it comes to rebounding. Got around Casey Simmons for a layup against Yale, also grabbed a couple rebounds over him, though Simmons got him back with a block. Missed finishing a couple alley-oops in the game as well, and is a terrible FT shooter. Has had trouble with fouls in past seasons but didn't pick up any in 12 minutes last game.
G - Koby Jeffries. Yet another grad transfer who began at UAB and was likely recruited by UIC's current coach, then moved to Tennessee Martin for the next 3 seasons before coming to UIC. Was a decent reserve, but not a good shooter at all. Did very little in 14 minutes against Yale.
As a team, UIC got 43 bench points against Yale (35 between Mason and Freeman), 18 points off of turnovers and 36 points in the paint. They managed to score 57 points in the second half, partly helped by going 17-20 at the line in the 2nd half after just 0-3 in the 1st. Despite Yale being down by 12 points, they kept fouling UIC, who shot 15 of their FTs in the last 1:30, which is why the last 2 minute of the game took nearly 20 minutes in real time. They also made 12 3s in the game, many off very nice drive and kick passes. Last thing, they want to play fast, much like Dayton did.
Hoping the team is ready tonight to bring home a victory against a team that will likely make some noise in the MVC this year.
This has the makings of a very tricky game for the 'Cats.
First, UIC has a new coach, who spent the previous 4 seasons as an assistant at Stanford under Jerod Haase, but before that was the head coach at UAB for 4 years following...the departure of Haase to Stanford after UAB won Conference USA in 2016. He treaded water at UAB finishing between 6th and 8th, then Andy Kennedy took over and immediately elevated UAB. But I digress.
In addition to the new coach, they also have a whopping 8 transfers out of the 10 players they played in their only D1 game so far, which was an upset win over a scrappy Yale team that hung with Purdue last night for most of the game. So take all this with a grain of salt given the lack of data available.
Starters:
G - Ahmad Henderson. A 5'9" guard who played for Greg Paulus' Niagara team last season. He started the whole year until hitting the freshman wall late in the season. Not a great shooter despite taking the most shots on the team last year, though he is an excellent FT shooter. Might be playing the role of a pure PG this year vs more of a combo role last year. Hopefully we should be able to bully him with our size.
G - Javon Jackson. A 6'3" guard who played at Utah St. last year in a reserve role and spent his first year in D2. Was a good 3-point shooter at 38.8%, but much of that damage was done against poor teams. He struggled greatly against top-100 competition, and he seems to be more of a catch-and-shoot player. Appears to be their primary ballhandler when he's on the court. Against Yale, he managed to score 13 points on 5-7 shooting in 12 minutes, but also had 3 turnovers and fouled out(!). Has great hair.
G - Ethan Pickett. A 6'4" guard who's one of the two holdovers from last season at UIC. Former JUCO player for his first two seasons. Was a fairly efficient player last year for the Flames, generally either scoring at the rim or taking 3s, though was largely the 5th option on offense. Didn't do much against Yale, seemed to hang out at the 3-point arc on offense waiting for a pass, and then would seek to drive to the hoop.
F - Filip Škobalj. The rarest of creatures, a player who's stayed at one school all 4 years. A beefy 6'7" stretch-4 from Serbia, he was the best shooter in the MVC last season, shooting 63.6% from 2, 46.7% from 3, and 82.4% at the line in conference play, though 77% of his shots came from 3. He also struggled against stronger competition last year. He has a very quick trigger when it comes to shooting, though only shot 3-10 against Yale. Played center when UIC went small.
F - Saša Ciani. A 6'9" transfer from Xavier, he was one of two freshman reserve centers last season, and eventually fell out of favor late in the year. Had trouble staying on the court due to foul issues. Was an exclusively below the rim player last year, though had an efficient double-double against Yale with 13 points and 11 boards, including the first three-pointer of his career. Not afraid to put the ball on the floor and drive to the basket, seems decently athletic. Hopefully Nicholson is ready to body him.
Reserves:
G - Jordan Mason. A transfer from Texas St. following two mostly unspectacular seasons there. Another player who took the most shots on his team last year despite not being particularly efficient. Had lost his starting spot midway through the season though got back in the lineup following a season-ending injury to another player. Against Yale, he was pressed into more playing time due to Jackson's foul trouble. He was the primary ballhandler when he was in the game as well, showed great vision kicking it out to teammates for open 3's, and was very athletic driving to the hoop while drawing a few fouls. Also had a couple steals in the game.
G - Tyem Freeman. A lanky 6'5" wing in his 6th year of college basketball, from Missouri St. to JUCO to UCF to Kent St. to UIC. Last year with the Golden Flashes he took a leap in his shooting in limited minutes, making 47.2% of his 3s including 57.1% against top-100 teams. He made 5 of 9 against Yale, and had very good spacing to get himself open shots.
G - Joshua Reaves. A 6'4" grad transfer from Mt. St. Mary's who is also primarily a 3-point shooter. Started every game last year and could fill up the scoresheet when he was on. Not known for defense, and was shut out on offense against Yale in just 14 minutes.
F - Modestas Kancleris. Another grad transfer, originally a 3-star recruit from Lithuania who went to Creighton but never got established due to injury, then went to Cal Bakersfield for the last two seasons before coming to UIC. A bit gangly and awkward, but has a good handle for a 6'9" guy and decent post moves with a good energy when it comes to rebounding. Got around Casey Simmons for a layup against Yale, also grabbed a couple rebounds over him, though Simmons got him back with a block. Missed finishing a couple alley-oops in the game as well, and is a terrible FT shooter. Has had trouble with fouls in past seasons but didn't pick up any in 12 minutes last game.
G - Koby Jeffries. Yet another grad transfer who began at UAB and was likely recruited by UIC's current coach, then moved to Tennessee Martin for the next 3 seasons before coming to UIC. Was a decent reserve, but not a good shooter at all. Did very little in 14 minutes against Yale.
As a team, UIC got 43 bench points against Yale (35 between Mason and Freeman), 18 points off of turnovers and 36 points in the paint. They managed to score 57 points in the second half, partly helped by going 17-20 at the line in the 2nd half after just 0-3 in the 1st. Despite Yale being down by 12 points, they kept fouling UIC, who shot 15 of their FTs in the last 1:30, which is why the last 2 minute of the game took nearly 20 minutes in real time. They also made 12 3s in the game, many off very nice drive and kick passes. Last thing, they want to play fast, much like Dayton did.
Hoping the team is ready tonight to bring home a victory against a team that will likely make some noise in the MVC this year.
Yale did lose Danny Wolf to Michigan via the portal, but I think the other 2 guys were graduating and thus ineligible to play in the Ivy League this year. One of those guys transferred to USC.
Regardless, this UIC team looks like they're better than 15.5 point underdogs would suggest.
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