UIC 74, Robert Morris 71

[Pantherholic]

for anyone who wants a non-alcoholic pick-me-up from that embarrassing Badgers game today I give you this:

Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
Robert Morris................. 47 24 - 71
UIC Flames.................... 38 36 - 74

on a side note, I'd like to give a heartfelt "**** you" to Kraig Urbik, Mark Zalewski, Brett Bell, Scott Posiask, and every other DT, LB and DB that played today. assholes.

[dylanrocks]

One note of great interest here: The UIC starters played considerably more minutes than their Robert Morris counterparts, led by Jeffers' whopping 38. This is exactly how an exhibition game is NOT supposed to go.

Men's Basketball Rallies For 74-71 Win Over Robert Morris In Exhibition Opener
 
Sophomore Othyus Jeffers tallies 20 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists in his Flames' debut.
 


 

 
Sophomore Othyus Jeffers tallied a double-double with 20 points and 11 rebounds on Saturday versus Robert Morris.


Men's Basketball Rallies For 74-71 Win Over Robert Morris In Exhibition Opener

Nov. 5, 2005

Chicago, Ill. - Behind a dazzling debut from Othyus Jeffers, the UIC men's basketball team rallied for a 74-71 triumph over Robert Morris in an exhibition contest at the UIC Pavilion.

Jeffers, a 6-foot-5 sophomore, recorded a double-double for the Flames with a game-high 20 points and 11 rebounds while adding eight assists and three steals. He also netted what proved to be the game-winning tally with a free throw with :55 left that snapped a 71-71 tie.

Senior Justin Bowen also posted a double-double in the win, finishing with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Senior Elliott Poole collected 16 points, 12 in the second half, for UIC.

Robert Morris was red hot from three-point range in the first half, converting 7-of-11 attempts to take a 47-38 lead into intermission.

The Eagles would build their advantage to 12 points, 65-53, with 10:14 left in the game when the Flames began to rally.

A 16-3 run, capped by a short jumper by Poole, would push UIC back in front, 71-70, at the 3:52 mark.

Robert Morris tied the game at 71-71 when Reggie George split a pair of charity tosses, but the Flames closed out the game by making 3-of-4 free throws of their own to earn the victory.

UIC will conclude its exhibition slate on Wednesday, Nov. 9th, by taking on St. Joseph's (Ind.) at 8:00 p.m., at the UIC Pavilion.

[Big D]

dylanrocks said:

One note of great interest here: The UIC starters played considerably more minutes than their Robert Morris counterparts, led by Jeffers' whopping 38. This is exactly how an exhibition game is NOT supposed to go.

Why is Jeffers playing 38 minutes bad? Keep in mind this is his first game in probably close to two years (he sat out last year)...so I don't think it's wrong to get him some work, considering he will likely be playing that long in games this year. We were also missing two starters. All but one player got at least 15 minutes of gametime.

I'm disappointed that we had a tough time with this team, but we did pull it out....and Jeffers is going to light the league up this year....

20 pts, 11 rebs, 8 assists, 3 steals, 18 FT attempts (only 10 made)

[germanathens]

"Why is Jeffers playing 38 minutes bad?"

UIC had to leave their top players in the entire game just to beat little Robert Morris.

Jeffers is going to be a great player, unfortunately his team just beat Robert Morris by 3 points.

Later,
UWMfreak

[Pantherholic]

bigd said:

20 pts, 11 rebs, 8 assists, 3 steals, 18 FT attempts (only 10 made)

wow, those are impressive numbers for a guy who played 38 out of 40 minutes against a team in the NAIA . just imagine what he can do against a D2 Great Lakes Valley Conf. team!

[Big D]

Pantherholic, let me remind you of Joah Tucker's numbers from his first game against D2 Parkside (extrapolated out to 38 minutes) compared to Jeffers...

19 pts, 12 rebs, 7 assists, 1.7 steals, 0 FT attempts (Tucker)
20 pts, 11 rebs, 8 assists, 3 steals, 18 FT attemts (Jeffers)

So Tucker's numbers were even less impressive against division 2 competition, which is a huge step up from a final four NAIA team (go ahead, insert "UIC couldn't beat UWP" comment here)....let me guess, you think Tucker had a good game right?

[uwmfan04]

## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
13 Tucker, Joah 5-10 1-4 0-0 2 5 7 0 11 4 3 0 1 22

[Big D]

uwmfan04 said:

## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
13 Tucker, Joah 5-10 1-4 0-0 2 5 7 0 11 4 3 0 1 22

Huh? That's why I said I extrapolated his numbers. Had he played 38 minutes that game, his numbers would likely be similar to the ones I previously posted.

You guys do realize that we only had 9 players suit up right? Not 18 like you guys? The minutes need to go somewhere.

[pnthr97]

BigD, sorry but your argument makes no sense. Seems like you're trying to compare players based on numbers. Joah didn't play very well against Parkside, but rather was really staying within the offense, while he could've taken his man one-on-one multiple times. Basically, I honestly think he coasted a bit. But, when he needed, he made plays - easily.

Jeffers HAD to make plays in order to win - AGAINST AN NAIA TEAM. No offense, but that's just sad.

Not saying he isn't going to be a great player, but you can't try to compare his numbers to Joah's. We'll see what happens when they actually play against eachother.

[Big D]

pnthr97 said:

BigD, sorry but your argument makes no sense. Seems like you're trying to compare players based on numbers. Joah didn't play very well against Parkside, but rather was really staying within the offense, while he could've taken his man one-on-one multiple times. Basically, I honestly think he coasted a bit. But, when he needed, he made plays - easily.

Jeffers HAD to make plays in order to win - AGAINST AN NAIA TEAM. No offense, but that's just sad.

Not saying he isn't going to be a great player, but you can't try to compare his numbers to Joah's. We'll see what happens when they actually play against eachother.

Sorry pnthr97, but the only arguments here not making sense are yours and the other UWM fans in this thread....I pointed out that Jeffers played a solid game against Robert Morris. Someone then said that those numbers aren't impressive because they came against an NAIA team....

However, by that same logic, you could say that Cedrick Banks must not be that good if he only scored 15 points against UWP last year because scoring low points against inferior competition must not say much for that player. And, Joah Tucker must not be a very good player either if he can only score 11 points against Parkside in 22 minutes....

Now when I come back and ask what you think about Tucker playing "worse" than Jeffers against hardly better competition (if even that), my argument makes no sense. Instead, Joah is playing within the offense and Jeffers didn't. Could it be that Jeffers got those points by playing in the offense too?

I guess my point is that having a good game against an NAIA team does not mean that that player should be written off, or that that player will not produce at a higher level. Show me a star player of yours that had a better game than Jeffers against an NAIA or D2 team....a good game is a good game...

[Hack]

[ArtVandelay]

Big D,

I don't think anyone here has a problem saying Mr. Jeffers had a very nice game and we all wish him the best of luck, but the only problems lies with you suddenly making a comparison of him to Joah Tucker. What I'm getting from your post is that you think Jeffers is better than Joah Tucker because of ONE game against completely different teams...

You take exception to Pantherholic pointing out that you were playing an exhibition game against a NAIA team? You don't see us making a huge fuss here saying Mark Pancratz is going to light up the league this year because he dropped 10 points in 15 min. on Parkside.

Jeffers had a nice game, lets wait a while before we start claiming he is superior to Cedric Banks and the best player to ever grace this earth. Thanks.

[Big D]

Art,

The post that got me started on this whole thing was Pantherholic saying "wow, those are impressive numbers for a guy who played 38 out of 40 minutes against a team in the NAIA . just imagine what he can do against a D2 Great Lakes Valley Conf. team!"

This quote implies that these numbers are meaningless because they came against an NAIA team....my argument is that they're not meaningless.

I never said Jeffers is better than Banks or Tucker.....that would be a ridiculous statement on my part. I do believe that he will be one of the better players in the league this year....simple as that.

[ArtVandelay]

Big D,

As you are certainly aware of Pantherholic loves giving it to you guys. I'm pretty sure he knows Jeffers' numbers are very relivant and impressive just doesn't want to give you any credit ;D. If he keeps putting up number like that he will be the New-comer of the year and 1st team in my opinion...

What is your take on his shooting ability? I saw that he was horrible from the line. Is he mainly a slashing type player, or does he have a decent outside shot too (simlilar to Joah). Either way I'm looking forward to seeing him in action, and my thoughts of UIC having a bad year may be changing.

[Big D]

Art,

I know Pantherholic likes sticking it to UIC....and of course, I like to come here and stir up things as well...it's all in good fun....

I have personally not seen Jeffers play, but we recruited him coming out of high-school two years ago, and it was a big deal. His grades were not good enough and so he went to JUCO in Cali. At that time, the only knock against him was his jumper. Word is he has worked on it and here he is 2 years later. His FT shooting was not so great last night but he talked like it should've been better....I'll believe it when I see it...it seems like nobody can shoot FTs nowadays.

He played out of position last night (PF). He is an all-around player (probably somewhat similar to Joah but not as polished)....he slashes, he bangs, he passes, he defends, and he rebounds. His dribbling is also solid....Collins said that if he handled a little better, they could run him at the point at times.

We all have high hopes for him, and I realize it's early....if UIC is going to do well this year, he'll be playing a big part. But I wouldn't be too worried yet...after all, we did barely beat RMC.