tag:www.chicagonow.com,2011:/blogs/chicago-college-basketball//48/tag:www.chicagonow.com,2009:/blogs/chicago-college-basketball//48.30353- Chicago College Basketball is the best place for news and analysis about the five NCAA Division I basketball teams in Chicago: Northwestern, DePaul, UIC, Loyola-Chicago and Chicago State. Movable Type 4.261 tag:www.chicagonow.com,2009:/blogs/chicago-college-basketball//48.30353 2009-11-19T19:38:52Z 2009-11-19T20:04:25Z

Recaps from the Chicago State and UIC games on Wednesday night.

John Templon http://www.chicagonow.com/profiles/johntemplon Quick recaps of last night's other action:

UIC played its first game against an NCAA Division I opponent on Wednesday night at Central Michigan, and lost 67-48. The Chippewas came into the game having split games versus Princeton and Ferris State, so they're not exactly top-notch competition. The Flames offense made Central Michigan's defense look like world-beaters.

In the first half UIC (0-1) had exactly 0 field goals from inside the two-point arc and trailed 39-22 at halftime. The Flames' first two-point field goal was made by Brad Birton with 19:07 remaining in the second half. Robo Kreps was the only Flames player in double figures with 15 points, but it took him 16 shots.

Other marks of futility? UIC was outrebounded by 20. Also, .76 points per possession (48/63) is just astoundingly bad. That's like NJIT in 2009 bad. (And that's a level no team wants to be at ever again.) The effective field goal percentage of 38.4 percent is actually below NJIT's level last season. This was a game that redefined offensive ineptitude.
I was at the Northwestern game vs. Butler, so I didn't get to peek in on this game, but from the box score it does appear that Jimmy Collins still doesn't have any idea what he has with this Flames squad. 13 players played at least 5 minutes as Collins continues with the lineup strategy of Jeremy Buttell, Kreps and three other guys.

He's going to need to find a couple more players awfully soon.

Chicago State had five players in double-figures as the Cougars continued to use their fast-paced ways to blast another non-Division I opponent. Yesterday afternoon's victim was Trinity International which fell 102-84.

The Cougars have one more game against a non-Division I opponent (St. Xavier on Saturday) before a tough five-game stretch that includes four road games with trips to Hawaii and Nebraska.

Carl Montgomery once again led the way for Chicago State (2-1) against Trinity. He scored 18 points and grabbed 9 rebounds. Antonio Lofton scored 16 points, including a perfect 10-10 from the free throw line, and Hajji Martin added 15 points and 9 rebounds in just 9 minutes off the bench.

The Cougars only attempted 7 three-point shots in the entire game while Trinity went 12-24 from beyond the arc to keep the game close until late. Chicago State is going to have to work on getting out on shooters or the three-point ball could become a big problem this season.

There are no game tonight for any of the Chicago area teams. DePaul and Loyola are both back in action on Friday.
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