Corey Petros finished 15-of-22 for a whopping 34 points in Wednesday’s 91-77 win over UIC. Photo/HLN
[dropcap]A[/dropcap] sluggish start Wednesday night by Oakland was compensated for by a 14-0 start to the second half en route to a 91-77 win against Illinois-Chicago.
The Golden Grizzlies struggled a bit early at the UIC Pavilion, allowing a Flames team that ranks last in field goal percentage on both offense and defense in the Horizon League to jump out and lead the game in the early portion of the first half. UIC, though, lost its offense composure and had few, if any, answers to Oakland’s interior pair of freshman Jalen Hayes and senior Corey Petros in the game’s second half.
Petros had a majority of his baskets on uncontested inside attempts and scored 20 of his career-high 34 points after halftime as Oakland relentlessly fed him to run up their lead. Oakland coach Greg Kampe removed Petros, who also had 13 rebounds, with more than three minutes remaining in the game and the Golden Grizzlies (12-12, 7-2 Horizon League) possessing an 18-point lead.
Kampe mentioned in a post-game interview with WDFN how teams are forced to decide how to defend Oakland’s frontcourt pair.
“When [Hayes has] been the four-time [Horizon League] Freshman of the Week, you’ve got to pick your poison,” Kampe said. “Youngstown picked their poison and we buried the 3. Tonight we only took 12 3’s and made six of them.”
“What are they gonna do? You’ve got to make decisions on how to guard us.”
In addition to his 16 points, Hayes aided the Golden Grizzlies’ 48-22 advantage in the paint, dishing a career-high 10 assists. The Lansing, MI., native also had double-digit free-throw attempts for the third time in the last four games.
Senior forward Ahman Fells presented matchup problems for Oakland early, stepping out and hitting several 3-pointers for the Flames, who caught the visitors flat-footed out of the gates. UIC led by as much as eight with just over 12 minutes to go in the first half after a triple by Fells, who ended with 19 points and eight boards.
The Flames chose not to double-team Petros and let the Golden Grizzlies lob the ball into the post and feed teammates from various angles with ease. Despite falling far behind in the second half, one played much more to the tempo of Oakland’s preference, UIC continued shooting from outside with accuracy and finished 11-for-19 from distance. Guard Markese McGuire had four of the Flames’ makes from beyond the arc and finished with 16 points.
Paris Burns also gave UIC (5-19, 1-8) a strong contribution out of the backcourt, lending a team-high 20 points and adding nine assists.
The Golden Grizzlies had plenty of help from other contributors outside their interior pair, including a 20-point, seven-assist outing by sophomore point guard Khalil Felder. Tommie McCune provided assistance in Oakland’s rebounding advantage, while Dante Williams continued his breakout year on the defensive end. The senior forward held Flames’ leading scorer Jay Harris (13.8 ppg) to just seven points.
The win marks Oakland’s seventh in a row, bringing their winning percentage up to .500 for the first time all season.
“When you realize we were 5-12 walking out of Calihan Hall…we’re almost bowl eligible,” Kampe said. “I like that idea.”
Back in action on Sunday, the Golden Grizzlies travel to take on Valparaiso for a 3 p.m. ET tip-off.
*Report courtesy of our partners at Press Row Sports.
