Yale held a 41-34 halftime lead on the road over Illinois Chicago and appeared in control of the game Friday night.
Then the second half happened.
The Flames reeled off 15 straight points to start the second stanza on 6-for-7 shooting and coasted from there for a 91-79 win over the Bulldogs.
Yale’s mantra under coach James Jones is defend, rebound and share. Jones’ squad went 0-for-3 in those categories Friday night. The Bulldogs gave up 67.5 points per game last season but 91 against the Flames. They uncharacteristically lost the rebounding war, 40-34, and importantly, 12-6 on the offensive glass.
The visitors turned the ball over 16 times compared with the Flames’ nine. UIC posted 18 points off Yale turnovers.
“[P]oor team performance by us tonight.” Jones said.
Yale scored the first seven points of the game, five from senior John Poulakidas. It was a homecoming for Poulakidas, from nearby Naperville, Ill.
UIC then went on an 11-4 run.
The Flames took a 19-17 lead on a trey by grad student Koby Jeffries, who came from UAB.
Freshman and Connecticut Gatorade Player of the Year Riley Fox hit his first college trey to give Yale a 28-22 lead. Senior Bez Mbeng made it 33-24 on a coast-to-coast lay-in.
UIC cut the deficit to seven at the half.
A Poulakidas trey cut the Flames’ lead to 49-44.
UIC grabbed a 61-49 lead, but a triple by junior forward Casey Simmons and an old-fashioned three-point play by senior guard Yassine Gharram made it 61-55. Yale would get no closer.
Poulakidas led Yale with 21 points, but he was only 6-for-17 from the field. Gharram added 13 on 5-for-6 ahooting and added a team-high 10 rebounds.
Senior Tyem Freeman led the Flames with 19 points off of the bench and junior Jordan Mason added 16, also off of the bench for first-year coach Rob Ehsan.
The road does not get any easier for the Bulldogs, as they travel to West Lafayette, Ind. to play No. 14 Purdue on Monday night.