Once Upon A Time In Las Vegas – Wildcard Edition
It’s a battle of teams from the Missouri Valley Conference on the hardwood in the Hoosier State. The UIC Flames are on the road as they make the trip to face the Valparaiso Beacons Tuesday night. UIC was beaten 81-64 on the road by Murray State in their previous game Saturday, failing to cover as an 8.5-point underdog in the contest. Valparaiso knocked off Evansville 76-69 on the road Saturday in their most recent game, covering the line as a two-point favorite. In the all-time series between the teams, the Flames own a 31-24 advantage and have won the last two meetings. That includes a 74-70 road win in the most recent matchup on November 13, 2021.
I just won $14,619 in parlay tickets in the month of November and hit a 47-1 parlay to kick off the New Year. Don't miss out on another big payday! Click here to get a m onth of my parlays for only $50 (normally $100)!
UIC suffered their fifth straight loss as they were knocked off by Murray State on the road in their previous game. The Flames fell to 9-10 overall on the season and are tied for 10th in the conference with a 1-7 record. Against Murray State, UIC was within one midway through the first half before giving up a 12-1 run to trail 30-18 with 5:05 to play in the half. The Flames were down 11 at the half and never got the margin below 10 the rest of the way after Murray State opened the second half with a 10-2 run to take a 49-30 advantage. UIC shot only 35.2% from the field, including 11 of 31 from three-point range, lost the rebounding battle 40-24 and allowed Murray State to shoot 57.4% in the game. Jace Carter led the Flames with 18 points in the loss.
The Flames put up an average of 66.8 points per game this season, putting them 307th in the nation in scoring offense. UIC pulls down 32.1 boards per contest and hands out an average of 12.5 assists per contest. The Flames are slightly below average on the defensive end of the floor as they are 205th in the country in that department as they allow 69.8 points per game. Jace Carter leads the team with 15.3 points and 6.1 rebounds per contest. Toby Okani (12.2 points, 7.1 boards) and Trevante Anderson (11.2 points) each are averaging in double figures. Jalen Jackson, Filip Skobalj, Christian Jones, Steven Clay, Jaden Brownell, Cameron Fens, Bessanty Saragba and Griffin Yaklich are key rotation pieces for the Flames. UIC shoots 41.2% from the field as a team on the year. The Flames sink 7.7 three-pointers a night while hitting 31.9% of their attempts from long range. UIC is struggling at the stripe this season, knocking down 66.5% of their chances.