Boxscore

EVANSVILLE, Ind.— The University of Illinois-Chicago’s only lead in the second half came with 4.4 seconds left, as Robo Kreps hit the game-winning shot to lift UIC (7-20) over the University of Evansville men’s basketball team (7-20) 82-80 in an ESPN Bracketbusters game Saturday night at Roberts Stadium.

Kreps led all scorers with 28 points. Spencer Stewart totaled 20 points and seven rebounds in UIC’s win while Jeremy Buttell put in 12 points and grabbed six rebounds.

Junior Clint Hopf led the Aces with a career-high 18 points.  The 6'8" center has now scored 14 or more points in three straight games. Sophomore James Haarsma tallied 17 points and five rebounds while fellow sophomore Denver Holmes recorded 12 points and five assists.

Freshman Colt Ryan went over the 400-point plateau for the season with his 16 points. Ryan joins only three other Missouri Valley Conference freshmen in the past decade who have scored that many points.

Ned Cox capped an 11-2 run late in the first half with a three-point basket to give the Aces their largest lead of the half at 27-19. Hopf led the Aces with 12 first-half points, as UE held a 40-36 advantage at the break.

Stewart opened the second with a shot beyond the arc to cut the Flames’ deficit to one before the Aces rolled out a 15-2 run, including six straight points from Haarsma, to grab their biggest lead at 55-41. UIC answered with a 12-2 rally that was topped by a Kreps three-point shot to put the lead at four with 12 minutes left to play. With UE up 73-65, UIC scored five straight points and eventually tied the game at 80 with just over 1:30 to go.  Evansville missed shots on its next two possessions, and the Flames grabbed the rebound following Cox's miss with 28 seconds to go.  They eventually got the ball to Kreps, who drove to the basket, stopped, and hit a 12-footer with 4.4 seconds to go for UIC's first lead of the second half.  The Aces got the ball to midcourt but Denver Holmes' 40 footer at the buzzer was off target.

Evansville returns to conference play on Tuesday against nationally-ranked Northern Iowa at Roberts Stadium in the final home game of the season. The contest is slated for 7:05 CST start.