Free Live Odds - Scores and Odds - Sports News - Sports Information - Live Scores - Sports Statistics - Sports Articles - Sports Standings - Live Scor

GAME NOTES: The two teams fighting to stay out of the basement in the Horizon League standings hit the floor at UIC Pavilion this afternoon, as the Illinois-Chicago Flames entertain the Youngstown State Penguins.

Heading into the weekend, the Flames are in last place in the Horizon League with just a single win in 12 tries to show for their efforts. On Thursday night, it was more of the same for the program as it fell in a 74-63 decision against Cleveland State at home. UIC has not tasted victory since slipping by Detroit in a 60-56 final back on New Year's Eve.

As for the Penguins, currently only 2-9 on the road in 2009-10, they too were in action two night ago in the Windy City and were handed a 92-85 overtime loss by the Loyola-Chicago Ramblers. The setback was the second in a row and the sixth in the last seven outings for YSU, which is now 2-10 in conference.

Youngstown State won the first meeting of the season between these two by a score of 76-67 back on January 7th at home, which means the all-time series now favors the Flames by a count of 8-4.

The Penguins put a total of six players in double figures on Thursday night, but even that wasn't enough for the squad to stave off defeat in its meeting with Loyola-Chicago on the road. Kelvin Bright tallied a team-best 22 points, followed by Sirlester Martin and Vytas Sulskis with 12 points apiece and DeAndre Mays with 11 on just 4-of-15 shooting from the floor. Ashen Ward and Vance Cooksey cooked up 10 points each, the former also clearing eight rebounds off the bench for a squad that shot only 65.2 percent at the free- throw line. Mays leads a trio of double-digit scorers after 22 games, all of whom have started each outing, with his 13.7 ppg. Martin accounts for 11.7 ppg and a team-best 5.7 rpg, but that's still no reason to show up with just 16 assists in more than 600 minutes of playing time. Defensively, the squad is permitting almost 70 ppg this season, partly because the competition has been hitting close to 37 percent of their three-point attempts.

Jeremy Buttell posted a double-double consisting of 17 points and 10 rebounds two nights ago versus Cleveland State at home, but it wasn't nearly enough to keep the Vikings out of the loss column -- yet again. Zavion Neely also scored 17 points and fellow starter Robo Kreps added 11, but he made just 1-of-5 shots from three-point range as the team suffered at a woeful 21.7 percent out on the perimeter. Chris Buchanan knocked down just 1-of-7 long-range bombs and 1-of-10 from the floor overall. Somehow Kreps remains at the top of the scoring list for this team with his 14.0 ppg, even though he has shot an awful 33.5 percent from the field and a dismal 28.8 percent behind the three-point line. Neely (11.8 ppg) and Buttell (11.7 ppg, 7.0 rpg) have tried to keep the group competitive but it just isn't working as the Flames shoot a combined 37.4 percent from the floor and 27.4 percent beyond the arc.

As poorly as the Penguins might be playing, it is hard to imagine the team being burned by the Flames with as bad as UIC has looked in the last five weeks.