Box Score

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CHICAGO – The Panther men's basketball team used a balanced offensive attack on Saturday afternoon as they defeated Illinois-Chicago, 86-66, at the UIC Pavilion. EIU improved to 2-1 on the year with the win.

Seven Panthers scored eight or more points in the victory, led by Reggie Smith's game-high 23 points. The Chicago native went 7-for-13 from the floor and dished out a team-high six assists. EIU finished the contest with 17 assists.

Trailing 9-8 at the 16:14 mark in the first half, the Panthers engineered a 29-11 run to take a 17-point advantage with just under four minutes remaining in the half. EIU went 11-for-18 from the floor during the run and held a 40-27 lead at intermission.

The Flames (1-2) opened the second stanza with an 8-2 run as they went 3-for-4 form the floor to cut their deficit to seven (42-35) with 17:56 on the clock. UIC got within six (46-40) two minutes later, but the Panther offense stayed hot in the second stanza to pull away for the double-figure victory. EIU went 12-for-20 from the floor in the second half and finished the day connecting on 57.1 percent of its field-goal attempts (28-for-49).

The Panthers finished the contest going 21-for-27 from the charity stripe and drained 79.2 percent of their free throw attempts in the second half (19-for-24). EIU also hit 64.3 percent of its three pointers in the win, going 9-for-14 from behind the arc.

Josh Piper was the only other Panther in double figures with 10 points while Keenen Anderson, Alex Austin, Dylan Chatman and Luke Piotrowski all added nine points. Piotrowski led the team on the glass with seven rebounds while adding a game-high three blocks. EIU held a 33-28 advantage on the glass in the contest.

Marc Brown led three UIC players in double figures with 20 points while Jordan Harks pulled down a team-high eight rebounds to go along with 13 points. UIC finished the game going 23-for-57 from the floor.

EIU also added 31 bench points in the victory and 32 points in the paint. Both squads scored 12 points off of turnovers.

The Panthers return to action on Wednesday, Nov. 20 at Purdue. Tip-off is slated for 6 p.m. CT.