Flames flicker before going out in opening round

By Chuck Woodling Mar 20, 2004

Kansas City, Mo ? As short as Illinois-Chicago’s stay was in the NCAA Tournament, it was sweet enough. Or so said the Flames’ men’s basketball coach.

“There are a whole bunch of teams sitting on their couches wishing they were here,” UIC boss Jimmy Collins said following Friday night’s 78-53 first-round loss to Kansas University in Kemper Arena.

At times, however, the Flames’ eighth-year coach may have felt like he was trapped in the Great Chicago Fire — like when the Jayhawks went on runs that ignited the pro-Kansas crowd, and Collins was powerless to prevent them.

The last KU sizz occurred midway through the second half when the Jayhawks dropped a 24-4 dousing on the Flames, and turned a 10-point lead into a 30-point bulge.

If there was a turning point in the fateful KU blitz, it probably happened at the 13:24 mark when the Jayhawks led, 48-37. Momentarily, KU’s Keith Langford drove the baseline and went down in a heap, clotheslined by the Flames’ Armond Williams.

Referee Olandis Poole ruled it an intentional foul.

“That certainly hurt us,” Collins said. “I personally thought Armond went for the ball, but the referee said he swung down. That was a five-point turnaround.”

Langford made both free throws, the Jayhawks were awarded the ball and J.R. Giddens drained a three-pointer. Within a span of just 21 seconds, Kansas had boosted its lead to 53-37, and the Flames flickered the rest of the way.

For his part, Williams stressed he meant Langford no harm.

“If you watched me all season, you know I’m not that kind of player,” the 6-foot-4 senior said. “I did see if Langford was all right. We shook hands and that was good.”

Cedrick Banks, UIC’s leading scorer, conceded that five-point swing snuffed the Flames’ resolve.

“Something was put in our heads at that point,” said the 6-2 guard, who scored 15 points — about three under his average — and made just five of 18 shots. “A lot of us couldn’t get our heads back in the game.”

Not often does a team force 25 turnovers and lose by 25 points, but that’s what happened to the Flames, who shot only 31.3 percent.

“We were playing pretty good defense,” Banks said, “but we were taking hurried shots on the other end.”

Meanwhile, Kansas was taking unhurried shots and hitting at a white-hot pace. The Jayhawks burned the nets, hitting 61.5 percent of their shots.

“It’s not so much their depth,” Collins said, “and their size isn’t all that big, but when you sink in on them they’ve got shooters like that Giddens, and they start dropping threes on you.”

On paper, it’s unlikely the Flames will return to the NCAA Tournament because three of their key players — Banks, Williams and guard Martell Bailey — are listed as seniors. Yet all three could gain another year of eligibility by earning a degree.

The three were non-qualifiers out of high school and lost a year of eligibility because of it, but NCAA rules allow them to regain that lost year by earning a diploma.

“Kansas is a great team. It was their night,” Williams said. “Now I’m going to concentrate on graduating so I can get my eligibility back.”