March 8, 2008

Box Score

Indianapolis, Ind.- Jermaine Dailey's double-double and Robert Kreps' 15 points off the bench were not enough as the UIC men's basketball team was eliminated from the 2008 Horizon League Tournament by No. 12 Butler, 66-50, in a semifinal game at Hinkle Fieldhouse on Saturday night.

The Flames finish the season at 18-15 overall. The Bulldogs (28-3) move on to the Horizon League title game against Cleveland State on Tuesday.

Dailey, a senior forward, capped his collegiate career with 12 points and a game-high 10 rebounds for his second career double-double.

Kreps hit four field goals from downtown to lead UIC in the points department.

UIC led for most of the game's opening 15 minutes, going up by as many as five at the midway point of the first half.

But a Robert Bush three-pointer was the only field goal that UIC mustered in the half's final eight minutes, and the top-seeded Bulldogs outscored the Flames 23-8 to close out the stanza and take a 34-24 lead into intermission.

A quick 9-1 Butler spurt to begin the second half combined with ice-cold shooting by the Flames put the game out of reach for UIC. The Flames would finish the second period hitting just 26.7 percent (8-for-30) from the field.

Mike Green led Butler with a game-high 19 points.

UIC had 25 second-chance points to Butler's four, thanks to 19 offensive rebounds reeled in by the Flames. The Flames had more offensive rebounds than defensive (18).