CHICAGO – Jacksonville State dropped its first game of the 2022-23 season Monday night on the road to the University of Illinois-Chicago, 67-60, in a game where JSU struggled to get anything going.
Despite the statistical disparity, a three-point attempt by senior
Demaree King with under 10 seconds to play would have tied the game once more. Instead, the shot bounced off the rim twice, touched the glass and rolled heartbreakingly off to the side.
The Gamecocks (1-1) fell in an early hole to the newest members of the Missouri Valley Conference and could never fully recover. UIC (2-1) led for more than 38 minutes total and failed to relinquish the lead when Jax State made it tight.
The Flames torched JSU early to the tune of a 14-4 advantage right out of the gate. A 13-3 stretch for JSU evened the score momentarily, but the Gamecocks just couldn't find the key basket to push them over the top. Down nine again in the closing minutes, JSU managed to cut it to a five-point margin at the break, 32-27.
Senior
Skyelar Potter led a trio of Gamecocks in double figures with a team-high 12. He was followed by
Amanze Ngumezi (11) and
Cam McDowell (10), who reached double figures for the first time in his career. However, across the way UIC's Jace Carter and Tre Anderson scored 22 and 20 as the driving force for the Flames.
The deficit remained at double digits, 51-41 as the second half clock rolled below 10 minutes remaining in regulation. A pair of threes from Potter cut it back to a four-point gap, but UIC eventually stretched the lead back to as many as 11 with just under six minute to play. Ngumezi, McDowell and
JJ Platt helped trim the lead down to five late when a triple for King finally came through to make it 62-60 with 30 seconds left. After UIC hit one of two free throws at the line, a place the finished 22-of-31 from for the night, JSU brought the ball back up the court with a chance to tie. King got a pass at the top of the key and side-stepped a defender for the tying shot attempt, but it eventually fell back into UIC hands after several bounces along the rim's edge.
JSU struggled shooting just 35-percent on the night. The Gamecocks connected on just four of their 20 three-point tries, and three of those came late from Potter and King in the final minutes. On the other hand, JSU was whistled for 26 fouls allowing the Flames to shoot 21 more free throws. At halftime nine different Gamecocks shared 11 first-half fouls. It marked the most fouls against JSU since the triple-overtime game at Troy last season, when JSU had just 28 fouls in 55 minutes of play.
The road tests continue for JSU with another challenge at Alabama on Friday night.
