CHICAGO, Illinois – UC Irvine went on a 13-0 run in the second half but fell short of a comeback, 76-67, to Illinois-Chicago, Friday evening at Credit Union One Arena.

UCI drops to 7-7 on the season while UIC improved to 5-8 overall.

TURNING POINTS
> Eyassu Worku led the Anteaters with 19 points. He went 4-7 from the three-point arc
> Collin Welp finished in double-digits with 10 points. Welp and Evan Leonard each had seven rebounds
> Leonard and Isaiah Lee each dished out four assists
> UCI shot 40.7 percent from the floor (24-59) and 35.3 percent (6-17) from long range while the Flames went 27-55 (.491) shooting from the field overall
> UIC was led by Marcus Ottey with 18 points
> UCI out-rebounded UIC 37-32 and held advantages in paint points (28-22), fast break points (10-4) and second chance points (17-9)

FIRST HALF
> UCI struggled offensively in the first half only shooting 26 percent (7-27) from the floor and 22 percent (2-9) from long range
> UIC jumped out to an 11-point lead, 17-6, with 12:26 remaining
> Worku hit a three-pointer at 11:24 to cut the lead to eight, 17-9 (11:24)
> The Flames did not let up stretching the lead to 14, 33-19, with three minutes to play
> A three-pointer from UIC's Brian Taylor with one minute to play gave the Flames a 19-point lead, 41-22, at the half
> Worku led the 'Eaters with nine points going 2-3 from three point range

SECOND HALF
> UCI out-scored UIC 45-35 in the half but fell short of a comeback win
> The Flames came out of the locker room hot, stretching their lead to 23 points, 49-26, with 18:10 to play
> UCI responded with an 11-5 run to bring the game within 17, 56-39, at 13:04
> Aiden Krause made three-straight layups to start a 13-0 run for the 'Eaters that brought them within eight, 63-55, with 7:34 to play. Krause also had two steals in that stretch
> The Flames answered with an 8-1 run to go up by 14, 70-56, with 2:39 to play and held on to seal the 76-67 win

UP NEXT
> UCI will break for the holidays and returns to action to play Pacific at the Bren Saturday, Dec. 28 at 7 p.m.

NOTES
> UCI drops to 1-2 in the all-time series against UIC
> The Anteaters have out-rebounded all but one of their opponents this season
> Worku has had back-to-back 19 point games
> UCI has lost two-straight games for the second time this season
> UCI is 1-5 when trailing at the half