Tai Odiase had 19 points, on 8-for-8 shooting, and three blocks, Godwin Boahen hit four 3-pointers and finished with 16 points and Illinois-Chicago beat Oakland 79-73 on Friday night for its fifth win in a row.
Marcus Ottey added 15 points and Tarkus Ferguson had 13 points, nine rebounds and seven assists for UIC (13-11, 8-3 Horizon League). The Flames have eight conference wins for the first time since finishing the 2007-08 season 9-9 in Horizon League play.
Odiase had a dunk and two layups during a 6-2 spurt that made it 17-14 and UIC led the rest of the way. Ferguson converted a 3-point play to spark a 10-2 run that pushed the lead to 11 points before Boahen's 3-pointer made it 40-30 at the break. Nick Daniels hit a 3 that pulled Oakland (14-10, 6-5) within two points with two minutes to play, but Ottey made two free throws and Odiase hit a jumper to make it 76-69 and UIC made 4 of 6 free throws in the final 32 seconds to seal it.
Martez Walker had 21 points and Jalen Hayes scored 15 for Oakland. Kendrick Nunn added 20, but shot 3 of 22 from the field, including 1 of 10 from 3-point range.
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