Henderson scores 17 off the bench, UIC knocks off Valparaiso 77-73

CHICAGO (AP) — Ahmad Henderson II scored 17 points off of the bench to lead UIC over Valparaiso 77-73 on Sunday in the regular season finale for both teams. .

Henderson went 6 of 10 from the field (3 for 4 from 3-point range) for the Flames (18-13, 10-10 Missouri Valley Conference). Tyem Freeman added 16 points while shooting 7 for 13, including 2 for 5 from beyond the arc while he also had five rebounds. Modestas Kancleris went 5 of 9 from the field to finish with 11 points, while adding 13 rebounds and three blocks.

UIC, which won more conference games this season than the last two combined (four each), will be the No. 6 seed in the conference tournament, which begins Thursday in St. Louis. The Flames, who won both regular season matchups, will again play Valparaiso, the No. 11 seed, in the first round.

Cooper Schwieger led the way for the Beacons (13-18, 6-14) with 33 points, 18 rebounds and five assists. All Wright added 24 points and four steals for Valparaiso. Darius DeAveiro had eight points, five assists and six steals.

Henderson put up 12 points in the first half for UIC, who led 39-32 at the break. UIC turned a nine-point second-half lead into a 17-point advantage with an 8-0 run to make it a 51-34 lead with 17:04 left in the half. Sasa Ciani scored seven second-half points in the game.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.