Guard Jay Harris scored a career-high 32 points, and Illinois–Chicago snapped a three-game losing streak with a 71-60 nonconference victory over Central Florida on Thursday night at the UIC Pavilion in Chicago.
Harris, whose previous high was 23 points vs. Lafayette in 2013 while playing at Valparaiso, shot 4-for-9 on 3-pointers, 9-for-16 from the floor overall and 10-for-12 from the foul line.
Forward Jake Wiegand added 12 points as Illinois-Chicago (3-7) improved to 3-2 at home.
Freshman guard B.J. Taylor scored a team-high 13 points for Central Florida (5-3), which played only its second road game of the season and first out of state.
The Flames jumped to a 14-3 lead within the first five minutes as Harris hit two 3-pointers and added a layup. The Knights chipped away and took their first lead at 24-23 on guard Brandon Goodwin‘s layup on the way to a 30-27 halftime edge.
Illinois–Chicago quickly caught Central Florida early in the second half and grabbed a 31-30 lead on guard D’Juan Miller
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‘s layup just 80 seconds in. The Flames never trailed again and later pulled away, opening a 62-52 lead on Wiegand’s layup and extending the lead to 13 points in the final minute.Central Florida returns home Friday to face Florida Atlantic. Illinois–Chicago hosts Tennessee-Martin next Monday.