UIC roars from 22 down to tip N. Illinois in Yaklich debut

Updated Nov. 25, 2020 10:25 p.m. ET

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DEKALB, Ill. (AP) — RayQuawndis Mitchell drained three late 3-pointers and Illinois-Chicago fought from 22 points down in the second half to defeat Northern Illinois 65-61 on Wednesday to give coach Luke Yaklich his first win in Division I.

Mitchell led the Flames with 12 points, all made from beyond the 3-point arc, Teyvion Kirk also scored 12, Zion Griffin 11 with three 3s and Braelen Bridges 10.

UIC trailed 38-18 at halftime and 40-18 three minutes into the second half before a Bridges layin sparked a 43-20 rally up into the final 16 seconds when Mitchell's final 3 pushed the Flames into a 61-60 lead.

UIC was 17-for-24 shooting during the near-16-minute rally, including seven treys, while Northern Illinois was 7-of-22 with five turnovers.

Tyler Cochran and Darius Beane each scored 13 points for Northern Illinois. Trendon Hankerson had 10 points.

Yaklich was hired in March to coach UIC, coming from the staff of Shaka Smart at Texas.

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Elements of this story were generated by Automated Insights, http://www.automatedinsights.com/ap, using data from STATS LLC, https://www.stats.com

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Braelen Bridges

Northern Illinois Huskies