“My legs are dead,” said sophomore guard Mark Alstork, who led the Raiders with 19 points and a season-high nine rebounds. “I was just battling. Five games in (11) days is hard for any college team.”
All five of those games were at home, and the Raiders (13-8 overall, 7-1 Horizon League) won each of them to extend their winning streak to six in a row. The’ve won 10 of 11.
The Flames (2-17, 0-8) – who also were playing their fifth game in 11 days, the last three of which were on the road – led by six with 12:23 left in the first half, but WSU put together a 17-2 run to seize control.
“We definitely weren’t overlooking UIC,” senior forward JT Yoho said. “But it definitely felt a little relaxed in here today. I don’t know if that’s what contributed to our slow start. We came in a little relaxed, but in the end we picked it up and that’s all that matters.”
Yoho scored 16 points while Biggie Minnis (13) and sophomore guard Grant Benzinger (11) also finished in double figures as the Raiders locked up the 100th win of Donlon's career.
“I’ve played for him all four years, so to see him achieve that definitely means a lot to me,” Yoho said.
“We just gave him a cookie cake,” Alstork added.
Donlon, who is 100-89 in his sixth season, accepted the gift, but not the number it was indicative of.
“I will never include last year,” Donlon said, referring to the team’s 11-20 injury-plagued season. “I will not do it. I will argue til I’m blue in the face. Right now I’m at 89 wins in the middle of my fifth year.”
The win kept WSU tied with Valparaiso for first place in the league.
The Raiders will get four days off before returning to action Friday night at Oakland.
Here are five more things to know about Sunday’s win:
1. Streak stats: The last time WSU won six in a row was two years ago, with the final two victories coming in the HL tournament quarterfinals and semifinals. The last time the Raiders won more than six straight was in 2007-08 when Brad Brownell's team strung together 11 victories.
And the last time the program won 10 times in an 11-game span was in 2008-09 under Brownell. That team won 11 of 12, with the lone loss (at No. 20 Butler) being sandwiched between winning streaks of six and five games.
2. Offensive opponent: UIC freshman forward Dikembe Dixon made 9 of 18 field goals and 11 of 15 free throws to finish with 29 points, which is the most any player has scored against WSU this season. Dixon also had nine rebounds to share game-high honors with Alstork.
3. Hot half: On the heels of their explosive 51-point second half Friday, the Raiders scored 44 points in the first half Sunday. It was the second highest first-half total of the season behind the 45 WSU scored in a 76-68 loss at Wisconsin-Green Bay on Jan. 4.
4. Ball burglary: The Raiders had a season-high 10 steals as part of the 15 turnovers they forced. The last time WSU had more than 10 steals in a game was Dec. 15, 2013 in a 59-56 loss at Miami. Eight of the 10 steals Sunday led to points, including three 3-pointers and a pair of dunks.
5. Gutty effort: Donlon said he woke up Sunday not expecting to play senior forward Michael Karena, who suffered an undisclosed injury while playing a season-high 36 minutes in the win over Valparaiso. But Karena got medical clearance before the game and said he wanted to play. He made 4 of 5 shots to finish with eight points in 15 minutes.
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