The Horizon League Tournament has seen a number of upsets early, with the top two seeds (Oakland & Valparaiso) being knocked out of the tournament.
That meant the third-seeded Green Bay Phoenix became the favorite, only to fall victim to the upset themselves. The Phoenix lost to 6th-seeded UIC 79-70 at Joe Louis Arena, sending the Flames into the semifinals against 10th seeded Milwaukee.
UIC was up 51-50 in the second half before going on a 19-2 run to take a 70-53 lead with 3:53 left to play.
Green Bay (18-13) then went on a run of their own, climbing to within two points with 1:08 to play. Finally, the Flames ended Green Bay’s hopes of making it back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances by hitting their free throws to pull out the win.
Kerem Kanter had 19 points and 13 rebounds to lead the Phoenix, notching his ninth double-double of the season.
Now Green Bay awaits an invitation to another postseason tournament, but it won’t be the NCAA Tournament.