CHICAGO -- — Ben Sheppard's 19 points helped Belmont defeat UIC 77-71 on Wednesday night.

Sheppard had eight rebounds and six assists for the Bruins (10-6, 3-2 Missouri Valley). Drew Friberg scored 12 points while shooting 4 for 11, including 4 for 10 from beyond the arc. Even Brauns shot 5 of 6 from the field to finish with 10 points.

The Flames (9-7, 1-4) were led in scoring by Jace Carter, who finished with 21 points, seven rebounds, four steals and two blocks. UIC also got 16 points from Filip Skobalj. In addition, Toby Okani finished with 11 points and eight rebounds.

Sheppard put up 11 points in the first half for Belmont, who led 35-31 at the break. Belmont turned a four-point second-half lead into a 12-point advantage with an 8-0 run to make it a 66-54 lead with 7:48 left in the half. Sheppard scored eight second-half points in the victory.

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