The Western Illinois men's basketball team used a run late in the first half and a dominant second half to improve to 3-0 on the year, defeating the UIC Flames, 84-57, Tuesday evening (Nov. 17) inside Western Hall.The 3-0 start is the Fighting Leathernecks' best start since the program's 1989-90 season. The '89-'90 Leathernecks kicked off their season 4-0."I'm thrilled with our effort and consistency at both ends of the floor. I thought that we came in worried about our energy because it's been a tough stretch, it's been a good stretch, but it's been tough playing three games in five days," said head coach. "We were a little concerned about our legs and our energy, but give our kids credit. We talk about veteran players and returning players who understand the grind, and we try to embrace the grind and attack the grind so I'm proud of our young men for being able to sustain the last five days."The two teams found themselves knotted up 12-12 after nine minutes of action as both Western and UIC combined to make 8-of-31 attempts from the field (25.8) during the stretch.The Leathernecks then found their groove, rattling off a 13-0 run before taking a 39-24 lead into the break.The second half was all WIU as well. The Leathernecks outscored the Flames 45-33 in the period thanks to the Leathernecks shooting 58.6 percent during the final 20 minutes compared to UIC shooting 26.9 percent."We just wanted to wall up and try to force (UIC) to shoot over us and stay down on the shot fakes. They're long, and athletic as well. I think that's a very good ball club. I thought that our guys did a really good job being disciplined in the post defense, and really trying to wall up, and make them play over us instead of shot blocking," continued Wright.After having five players score in double figures Sunday, WIU had four accomplish the scoring mark Tuesday night.led all scorers with 19, whileadded 17,contributed 16, andscored 10.Fuller scored his 19 points on 7-of-10 shooting from the field, making his lone 3-point attempt, and going 4-of-4 from the free throw line. Fuller also came up one rebound short of recording his second consecutive double-double, pulling down nine rebounds while adding three assists to his stat sheet.Besides his 16 points, Sandifer, like Fuller, came up one board short of a double-double. The Naperville, Ill. native grabbed nine rebounds in the win while also dishing out a game-high seven assists and a game-high four steals."I thought (Jabari) did a great job being a floor general. I thought he did a really good job, it was hard to keep him out of the game," said Wright. "He played the most minutes, 38 minutes, so credit to him. It's a tough stretch, three games in a five-day stretch. He does a good job. I'm really pleased with his development and his growth, and I thought he had a really good, efficient, game."Morgan pulled down a season-high seven rebounds to go along with his 10 points. The Indianapolis native finished the game 4-of-5 from the field and has only missed one shot this year thus far (9-of-10).UIC was led by Tai Odiase who finished with a team-best 16 points to go along with his team-high eight rebounds. Dikembe Dixson and Paris Burns each added 11 points for the Flames.After a rough start in the beginning of the game, WIU continued its hot shooting, finishing the game 30-of-62 (48.4 percent) from the floor while holding UIC to just 25.4 percent (15-59).Through the first three games this year, Western is shooting 52.1 percent from the field (87-167) while holding its opponents to 31.8 percent.WIU had more assists than UIC (16-6), less turnovers (9-16), more blocks (11-7), and more steals (7-3)."I think the (confidence) is growing every day. We talk about the difference between cocky, arrogant, and confident and we really emphasize that confidence comes with preparation. We really take pride in how we prepare and how we go about day-to-day operations at a high level. We want to be as efficient as we can with the things we can control. I think that these guys are very confident, as they should be," concluded Wright.The Leathernecks hit the road to a nonconference matchup with another in-state foe in Eastern Illinois Saturday (Nov. 21) with tipoff set for 7 p.m.