Jan. 29, 2002

Chicago, Ill. - Many would be surprised to hear that University of Illinois at Chicago guard Jordan Kardos is second in the country in three-point field goal percentage as he currently is shooting at a torrid clip of 52.2 percent.

Kardos, however, expects that of himself.

"It's been on my mind," Kardos admitted. "I've wanted to focus on my three-point percentage this year.

"I know I led the conference last year and I'm trying to do that again," Kardos continued. "I actually want to do even better, maybe, set the UIC all-time mark."

Kardos has always been a threat from the outside for the Flames. This year, the Northbrook, Illinois native has added another element to his game that has made him a more explosive player.

"I'm known as a shooter and most of the time (other teams) put a guy who can cover a guy who is a stand-still shooter and try not to let me have any looks," Kardos said. "This year I've become more of a driver and sort of a slasher.

"It's interesting that you have a couple of good games and all of a sudden you're the focus of attention for the other team's defensive attack."

Kardos has averaged 14.6 points per contest over the last ten games, including three 25-point outbursts against South Florida, Cleveland State and UW-Green Bay. He is currently second on the team in scoring, behind teammate Cedrick Banks (12.9 ppg), with 12.2 points per contest.

He has also noticed a considerable change in the opponents' defensive philosophy.

"It feels good that I have some respect that people are focusing on me," Kardos said. "I think I do quite a few things and this year is the first time I'm starting to get some respect and it feels good."

Kardos, however, knows that he has other teammates on the squad that can also be considered 'go-to' players.

"What's nice is that one night I can have 25 and the next night, Cedrick (Banks) has 25," Kardos said. "That makes (other) teams focus on the both of us and (then) they have to worry about Thor (Solverson) on the inside.

"He can come up with 15 or 20 points."

This being the last season for Kardos, the fifth-year senior wants to go out in style and make a return trip to the NCAA Tournament.

Kardos had a taste of the 'Big Dance' as a red-shirt freshman in 1998 as the Flames made their first-ever trip to the NCAA tournament.

On occasion, Kardos along with Solverson and fellow fifth-year seniors, TJ Mixon and Cory Little try to impart their knowledge from that magical season upon the younger guys on the squad.

"Thor, Cory and I, every once in awhile we bring up those guys and talk about them and we really appreciated it when we were there," Kardos said. "It's really hard to explain what it takes.

"You either have to go through it or get that feeling of winning and know you can do something and make something happen and that team had it that year," Kardos continued. "They thought they were unbeatable and they showed it every night."

Kardos recalled that season as a year of growth as he was only allowed to practice with the team while he used his red-shirt.

"That year was a learning year for me with the older guys," Kardos said. "I learned toughness and probably the most improved part of my game is controlling the court.

"Taking care of the ball and doing what seniors are supposed to do which is play smart and take care of the ball."

The addition of Banks, Martell Bailey and Armond Williams has been a welcome one for Kardos.

"With these guys, it's kind of a nice mixture of the old and the new and I think that's what we've been using all year," Kardos said. "We have some senior leadership and some young talent, at times we've shown excellence."

Kardos knows that there will be some growing pains for the young players, but believes that in the long run, the Flames will make some noise at the Horizon League tournament.

"We focus on practicing the whole year and continuously getting better," Kardos said. "We could lose all the games the whole season and still make the NCAA tournament.

"That's the whole goal as well as win the conference," Kardos continued. "That's when we want to be playing our best when the tournament comes around.