CHICAGO -- For the second consecutive season all 10 Horizon League men's basketball programs will descend upon Joe Louis Arena in downtown Detroit to crown the winner of the 2017 Little Caesars Horizon League Men's Basketball Championship. The single-elimination tournament begins on Friday, March 3 and continues through Tuesday, March 7.
UIC (14-17, 7-11 Horizon League) has secured the sixth seed and a bye to the quarterfinal round. There, the Flames will take on third-seeded Green Bay on Sunday, March 5. It will be the third meeting between the two teams since Feb. 2. Both matchups were close with the Phoenix winning 84-80 at home on Feb. 2, and 87-79 at the UIC Pavilion on Feb. 21.
In two games against Green Bay this season, six different UIC Flames averaged at least 11.5 points per night. Redshirt freshman
Dominique Matthews averaged 17.5 points and shot 42.4 percent against the Phoenix. Junior
Tai Odiase averaged a double-double with 13.0 points and 12.5 rebounds to along with 4.5 blocks per game. Freshman
Tarkus Ferguson stuffed the stat sheet, as well, with 11.5 points, 9.0 rebounds and 6.5 assists in the two meetings.
Green Bay's Warren Jones scored 40 points for the Phoenix in the two games, including a game-high 22 points in the game in Chicago last week. The guard drilled five 3-pointers, including four in the second half, as Green Bay scored 56 points over the final 20 minutes to get out of town with an eight-point win.
The winner of the game No. 11 between No. 3 Green Bay and No. 6 UIC will advance to face the winner of game No. 8. That contest pits second-seeded Valparaiso against the winner of game No. 3 between No. 7 Detroit Mercy and No. 10 Milwaukee. For a full look at the Horizon League Championship bracket, please click on the Tournament Central link above.
Tickets are available by calling the UIC Ticket Office at 312-413-UIC1 (8421) or visiting
MotorCityMadness.HorizonLeague.com/tickets. A full preview for UIC's upcoming tournament game against Green Bay will be posted to UICFlames.com later this week.
