Oct. 24, 2000

Chicago, Ill. - The UIC men's basketball team, which returns five starters from last year's squad that peaked in post-season play, has been picked to finish sixth in the 2000-01 Midwestern Collegiate Conference Preseason Poll of the league's coaches, media and sports information directors released Tuesday afternoon.

The Flames, who finished last season with an 11-20 overall record and a 5-9 mark in MCC play, received 84 votes while the defending champion Butler Bulldogs were chosen as the preseason favorite, collecting 223 points and 17 first-place votes. Following Butler in the poll was Detroit, which received 12 first-place nods, UW-Milwaukee, Wright State, Cleveland State, UIC, UW-Green Bay and Loyola.

Sophomore forward Maurice Brown (Syracuse, NY/Henninger) earned a spot on the All-MCC Second Team after turning in a strong rookie season last year. UIC's top returning scorer and rebounder in 2000-01, Brown averaged 9.5 ppg and 6.7 rpg in 31 games last season while capping off the year as an MCC All-Newcomer Team member.

Butler led the conference with three preseason All-MCC honorees while Detroit, Wright State and UW-Milwaukee each had a pair of players earn preseason recognition as well. The Titans' Rashad Phillips, who is a preseason All-America pick by Athlon and a strong candidate for the Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award, was predicted to repeat as the league's player of the year.

In addition to Brown, the Flames also welcome back starters Joe Scott (Palos Hills, Ill./Stagg), who led the MCC last year with 41 blocked shots, and Cory Little (Addison, Ill./Addison Trail) and part-time starters Thor Solverson (Lake Zurich, Ill./Lake Zurich) and T.J. Mixson (South Holland, Ill./Thornwood).

UIC, which will play a pair of exhibition games on Nov. 7 (Marathon Oil) and Nov. 15 (Hungarian National Team) at the UIC Pavilion, open up the 2000-01 campaign on the road at Saint Louis on Saturday, Nov. 18. First regular-season home action for the Flames will be against Texas-San Antonio on Tuesday, Nov. 21, at 7:00 p.m.

The 2000-01 MCC preseason poll follows in its entirety.

2000-01 MCC MEN'S BASKETBALL PRESEASON POLLTeam           99-00 Overall/MCC         Points1. Butler       23-8 / 12-2     223 (17)2. Detroit      20-12 / 8-6     218 (12)3. UW-Milwaukee     15-14 / 6-8     1564. Wright State     11-17 / 6-8     149 (1)5. Cleveland State  16-14 / 9-5     1316. UIC          11-20 / 5-9      847. UW-Green Bay     14-16 / 6-8      618. Loyola       14-14 / 4-10         58

2000-01 MCC MEN'S BASKETBALLAll-MCC First TeamRashad Phillips, DetroitChad Angeli, UW-MilwaukeeKevin Melson, Wright StateLaVall Jordan, ButlerIsrael Sheinfeld, Wright State

2000-01 MCC MEN'S BASKETBALLAll-MCC Second TeamRylan Hainje, ButlerMaurice Brown, UICClay Tucker, UW-MilwaukeeTerrell Riggs, DetroitThomas Jackson, Butler