Jan. 30, 2012
CHICAGO - The UIC men's basketball team will travel 190 miles to Charleston, Ill., for its 2012 SEARS BracketBusters contest, as it was announced on ESPNU Monday night that the Flames will take on host Eastern Illinois on Saturday, Feb. 18, beginning at 6 p.m., at Lantz Arena.
UIC owns a 16-15 all-time series lead versus EIU, but the two squads have not faced off in non-conference play since the 2003-04 campaign.
The Flames (6-15, 2-9 Horizon) will be playing in their third road game during the history of the BracketBusters series. UIC is 7-1 all-time in BracketBusters games, including an 82-80 win at Evansville during the 2009-10 campaign. The Flames did not compete in the series last season, instead traveling to Butler on BracketBuster Saturday.
Eastern Illinois is 9-11 this season, 2-6 in the Ohio Valley Conference, and has dropped five-straight games. The Panthers are being led in scoring by senior guard Jeremy Granger, who is scoring a team-high 15.6 points per game. Sophomore forward Alfonzo McKinnie has added 11.2 points per contest, while freshman guard Joey Miller is chipping in 10.4 points per game.
The Flames and Panthers have three common opponents this season: Loyola, Northern Illinois and Western Illinois. UIC has gone 3-0 against those teams, while EIU has posted a 2-1 record. Against Eastern Illinois, UIC will be playing its sixth in-state foe this season.
The 142-team SEARS BracketBusters field will feature teams from 16 conferences: 10 each from Horizon League, 12 each from Colonial Athletic Association, Mid-American Conference and Southland; 11 each from Ohio Valley Conference and Big South, Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, Missouri Valley and Summit League; nine each from America East, Big Sky and Big West; eight from the Western Athletic Association; four from the Southern Conference; three from the MEAC; and two from the West Coast Conference.
As part of the agreement, all 13 of the Sears BracketBusters home teams in televised games, as well as the remaining 58 home squads, will play a return game at the home facility of their opponent in November or December of the 2013-14 season.
UIC will entertain Youngstown State (Feb. 2) and Cleveland State (Feb. 5) in a Horizon League homestand at the UIC Pavilion this week. Eastern Illinois will host Southeast Missouri tonight beginning at 7 p.m.
2012 HORIZON LEAGUE SEARS BRACKETBUSTERS SCHEDULE
Feb. 17: Valparaiso at Loyola Marymount, ESPNU
Feb. 18: Drexel at Cleveland State, ESPNU
Feb. 18: Indiana State at Butler, HLN
Feb. 18: Fairfield at Milwaukee, HLN
Feb. 18: James Madison at Detroit, HLN
Feb. 18: Eastern Michigan at Green Bay
Feb. 18: UIC at Eastern Illinois
Feb. 18: Loyola at Bradley
Feb. 18: Wright State at UMKC
Feb. 18: Youngstown State at Austin Peay
