UIC GAME NOTES

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HEADLINES

Welcome to the 68th Season of UIC Men's Basketball
The 2014-15 season will serve as the 68th year of UIC men's basketball, dating back to 1947, and the 34th season in the D-I ranks. The Flames return nine letterwinners from the 2012-13 squad and welcome six newcomers. Head coach Howard Moore enters his fifth season at UIC and welcomes two new assistant coaches in Deon Thomas and Jeremy Buttell.

Flames Welcome Six Newcomers
Head Coach Howard Moore added six newcomers to the 2014-15 roster, including four players with prior college basketball experience. Fifth-year graduate student Jay Harris (6-1, G, Aurora, Ill./Wagner) highlights the group of fresh faces and is joined by junior college transfers D'Juan Miller (5-8, G, Kent, Wash./Eastern Arizona College), Jason McClellan (6-9, F, Fort Collins, Colo./ Eastern Wyoming College) and Paris Burns (5-11, G, Chicago, Ill./Vincennes). Two freshmen round out UIC's six newcomers in Tai Odiase (6-9, F/C, Flossmoor, Ill.) and David Ramon (6-7, F, Madrid, Spain).

Flames Excel in First Ever Foreign Tour
UIC won three of its five games this past August against Canadian University teams as the Flames participated in their first ever foreign tour. UIC fell in its first two outings versus the No. 1 (Carleton) and No. 2 (Ottawa) ranked teams in the country after holding leads late in both games. The Flames rebounded and came home on a three-game winning streak, securing double-digit victories to finish the tour. Junior Gabe Snider led the Flames in scoring at 14.4 points per game, hitting 15-of-36 (.417) from downtown, which included a 28-point outburst against Ottawa. On average the Flames out-performed their Canadian opposition in nearly every statistical category, including points, rebounds, assists, steals, blocks and shooting percentage.

Deon Thomas Added to Coaching Staff
On April 29, 2014, head coach Howard Moore announced the addition of Deon Thomas as assistant basketball coach. Thomas is highly regarded as one of the most successful American basketball players ever to compete overseas as he enjoyed a decorated 14-year career. The McDonald's All-American from Simeon High School was voted Illinois Mr. Basketball in 1989. He was a four-year letterwinner at Illinois and still holds the Fighting Illini's career scoring (2,129) and shot-blocking (177) records. Thomas was selected by the Dallas Mavericks with a 28th overall pick in 1994 NBA Draft, but decided to play abroad.

UIC Claims 70-54 Exhibition Win
The Flames cruised to a 70-54 exhibition win on Thursday, Nov. 6, at home against Beloit College. Senior Marc Brown led UIC with 16 points as junior Jake Wiegand earned a double-double with 14 points and 14 rebounds. The Flames held Beloit to 31.7 percent field-goal shooting and outscored the Buccaneers in the paint by a margin of 46-16. UIC received a solid contribution from its bench as they scored 26 points, including nine from newcomer Paris Burns who also grabbed seven boards and dished out three assists.

Tough Non-League Schedule
The 2014-15 Flames will be tested early and often during the non-league portion of their schedule as they begin on the road at Big East member and city-rival DePaul on Nov. 14. Some other big road tests include 2014 NCAA Elite Eight participant Dayton on Nov. 29, SMU on Dec. 17 and Big Ten opponent Northwestern on Dec. 22. Marquee home dates for UIC include the opener on Nov. 17 versus Western Illinois, Loyola on Dec. 6 and Central Florida on Dec. 11. The Flames will also take part in the Men Against Breast Cancer Classic, starting on Nov. 21, where they will face Yale, Kent State and SIU.

Marc Brown Eyes 1,000 Career Points
Senior guard Marc Brown needs just 263 points to reach 1,000 for his career as he currently owns 737 points during his first three seasons. He would become the 21st player in program history to do so and the first since current graduate manager Robo Kreps (2007-11). Brown scored 349 points last season which nearly doubled his 188 total from his sophomore campaign. The Dallas native is UIC's leading returning scorer at 11.3 points per game.

Chi-Town Hoops
UIC will open its season at DePaul for the first time in program history on Nov. 14. It will be the first time in exactly four years that two Chicago D-I teams have kicked off the season by playing each other (Chicago State at DePaul on 11/14/10). The Flames are scheduled to battle three of the four Chicago programs this season and will have played nine total games against windy city rivals in a three-year span. Chicago State, Loyola and DePaul will have played five Chicago teams in that same span with Northwestern competing against four. UIC and DePaul currently have 17 total players on their rosters that are from the Chicagoland area.

Freshman Phenom
Freshman Tai Odiase had a stellar debut for the Flames in their 70-54 exhibition win against Beloit College on Nov. 6. Odiase played 23 minutes off the bench and recorded a game-high seven blocked shots, six of which came in the second half. He also added eight points on 4-of-6 shooting from the field. Odiase was the No. 25 rated player in the state of Illinois coming out of Homewood-Flossmoor High School where he averaged 17.4 points, 10.4 rebounds and 3.1 blocks per game.

Snider Shines in Canada
Junior Gabe Snider had a break out performance during UIC's summer trip to Canada and went on to lead the Flames in scoring during their five games (14.4 points per game). He began the tour with a game-high 28-point outburst against Ottawa, the defending national runner-up, shooting 8-of-10 from behind the arc. He added 22 points versus Toronto and finished the trip with a three-point shooting percentage of 41.7 percent.

Beast Mode
During UIC's final game in Canada against Brock, junior Jake Wiegand switched to beast mode in the fourth quarter as the Flames faced a six-point deficit. Wiegand single-handedly outscored Brock by a total of 15-9 that included a trio three-point plays. He finished the night with 25 points and 15 rebounds, propelling UIC to a 71-57 tour-ending victory. The 6-foot-8, 235-pound forward concluded the trip averaging 11.4 points and 7.6 rebounds per game.

Barlow Drafted Into NBA D-League
Former UIC basketball standout Kelsey Barlow was recently (Nov. 1) selected in the fifth round of the 2014 NBA D-League Draft by the Grand Rapids Drive as the 77th overall pick. Barlow played one season for the Flames during the 2013-14 campaign and led the team in scoring, assists and steals. He was also the only player in the Horizon league to average at least 14 points, five rebounds and three assists per game. Barlow joins former UIC guard Gary Talton of the Rio Grande Valley Vipers (2011-13) in the NBA D-League.

Injury Sidelines McClellan 2-3 Weeks
Junior transfer Jason McClellan is expected to miss 2-3 weeks of action after suffering a stress fracture in his right hip. The 6-foot-9 forward came to UIC from Eastern Wyoming College where he averaged 11.6 points per game last season.

Harris and Whitaker to Sit Out First Three Games
Fifth-year transfer Jay Harris and redshirt freshman Lance Whitaker will miss the first three games of the 2014-15 season due to a violation of team rules as was announced by head coach Howard Moore on Nov. 6.