Jan. 12, 2016
CHICAGO -- After opening its Horizon League slate with three games on the road, the Flames return to the UIC Pavilion Thursday, Jan. 14 to host the Green Bay Phoenix and open a brief two-game homestand. The conference home opener is set to tip at 7 p.m.
After playing three Horizon League foes away from home, and with another three-game trip set to begin on Monday, Jan. 18, UIC will enjoy the comforts of home this weekend against Green Bay and Milwaukee. Thursday's game also begins what is perhaps the busiest stretch of the season for the Flames with five games scheduled in an 11-day span.
In addition to serving as an unofficial homecoming for UIC, a new semester has begun on campus and the Flames are welcoming students back with a great giveaway. The first 1,000 UIC students in attendance Thursday will receive a brand new UIC charcoal snapback hat. The lid looks a little something like this:
Below are a few headlines and notes as UIC looks to get back into the win column against the Phoenix on Thursday night:
MOTOR CITY MADMAN
With all due respect to Ted Nugent, UIC freshman Dikembe Dixson was a bit of a Motor City Madman during his team's games at Detroit and Oakland last weekend. For a conference-best fourth time in nine weeks, Dixson was named the Horizon League Freshman of the Week on Monday, Jan. 11. The Freeport, Ill., native averaged 25.0 ppg, 6.5 rpg and 2.0 spg against the Titans and Golden Grizzlies. He matched a career high, for the second time in four games, with 28 points at Oakland, and he scored 38 of his 50 points (76 percent) in the second halves of those contests. Dixson is the first Flame to win the HL Freshman of the Week award four times, and he is the first player in program history to win at least four weekly recognitions of any kind since Mark Miller won the conference's Player of the Week award four times during the 1997-98 campaign.
Dixson is the team's leading scorer and top rebounder with 15.3 points per game and 6.6 rebounds per game, ranking in the top eight among all players in the Horizon League in both categories. The newcomer is currently fifth in the conference in scoring in league games only with 19.0 ppg.
NAJEAL FITS NICELY
Junior transfer Najeal Young returned to court at Valparaiso on Jan. 2 after missing nearly 2.5 games with an injury he sustained at Loyola on Dec. 19. The Milwaukee, Wis., native has started every game in Horizon League play and he is averaging 9.7 points and a team-high 7.0 rebounds against conference foes. He broke out offensively against Detroit on Friday night with a career-high 15 points on 7-of-12 shooting from the floor. On Sunday at Oakland, Young corralled a career-high eight rebounds to lead all players in that contest.
THESE KIDS CAN PLAY
UIC's roster features eight underclassmen, including six freshmen, one sophomore and one redshirt sophomore. That group, which comprises 57 percent of the roster has combined to play 1,870 minutes through 14 games, or 67 percent of the entire team's total. Underclassmen have scored 616 of 922 points (67 percent) for the Flames, while grabbing 328 of 569 rebounds (57 percent). Freshman Dikembe Dixson leads UIC in all three categories in his first collegiate season.
FINISHING STRONG
Statistically speaking, UIC has been a more productive team in the second half this season. The Flames have scored an average of 8.0 more points per game in the final period, while shooting better percentages from the floor, the free-throw line and beyond the arc. Individually, sophomore Tai Odiase has had a significant impact down the stretch as he averages 5.1 points and 2.9 rebounds in the second half this season compared to 2.6 points and 1.6 rebounds in the first. Freshman Dikembe Dixson has also provided late contributions with an average of 9.4 points in the final 20 minutes. He has also made 14 of his 17 3-pointers on the season in the second half this year.
LINEUP SHUFFLE
UIC head coach Steve McClain has used 12 different starting-lineup combinations in 14 games after mixing it up once again against Oakland on Jan. 10. McClain has used the same starters only twice as Paris Burns, Dikembe Dixson, Dominique Matthews, Tai Odiase and Lance Whitaker opened against both Illinois State and Loyola. In total, 11 different Flames have received a starting nod this year after Michael Kolawole made his first collegiate start last Sunday. Only Odiase and Dixson have opened all 14 games for UIC thus far.
MILESTONE WATCH
UIC, which began NCAA Division I play in 1981, needs only one win to reach No. 500 at this level. The very first win of the Division I era came on Dec. 4, 1981 at Wisconsin (74-66). The school's first basketball team was fielded in 1947, and the program owns 808 all-time victories since that season.
For more information about Thursday's game, please click the Game Notes PDFs above.
The squad will be back at the UIC Pavilion on Saturday, January 16 to host the Milwaukee Panthers at 3 p.m. in the final home game until January 28. Tickets are still available by calling 312-413-UIC1 (8421) or visiting Ticketmaster today.
