CHICAGO -- UIC finishes a three-game road trip and opens the month of December on Saturday, Dec. 2, when it travels to Chicago's Rogers Park neighborhood to meet the Loyola Ramblers at 3 p.m. CT.

UIC (2-4) enters the meeting in search of its first road win of the season. The Flames played away from home for the first time on Sunday, Nov. 26, falling at No. 8 Kentucky. The trip continued to Troy, Ala., where UIC was undone by a season-high 21 turnovers for the second consecutive outing and Troy's 14 3-pointers in a loss for the visitors. In both losses the Flames were led in scoring by a player off the bench. Sophomore Godwin Boahen paced the squad with 17 points off the bench at Rupp Arena, while Dominique Matthews matched a season high with four 3-pointers and scored 14 points at Troy.

Loyola (7-1) opened the campaign with seven wins before falling for the first time at Boise State on Tuesday night. The Ramblers, who are shooting nearly 52 percent from the field on the season. were held to a season-low mark of 36.8 percent against the Broncos. Loyola, which was picked to finish third in the Missouri Valley Conference, is the only school in that conference to have two players on the MVC Preseason First Team in Donte Ingram and Aundre Jackson. Ingram is the team's leading rebounder (7.0 rpg) and third leading scorer (13.1 ppg), while Ingram scored 20 points the last time the Ramblers and Flames met on the hardwood.

Saturday's crosstown showdown, which is the 55^th meeting between the former conference companions, will be broadcast live on NBC Sports Chicago and simulcast on ESPN3. A free audio stream featuring Jonathan Hood and Chris Bleck will be available on UICFlames.com.

ROTATION ROULETTE

• UIC has used four different starting lineup combinations in its six regular season and two exhibition games this season.
• Tai Odiase, Jordan Blount, Dikembe Dixson and Tarkus Ferguson have started all eight games to date.
• Dominique Matthews opened four of the first five games, while Marcus Ottey (2) and Godwin Boahen (1) have also started.
• Dixson (46) and Ferguson (42) have each started every game of their respective careers.
• Odiase has started all 72 games since Steve McClain became the program's head coach in 2015-16.

YOUTH WAS SERVED

• Out of 351 Division I teams, UIC ranked as the least experienced in the country in 2016-17 according to KenPom.com.
• The Flames boasted an average of 0.67 years of Division I playing experience last season.
• Despite the youth, UIC was one of the nation's most improved squads with 12 more wins than the previous season.
• Through six games this year, the Flames rank 284^th with 1.33 years of experience.
• Troy is the most experienced team UIC has faced so far and is currently 60^th at 2.08 years.
• Loyola is at the Division I average, 1.70 years.

BLOCK PARTY

• Tai Odiase owns 261 career rejections, second most in program history.
• Scott VanderMeer, who played from 2006-09, is UIC's all-time leader with 273 blocks.
• Former Youngstown State standout Damian Eargle is the Horizon League's all-time leader with 309 blocks.
• Odiase has blocked at least one shot in 19 of UIC's last 20 games dating back to Feb. 2, 2017 at Green Bay.
• He owns 12 blocks in six games this season and has averaged 100.5 blocks per season since 2015-16.

BOOST FROM THE BENCH

• Though each has one start, UIC has two players who are averaging double figures off the bench in Godwin Boahen (11.0 ppg/5 games) and Marcus Ottey (10.8 ppg/5 games).
• That pair is shooting 47.0 percent (39-of-83) from the field and 39.4 percent (13-of-33) from 3-point range off the bench.
• UIC's leading scorer has come off the bench in four of team's six games, including in each of the last three contests.
• UIC's bench averages 29.3 points per game, outscoring the opposition five of six times.

More game notes, statistics and information for Saturday's game is available by clicking the the UIC Game Notes link that is in the blue preview box above.