CHICAGO -- UIC will play its first postseason game since the 2012-13 season, and the sixth in program history, when it hosts Stony Brook Thursday night in the opening game of the 2017 College Basketball Invitational presented by FIVE FOUR. The Flames and Seawolves will be meeting for the first time ever when they hit the court at the UIC Pavilion at 7 p.m. CT on March 16.

Tickets are on sale now and can best be purchased by calling the UIC Ticket Office at 312-413-UIC1 [8421] during normal business hours. Seats in the the lower bowl of the UIC Pavilion are available for only $10 and floor seats can be purchased for $15.

In the second season under head coach Steve McClain, the Flames are the youngest team in the country, according to KenPom.com. Out of 351 teams, no squad has less NCAA Division I experience than UIC with an average of 0.69 years per player on the roster. In spite of that, McClain's group has also been one of the nation's most improved units. For the first time in the program's Division I history, the team has tripled its win total from the previous season by going from five to 15. According to NCAA data, which incorporates both wins and losses, the Flames are tied as the 11^th most-improved team in the country through March 12, with Illinois State, George Mason and UTSA, at a mark of +8.5.

UIC boasts the Horizon League top defender in Tai Odiase. The aggressive rim protector was named the conference's Defensive Player of the Year earlier this month after he led the League with 3.2 blocks per game in conference play. Odiase has blocked 97 shots this season, fourth-most in the NCAA, and his average of 2.94 rejections per game ranks fifth among all players through March 13. He has also been the top rebounder (7.1 rpg) and scorer (11.1 ppg) by average through the team's 33 games.

Freshmen Tarkus Ferguson and Dominique Matthews have also had an important impact on the success of the Flames this season. The pair was named to the Horizon League's All-Freshman Team, becoming the only teammates on the five-man squad. Ferguson led UIC in scoring during conference play with 13.1 points per game and he ranked first among all Horizon League players with 5.4 assists per game in 18 conference games. Matthews averaged 12.4 points per game during League play and he paced the Flames with 18.5 points per night in UIC's two Horizon League Tournament games.

Stony Brook (18-13, 12-4 America East) is in its first season under head coach Jeff Boals. The Seawolves advanced to the semifinals of the America East playoffs, where they fell to Albany on March 6, 63-56. The Seawolves are playing in the CBI for the third time in four seasons (2014 and 2015), while they appeared in the NCAA Tournament a year ago. Stony Brook has three players averaging in double figures, led by Lucas Woodhouse and his 15.1 points per game. Woodhouse has drained a team-high 66 3-pointers on the year and he shoots 45.8 percent from beyond the arc. He is an All-America East First Team selection.

The CBI presented by FIVE FOUR is a single-elimination tournament up until the best-of-three Finals, with all games played at campus sites. After the First Round games, the Quarterfinal Round will take place on Monday, March 20, followed by the Semifinal Round on Wednesday, March 22. Prior to the semifinals, the remaining teams will be re-bracketed. The Finals series is a best-of-three in which one team will host two of the three games. Those games will be played on March 27, March 29, and March 31.

Prior to meeting the Seawolves on Thursday, McClain, Odiase and Matthews met with the media to discuss postseason play. Check the highlights from the session below:



More notes, statistics and information about Thursday's CBI contest against Stony Brook can be found within the UIC Game Notes PDF that is linked above.