CHICAGO -- In its lone exhibition game prior to opening the 2018-19 regular season, the UIC Flames will host the Illinois Wesleyan Titans inside the UIC Pavilion on Thursday, Nov. 1 at 7 p.m.

The Flames are coming off the program's first 20-win season in 14 years. The squad finished third in the Horizon League, the highest since 2004, and went on to advance to the championship game of the CollegeInsider.com Tournament before falling on the road in a hostile environment at Northern Colorado in the finale. UIC boasts seven returning letterwinners off that squad, including the Horizon League Sixth Man of the Year Godwin Boahen and CIT All-Tournament honorees Marcus Ottey and Tarkus Ferguson. Overall, UIC returns five of its top seven scorers and 65.3 percent of its point production from a year ago.

Recently Ottey was named to the All-Horizon League Preseason First Team, while Ferguson was voted to the Second Team. Ottey led the Flames with 14.6 points per game during 18 Horizon League games as a sophomore. He did so while leading the squad and ranking eighth in the conference with a field-goal percentage of 53.1 percent. In fact, the Canadian was the only player in the Horizon League to rank in the top 10 in field-goal, free-throw and 3-point percentage last season. He shot 46.3 percent from beyond the arc, second only to Boahen, and 84.1 percent from the charity stripe, sixth-best in the League.

Ferguson led the Horizon League in assists during conference play for the second time in as many seasons during the 2017-18 campaign with 5.9 helpers per contest. In all games, he joined Ottey and Dikembe Dixson as one of three UIC players to average at least 10 points per game, and he ranked third on the team with 5.5 rebounds per game. He increased that number to 6.0 in League play. Ferguson tied for the team lead with four double-doubles, despite playing in nine fewer games than most of his teammates.

Fans will also get their first look at a handful of newcomers on Thursday, including the likes of junior-college transfers Rob Howard and Jamie Ahale and freshmen Travell Washington and Abraham Makumator. Redshirt freshman Ralph Bissainthe is also in the mix with a year of college already under his belt.

In the fourth season under head coach Steve McClain, UIC was selected to finish third in the Horizon League preseason poll behind defending champion Wright State and last year's regular season winner Northern Kentucky.

The Titans make the trip to Chicago after finishing 19-8 last season and earning a share of the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) regular season title. Illinois Wesleyan was tabbed second in this year's preseason poll behind Augustana. The always-dangerous Brady Rose returns in the Titan backcourt after averaging 21.4 points and 3.1 assists per game a year ago. He was recently one of 20 players to earn preseason Division III Honorable Mention All-American honors in the 2018-19 Street & Smith's College Basketball Annual Magazine.

Tickets are still available and can be purchased now through Ticketmaster. There is no broadcast scheduled, however live stats will be available here.

The regular season opens on Nov. 6 at Notre Dame as part of the Gotham Classic. The Flames will also travel to Radford and Duquesne for the tournament before concluding with a home game against William & Mary on Nov. 15.