Are you as excited as we are to get back to sweet home Chicago? This help fire you up for @uicflames hoops at the @uicPAVILION on Thursday night!

If you don't have your ?? yet ?? https://t.co/sGbv4CEXau #ItsUIC #UICHOCO #HLMBB pic.twitter.com/KsohYnnhEL

— UIC FL??MES ?? (@UICFlamesMBB) November 13, 2018

CHICAGO -- After opening the season with three true road games for the first time in the program's Division I history, the UIC Flames are back in town to begin a three-game homestand on Thursday, Nov. 15 with a visit from the William & Mary Tribe. The game, which is part of UIC's Homecoming Week celebration, will be televised on NBC Sports Chicago and ESPN3 with Jonathan Hood and David Kaplan on the call.

Both UIC and William & Mary played their last game against Duquesne. The Tribe was in Pittsburgh on Saturday and fell to the Dukes, 84-70, despite 26 points and 11 rebounds from Nathan Knight and 19 points and nine rebounds from Glen Ellyn, Ill., native Justin Pierce.

The Flames took their best shot on Monday night, but dropped an 89-88 decision in overtime. UIC did not trail at any point during regulation, but Duquesne tied the game with less than a second remaining and outscored the Flames, 9-8, in overtime. Five players scored in double figures for UIC with Tarkus Ferguson, Marcus Ottey and Rob Howard all grabbing 18 points to lead the way.

RISE AND FIRE

• The Flames rank seventh in the NCAA with 33 3-point field goals made this season and ninth with 86 3-point attempts.
• Eight different players have converted at least one 3-pointer through three games, and five have connected on at least three. Tarkus Ferguson currently leads the team with 11 3-pointers.
• Last year, UIC launched 19.4 shots per game from beyond the arc.
• 47.5 percent of the squad's total field-goal attempts this season have come from downtown. That ranks 46^th in the country according to KenPom.com.
• Two Horizon League teams (Northern Kentucky - 8^th; Youngstown State - 12^th) rank ahead of the Flames in that category.
• UIC has made 27 3-pointers in the last two games, including a season-high 14 at Duquesne. That was one shy of the best total in the Steve McClain era, and three off the program record.
• Ferguson (5) and Michael Diggins (3) both matched career highs from 3-point range a Radford.
• Ferguson made four triples in the final 1:10, and three in the last 31 seconds, on Friday.

MINUTE MEN

• Three UIC players rank in the NCAA's top 100 in total minutes played this season. Tarkus Ferguson is seventh (115), Godwin Boahen is 32^nd (103) and Marcus Ottey is 94^th (91).
• Ferguson played a career-high 43 minutes in Monday's overtime game at Duquesne. Both Boahen and Ottey played a career-high 39 minutes in that game.
• Rob Howard played a career-high 31 minutes at Duquesne, while Michael Diggins matched a career high by playing 26 minutes in each of the last two contests.

SIXTH-MAN STANDOUT

• Guard Godwin Boahen earned Horizon League Sixth Man of the Year honors in 2017-18, becoming the first player in program history to do so.
• Boahen led the conference in 3-point shooting percentage in all games (50.8 percent) and conference games (42.6 percent).
• He owns an active streak of at least one 3-pointer made in 21 consecutive games.
• Boahen did start 11 of UIC's 36 games last year, including all four during the CIT run.
• He has started all three games this season and in 35 of 68 career games at UIC.

MILESTONE APPROACHING
UIC head coach Steve McClain enters Monday  with 199 wins as a Division I leader.
He owns 42 victories as the head coach of the Flames, a position he began in 2015.
He also served as the head coach at Wyoming from 1998-2007. Career win No. 100 came on March 20, 2003 against Eastern Washington.

DOUBLING DOWN

• Tarkus Ferguson notched his first double-double of the season, and the 12^th of his career, Monday with 18 points and a game-high 11 assists, which was one shy of a career high.
• Ferguson has eight career double-doubles with points and rebounds, three with points and assists and one with assists and rebounds.

SCOUTING THE TRIBE

• William & Mary is 1-1 on the young season. The loss came against a common opponent to UIC, Duquesne.
• The Tribe has four players averaging in double figures, led by Glen Ellyn, Ill., native Justin Pierce (21.5 ppg).
• Pierce also leads the team on the glass with 11.5 rebounds per game. Nathan Knight is second in both scoring (18.5 ppg) and rebounding (8.5 rpg).

More notes, information and statistics can be found in the UIC Game Notes PDF linked in the blue box above.