UIC will open NCAA tournament play Thursday night at Michigan State in a first round contest.  The Flames (12-5-2) earned their third straight automatic bid as Horizon League champions, while the Spartans (10-4-4) are an at-large selection out of the Big Ten.

"Our guys are looking forward to an NCAA tournament game," head coach Sean Phillips said.  "It will be everything an NCAA tournament game is supposed to be, between two teams that deserve to be in the tournament, and have proved over the course of the season that they are national level teams."

The Flames are making their eighth appearance in the NCAA tournament.  On their way to the Sweet 16 in 2008, they advanced past MSU in the second round.  Overall, UIC has a 6-7-3 record in the national tournament and a 1-1-1 mark against Big Ten foes, including last year's first round game against Wisconsin.

"The experience of playing on the road in the NCAA tournament is different from playing on the road in the regular season," Phillips continued.  "The more experience you have dealing with the adversity and all the little challenges that come with playing on the road, the better.  The atmosphere will be great, as it was at Wisconsin last year.  Most of all, we have the knowledge and belief that we belong in this environment."

The two sides had two opponents in common during the regular season.  Both squads defeated Oakland.  UIC beat Northwestern, who three days later played Michigan State to a draw.  The Spartans are allowing just 0.83 goals per game, but UIC's offense is half a goal per game more prolific than Michigan State's.

"Playing Michigan State at their place is going to be a good challenge for us in all facets of the game.  They have historically and this season been good defensively, as have a number of teams we've played this year.  For us to get the result, our ball retention has to continue to be good, as does our transition both ways, and our execution of attacking and defending set pieces has to be disciplined.  It's going to be a high quality game between two of the top teams in the region matched up for the right to play #4 Louisville."

The match will begin at 6:00 pm Central, and will be live streamed on BTN2GO.  Cable and satellite subscribers who have the Big Ten Network included in their package can access BTN2GO by logging in to their provider account.  Subscribers to BTN Plus (no cable/satellite plan required; monthly passes available) will also receive the stream.
 
Last Time Out

• The Flames won their third straight Horizon League championship with a 3-1 victory at #1 seed Wright State on Saturday.
• Freshmen scored all three goals, as Josiah Ash tallied in the 5th and 88th minutes, with Pau Mateo scoring the game-winner in minute 36.
• Markell Saddler assisted on all three goals
• Ash's brace was the first in UIC championship match history, and Saddler's trio of assists also set a program championship record.
• Jacob Graiber was named tournament MVP.

Flames to Watch

• Along with Graiber, Josiah Ash, Nestor Garcia, and Oscar Gonzalez were named to the All-Horizon League Tournament Team.
• Gonzalez scored UIC's goal in the 1-1 semifinal draw with IUPUI.
• Max Todd, Gonzalez, Ash, and Jordan Moore all connected on penalty kicks to lead the Flames to a 4-2 shootout win over the Jaguars.
• Todd is the Horizon League Offensive Player of the Year.  Perez, with his NCAA-leading 12 assists, is the conference Player of the Year.

Scouting Michigan State

• Michigan State fell to Maryland 1-0 in overtime in a Big Ten quarterfinal. The nationally-seeded Terps avenged a 2-0 Spartan victory at Maryland earlier in the regular season.
• Ryan Sierakowski and DeJuan Jones tied for team high goal-scoring honors with five each. Giuseppe Barone leads MSU with nine assists.
• Jimmy Hague has an .833 save percentage and a 0.69 GAA.

Statistically Speaking

• UIC is second in the country in total assists (48), and in assists per game, with 2.53. Only national #1 seed Wake Forest has more assists.
• UIC had the most difficult regular season schedule in the Horizon League based on the NCAA rankings of opponents' records.  They had seven wins and draws in road and neutral matches, and earned results over four conference champions or finalists. 
• Max Todd ranks tenth in the nation with five game-winning goals.
• Markell Saddler ranks sixth with 10 assists, and is 11th with 0.53 assists per game. Oscar Gonzalez is 14th in the country with 9 assists, and 25th in assists per game with 0.47.

Spartan Story

• The series between UIC and Michigan State dates to 1982, but reached its peak in the 1990s, when the teams played eight times.
• The teams have met once in the NCAA tournament. In 2008, after a scoreless draw through two overtimes at DeMartin Stadium, UIC won the PK shootout, 3-2.
• The most recent contest was in 2014 at Flames Field. The teams played to a 0-0 draw, as they have in three of the last five matchups.