CHICAGO – UIC, in conjunction with the Horizon League, released its 18-game conference slate on Tuesday, September 5. The Flames will play a home-and-home series with each of their nine conference counterparts.

Horizon League play begins for UIC with a pair of road games against formidable foes. The Flames will open the schedule on Friday, Dec. 28 at defending Horizon League champion Wright State. The Raiders won the conference tournament in 2018 and represented the League in the NCAA Tournament. Following a quick turnaround, UIC will head slightly south to meet up with defending regular-season champion Northern Kentucky on Dec. 30.

It is the second year in a row that the Flames will open conference play at Wright State, followed by a matchup at Northern Kentucky. It is also the third time in four seasons under the direction of head coach Steve McClain that UIC will be away from home to begin Horizon League play.

The first test against a conference opponent at the UIC Pavilion is slated for Friday, Jan. 4 against IUPUI. That game ignites a three-game homestand that also features visits from Youngstown State (Jan. 10) and Cleveland State (Jan. 12). The Flames won five-of-six meetings against the Jaguars, Penguins and Vikings during the 2017-18 campaign.

A brief trip north on Interstate 94 takes UIC up to Milwaukee on Jan. 17 and on to Green Bay on Jan. 19. The Flames have won three straight contests in the state of Wisconsin dating back to a 105-100 overtime triumph over Milwaukee at UWM Panther Arena on Feb. 4, 2017.

UIC will close out the month of January and open February with a four-game homestand against the likes of Detroit Mercy (Jan. 24), Oakland (Jan. 26), Wright State (Feb. 1) and Northern Kentucky (Feb. 3). It is the longest stretch of consecutive games at the UIC Pavilion during League play.

The second half of the conference calendar is road-heavy for the Flames. McClain's squad will play five of its final seven regular season games outside of Chicago beginning with a three-game swing to IUPUI (Feb. 9), Cleveland State (Feb. 14) and Youngstown State (Feb. 16). Last season's victory at IUPUI on Jan. 4 began UIC's nine-game winning streak away from that lasted all the way until March 30 and the championship game of the CollegeInsider.com Tournament at Northern Colorado.

This year's Flames will welcome Green Bay (Feb. 22) and Milwaukee (Feb. 24) for the final two home games of the regular season before wrapping the docket with visits to Oakland (Feb. 28) and Detroit Mercy (March 2).

UIC's full non-conference schedule is currently being finalized. As previously announced, the Flames will begin the 2018-19 season by participating in the Gotham Classic with matchups against Notre Dame (Nov. 6), Radford (Nov. 9), Duquesne (Nov. 12) and William & Mary (Nov. 15). The full schedule, along with tip times and television designations, will be unveiled in the near future.

For information about ticket packages for the 2018-19 season, please click here.

The Flames return seven letterwinners from a group that posted the program's first 20-win season since 2003-04. That group, which helped the team finish third in the Horizon League with a record of 12-6, includes the 2018 Horizon League Sixth Man of the Year Godwin Boahen and five of last season's top seven scorers in Juniors Marcus Ottey, Tarkus Ferguson, Dominique Matthews, Jordan Blount and Boahen.