CHICAGO -- UIC heads to Boca Raton, Florida, for the Boca Raton Beach Classic, hosted by Florida Atlantic. The Flames will face the tournament hosts in the first round on Sunday, Dec. 1, with tip set for 5 p.m. (CT). San Diego and St. Bonaventure meet in the other opening game, with the two winners and two losers meeting in the final round of action on Monday.

SERIES STUFF
• Sunday's game against the Owls will be the first-ever meeting between UIC and FAU. A meeting against St. Bonaventure on Monday would also be the first meeting between the Flames and the Bonnies. If UIC were to meet up with San Diego in the second round, it would be the third meeting between the two programs. The Toreros won, 68--62, in the 1980-81 season while the Flames picked up a 74-70 victory on Nov. 13 in the Golf Coast Showcase.
• FAU enters the game 3-3 overall with Cornelius Taylor (11.7) and Michael Forrest (10.3) leading the offense.
• St. Bonaventure is 2-4 on the year and is led offensively by Kyle Lofton (13.5) and Dominick Welch (11.2).
• San Diego sits at 3-5 on the year and run behind Joey Calcaterra's 14.9 points per game.

SWAT IT AWAY
• Junior Michael Diggins recorded a career-high five blocked shots against Robert Morris on Nov. 21.
• The five swatted shots mark the first game a Flame has blocked five or more shots since Tai Odiase collected six against Saint Francis on March 3, 2018.
• Diggins ranks first in the Horizon League with 11 blocks on the year. Deon Ejim ranks tied for second in the league with seven blocks this year.
• As a team, the Flames blocked 10 Colonial shots, two off the program-high of 12 in the Steve McClain era.

DOUBLE TROUBLE
• Against Bradley on Nov. 16, junior Michael Diggins recorded his first-career double-double for the Flames.
• The native of Las Vegas, Nevada paced the team in scoring and rebounding against the Braves, finishing with 13 points and 11 rebounds.
• The 11 boards, nine of which came in the first half, are a career-high for Diggins, surpassing his previous high mark of seven.

TRAVELL OFF THE BENCH
• Travell Washington came off the bench against Canisius to score a season-high 11 points, topping his season-high of three.
• The sophomore also set season-high marks for field goals and three-point field field goals with three made shots from beyond the arc.
• It is the second time in Washington's career in which he scored 10+ points in a game.