CHICAGO – UIC will tip off its 79th men's basketball season (45th at the NCAA Division I level) at 7 p.m. (CT) Monday, when the Flames play host to former Horizon League foe Detroit Mercy at Credit Union 1 Arena. Monday's game will be televised live on ESPN+, with Sam Brief (play-by-play) and Joey Lane (color) on the call. Fans can also listen live and free of charge to Monday's game (and all UIC home basketball games) globally on the Flames Network at UICFlames.com. The Voice of the Flames, Jonathan Hood, begins Year 14 describing the play-by-play and is once again partnered with veteran analyst and UIC legend/Hall of Famer Kenny Williams.
Monday's game is the first of three UIC home basketball doubleheaders during the 2025-26 season, with the Flames' women playing host to Robert Morris in Monday's opener at 4 p.m. (CT). Fans who purchase a ticket to the UIC women's basketball game will receive free admission for the following men's basketball game. In addition, the first 150 fans through the turnstiles will also receive UIC Flames rally towels.
GAME #1
Detroit Mercy "Titans" (0-0, 0-0 Horizon League) at UIC "Flames" (0-0, 0-0 MVC)
When: Monday, Nov. 3rd | 7 p.m. CT
Where: Chicago, Ill. |Â
Credit Union 1 Arena
TV: ESPN+ (Sam Brief, p-b-pÂ
/ Joey Lane, color)
Radio: Flames Network (Jonathan Hood, p-b-p / Kenny Williams, color)
Live Stats: StatBroadcast
Tickets: Purchase Here (all UIC students admitted free for every home game - details HERE!)
Themes/Promotions:
•Â
Doubleheader with UIC women's basketball (buy a ticket to WBB game, free admission to MBB game)
•
Free rally towels (first 150 fans or while supplies last)
SERIES BREAKDOWN
- Monday will mark the 57th all-time meeting between UIC and Detroit Mercy. The Titans hold a 34-22 edge in the series, while the two sides are even at 13-13 when the scene shifts to Chicago.
- UDM has won the past two games in the series, most recently an 80-67 decision on Jan. 27, 2022, in Detroit. The Titans also prevailed in the last matchup at Credit Union 1 Arena, 64-56 on Dec. 5, 2021.
- UIC is seeking its first win over UDM since Feb. 27, 2020, an 84-67 victory in Chicago just two weeks prior to the abbreviated end to that season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
- UIC and Detroit Mercy are no strangers to one another, having shared membership in the Horizon League for 28 seasons from 1994-95 through 2021-22.
- Believe it or not, Monday's matchup will be the first non-conference meeting between the schools, who played entirely home-and-home Horizon League series almost annually in that aforementioned 28-year run, along with a 2002 Horizon League Tournament semifinal clash (won by UIC, 79-68, en route to the Flames' second title).
MORE ON DETROIT MERCY
- Detroit Mercy is beginning its second season under head coach Mark Montgomery, seeking to build on last year's 8-24 record, including a 4-16 mark (and 10th-place finish) in the Horizon League. Both records were clear improvements over the Titans' one-win campaign in 2023-24, prior to Montgomery's arrival.
- This year's UDM roster features all five primary starters, and six total letterwinners, returning (most of any Horizon League team), paced by senior guard Orlando Lovejoy, who led the Titans in scoring (16.3 ppg.), rebounding (4.6 rpg.) and assists (3.8 apg.). Lovejoy is the Horizon League's top returning scorer and was among the top 10 in that conference in most categories a season ago.
- The Titans also welcome eight newcomers, including six freshmen, this season.Â
- Montgomery previously served as head coach at Northern Illinois from 2011-21, winning 124 games in DeKalb. In his head coaching career, he is 3-3 all-time against UIC.
NOTING THE FLAMES
- UIC is 38-40 (.487) all-time in season openers, including a 23-21 (.523) record in its Division I era (since 1981-82).
- The Flames won last year's lidlifter (and head coach Rob Ehsan's debut with Chicago's College Team), posting a 91-43 win over St. Francis (Ill.) at Credit Union 1 Arena.
- UIC is 57-21 (.731) all-time in home openers, including a 36-8 (.818) record in its Division I era.
- Including last year's St. Francis victory, the Flames have won their last nine home openers, a streak that began with the 2016-17 season.
- Even UIC's rare losses in home openers have been extremely close, with the past five setbacks all decided by five points or fewer (four by one possession) — 2015-16 (San Francisco 78-75), 2013-14 (Drake 61-59), 2005-06 (St. Xavier 74-73), 2004-05 (#3 Georgia Tech 60-59) and 1996-97 (Illinois 68-63).
- UIC is coming off its best season in two decades, as the Flames finished 17-14 in 2024-25 and tied for fifth in the MVC. Last year, UIC also had four Quad 1 & 2 wins (second in the Valley) and five wins over postseason qualifiers.
UP NEXT: OREGON STATE
- UIC hits the road for the first time this season when it travels to Corvallis, Ore., on Friday for a 9 p.m. CT (7 p.m. PT) matchup against Oregon State. The game will be televised live from Gill Coliseum on ESPN+.
- The Flames are 1-2 all-time against the Beavers, who they last faced on Dec. 13, 2012, also in Corvallis (the last time UIC played in the state of Oregon).
- UIC last played a current West Coast Conference team just this past season, earning a 79-68 win at Seattle U on Dec. 20, 2024 (the Redhawks are in their inaugural WCCÂ season in 2025-26). Prior to that, the last time the Flames met a current WCC squad was Nov. 26, 2021 (a 64-52 loss to San Diego at the Las Vegas Classic).
- Of note, Oregon State has been a longstanding member of the Pac-12 Conference, which will return to conference play next season — the last time UIC played a Pac-12 team was Dec. 8, 2018, at Colorado (which has since returned to the Big 12), when the Buffaloes outlasted the Flames, 84-72.Â
