CHICAGO – UIC heads out on its shortest road trip of the season Saturday when it makes the 14-mile trek south for the inaugural Chicago Crosstown Challenge (aka "The Battle of the Dan Ryan") at Chicago State. Tipoff from the Jones Convocation Center is set for 1 p.m. (CT). NEC Front Row, a free video broadcast platform through the Northeast Conference, will carry Saturday's game live. Tickets remain on sale for Saturday's game at $5 each and can be purchased at the Jones Convocation Center box office on game day. Parking is free in the lots adjacent to the arena.

CSU is the second of three Chicagoland opponents on UIC's schedule this season. The Flames defeated St. Francis, 98-55 on Tuesday night at Credit Union 1 Arena and will also play host to Illinois Tech on Dec. 29.

GAME #4
UIC "Flames" (2-1, 0-0 MVC) at Chicago State "Cougars" (0-3, 0-0 NEC)
When: Saturday, Nov. 15th  |  1 p.m. CT
Where: Chicago, Ill.  |  Jones Convocation Center
TV: NEC Front Row
Radio: None
Live Stats: StatBroadcast
Tickets: Available at the gate ($5 each)

• Saturday will mark the 62nd meeting between UIC and Chicago State, with the Cougars holding a 34-27 edge in the all-time series. CSU also has a 14-11 series lead when playing on the South Side, although the sites for several matchups between the schools in the 1950s and 1960s are unknown.
• UIC has won the past two (and three of the past four) meetings with Chicago State, although this will be the first matchup between the Windy City foes since Nov. 30, 2016, when UIC posted a 74-58 win at Credit Union 1 Arena.
• The Flames are making their first appearance on the Chicago State campus since Dec. 7, 1999, when the Cougars defeated UIC, 69-61.
• The UIC-Chicago State series is one of the oldest in the 79-year history of Flames' basketball, with their first meeting coming in the third game ever for UIC (a 46-38 Cougars' victory on Dec. 11, 1947, at Chicago State). 
• UIC has played only six other opponents more often than Chicago State — Green Bay (110), Cleveland State (89), Milwaukee (82), Wright State (67), Valparaiso (64) and Illinois Tech (63), with the Flames and Loyola playing 61 times.

• Chicago State is in its second season as a member of the Northeast Conference after most recently competing as an independent (2022-23 through 2023-24) following nine seasons in the Western Athletic Conference (2013-14 through 2021-22).
• The Cougars have three players returning (two with starting experience at CSU) from last year's squad that posted a 4-28 record (4-12 in its inaugural NEC season). Chicago State also has 14 newcomers on its roster this year.
• The Cougars will be playing their home opener Saturday after road losses at DePaul (92-62), Saint Louis (108-86) and Butler (98-66) during the first two weeks of the season.
• Senior guard Marcus Tankersley, an Alcorn State transfer, leads CSU in scoring (18.3 ppg.) and rebounding (4.7 rpg.).
• Tankersley was one of two Alcorn State additions brought over by first-year head coach Landon Bussie, who spent the past five years at ASU, helping the Braves to two NIT berths. He is facing UIC for the first time as a head coach.

NOTING THE FLAMES

• UIC has looked sharp against its fellow Chicagoland schools across all sports during the 2025-26 academic year. Thus far, Flames teams are 8-0-2 against Windy City opponents this year (3-0 volleyball; 3-0-1 men's soccer; 1-0-1 women's soccer; 1-0 men's basketball), the best intracity record by any of Chicago's Division I schools.
• Through the first two weeks of the season, UIC is ranked among the top 20 in the nation in four categories — turnovers forced (11th - 20.0/game), free-throw percentage (11th - .824), steals (13th - 12.3 spg.) and fastbreak points (17th - 23.0/game).
• Individually, junior guard Ahmad Henderson II is fifth nationally in steals (4.0 spg.) and eighth in total steals (12).
• In UIC's last outing on Tuesday, redshirt junior forward Ante Beljan scored a game-high 22 points on 10-of-12 shooting to lead four UIC players in double figures (two of whom challenged for triple-doubles) as the Flames returned to the win column with a wire-to-wire 98-55 victory over St. Francis (Ill.) before a boisterous Homecoming crowd of 2,187 fans at Credit Union 1 Arena. UIC jumped out to a 17-2 lead less than six minutes into the game and never looked back to claim the dominating win.
• The Flames shot a sizzling 65.1 percent from the floor (its best since Jan. 29, 2005 - .667 at Butler) and 66.7 percent from three-point range (best since Nov. 23, 2011 - .692 vs. Evansville), assisting on 29 of their 41 field goals and fueled by a second-half barrage that saw the Flames shoot .697 from the field and make all four of their three-point tries. UIC was equally prolific at the defensive end, coming up with 17 steals, the most for a Flames' squad in nearly 11 years (also 17 steals on Dec. 30, 2014, vs. Judson).
• UIC's 76-73 loss at Oregon State on Nov. 7 was the Flames' closest call against a power conference opponent since an 80-75 win at BIG EAST member DePaul on Dec. 14, 2016.
• UIC's last three matchups with power-conference schools have all been road losses decided by 11 points or fewer — 69-58 at Cincinnati in 2023, 83-74 at Northwestern in 2024, and 76-73 at Oregon State earlier this year.
• UIC's 13 steals at OSU were the most it had recorded against a Division I opponent since Nov. 16, 2016, when it also had 13 thefts in an 86-78 win over UTSA at Credit Union 1 Arena.
• Henderson's career-high seven steals at OSU were the most by a UIC player since Jan. 9, 2013, when Daniel Barnes had eight steals in a 75-70 home loss to Valparaiso. It also tied for the fifth-most thefts by a Missouri Valley Conference player in the past 30 seasons.
• With its Nov. 3 victory over Detroit Mercy, UIC picked up its second consecutive season-opening win, the first time the Flames have started with a victory in back-to-back seasons since 2019-20 and 2020-21. UIC is 39-40 (.494) all-time in season openers, including a 24-21 (.533) mark since moving to NCAA Division I in 1981-82.
• Rob Ehsan is the first UIC head coach in 40 years to win his first two season openers as the Flames' skipper (the last to do so was Willie Little in 1983-84 and 1984-85).
• On Thursday, UIC announced the signing of Dikembe Shaw, a 6-7 forward from Crown Point, Ind., to a National Letter of Intent to join the Flames starting in 2026-27. Shaw was an all-state selection and Indiana Junior All-Star pick last year while attending Crown Point High School, averaging 16.2 ppg., 6.7 rpg., 3.4 apg. and 1.3 spg., while helping the Bulldogs to a 24-2 record and a berth in the Indiana Class 4A semistate final. He also averaged 12.9 ppg. and 5.9 rpg. during the summer 2025 club season while competing for Indiana Elite 3SSB (3Stripes Select Basketball).

UP NEXT: BOARDWALK BATTLE
UIC will be back in action Nov. 20 and 22, competing for the second consecutive year at the Boardwalk Battle in Daytona Beach, Fla. The Flames will face High Point in the tournament opener on Nov. 20 (1:30 p.m. CT) and will face either Incarnate Word or Southern Indiana on Nov. 22 in the championship game (6 p.m. CT) or consolation game (4 p.m. CT). Both of UIC's tournament games will be streamed on the BallerTV subscription service, with live stats available at UICFlames.com.