CHICAGO – UIC will tip off its 80th men's basketball season (46th at the NCAA Division I level) at 4 p.m. (CT) Monday, when the Flames play host to St. Francis at Credit Union 1 Arena. Tickets are on sale for all UIC home games through Ticketmaster or the Credit Union 1 Arena box office on game night, with UIC students admitted free for all home games with their student ID.

All UIC home basketball games this season will be broadcast live, including Monday's opener which will be carried on ESPN+. Sam Brief is back to call the play-by-play, with Joey Lane handling the color commentary.

GAME #1
St. Francis "Fighting Saints" (0-2, 0-0 CCAC) at UIC "Flames" (0-0, 0-0 MVC)
When: Monday, Nov. 2nd  |  4 p.m. CT
Where: Chicago, Ill.  |  Credit Union 1 Arena
TV: ESPN+ (Sam Brief, p-b-p/Joey Lane, color)
Live Stats: StatBroadcast
Tickets: Purchase Here (all UIC students admitted free for every home game - details HERE!)

SERIES BREAKDOWN

BLOWING THE LID OFF

• UIC is 39-40 (.494) all-time in season openers, including a 24-21 (.533) record in its NCAA Division I era (since 1981-82).
• The Flames won last year's opener over Detroit Mercy, 91-71, making head coach Rob Ehsan the first UIC skipper in 40 years to win his first two season openers in the Big Chair (Willie Little did so in 1983-84 and 1984-85).
• Only once has a UIC head coach won his first three season openers with the Flames — Tom Russo guided UIC to season-opening victories in his first five seasons at the helm from 1962-63 through 1966-67 (during the program's NAIA era).
• UIC is 58-21 (.734) all-time in home openers, including a 37-8 (.822) record in its Division I era.
• Including last year's 91-71 opening night win over Detroit Mercy, the Flames have won their last 10 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 (Saint Xavier 74-73), 2004-05 (#3 Georgia Tech 60-59) and 1996-97 (Illinois 68-63).

BICENTENNIAL MAN

• Monday will mark the 200th career game as a head coach for UIC's Rob Ehsan. The Flames' mentor is 112-87 (.563) in his first six seasons on the sidelines, the first four (2016-20) at UAB and the past two at UIC, where he is 36-30 (.545) thus far.

MORE ON ST. FRANCIS

• St. Francis is an NAIA institution based in Joliet, Ill.
• Last year, the Fighting Saints posted a 23-8 record, winning the Chicagoland College Athletic Conference (CCAC) Tournament title and advancing to the NAIA National Tournament (first-round loss at Indiana Wesleyan).
• USF opened its 2026-27 season this past weekend with a pair of close losses at the Aquinas College Drury Inn Classic in Grand Rapids, Mich., falling to host Aquinas (77-69) and Saint Mary-of-the-Woods (73-68).
• Redshirt junior guard Bryce Tillery (a transfer from Rogers State) averaged 18.5 points in his debut weekend with St. Francis, while returning senior forward/center Brady Cooper chipped in with 10.0 points and 5.5 rebounds per game.
• Head coach Ryan Marks is in his 14th season at St. Francis and 26th overall, including prior stops at UT-Pan American (now UTRGV), St. Edward's and Southern Vermont. All told, he has a 413-333 (.554) record, including a 226-161 (.584) record at St. Francis.

POLLING STATION

• UIC is ranked No. 5 in the preseason CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 poll, with the Flames capturing one first-place vote to start the campaign.
• UIC is slated to face four schools that are ranked in the College Insider preseason poll — No. 1 Miami (Ohio), No. 3 Illinois State, No. 10 Saint Mary's and No. 22 Belmont — along with four other teams receiving votes (Murray State, Drake, Robert Morris and Milwaukee). 
• UIC is also just outside the rankings in the Mid-Major Madness Top 25 preseason poll, leading all others receiving votes with 22 points (two back of No. 25 Memphis).
• UIC will play four teams appearing in the Mid-Major Madness Top 25 — No. 5 Saint Mary's, No. 12 Miami (Ohio), No. 17 Murray State and No. 21 Belmont — as well as two others receiving votes in Illinois State and Charlotte.

A LOOK AHEAD TO 2026-27

• UIC was picked to finish third in the 2026-27 Missouri Valley Conference preseason poll (466 points, six first-place votes), according to a 50-person voting panel that includes the league's coaches, media members and communications directors. It's the highest preseason ranking for the Flames in their five seasons in the Valley.
• UIC is also a near-consensus top-three selection in the MVC according to preseason projections from all other major media outlets. That includes Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook, which pegged the Flames to win the Valley title this season and had both senior Ahmad Henderson II and sophomore Andy Johnson earning all-conference honors.
• UIC tops all MVC schools in the 2026-27 Bart Torvik T-Rank preseason projections, starting the campaign at No. 102. The Flames are also the second-highest MVC team in the KenPom preseason ratings (No. 106).
• Four Flames appeared on the 2026-27 MVC Players to Watch list — seniors Ahmad Henderson II and Mekhi Lowery, and sophomores Andy Johnson and Rashund Washington Jr.
• UIC has 59 percent of its minutes returning from last season, the most of any squad in the MVC. That includes five players who started at least 15 of the Flames' 35 games last year — the aforementioned four MVC Players to Watch, along with redshirt sophomore Jayce Nathaniel.

A LOOK BACK — 2025-26 REWIND

• The Flames earned their second-ever berth in the NIT, having also qualified in 2003. UIC fell in the opening round of this past year's NIT, 91-73 at California.
• UIC was playing in a postseason tournament for the eighth time since elevating to NCAA Division I status in 1981-82. All told, UIC has earned berths in three NCAA Tournaments (1998, 2002, 2004), two NIT (2003, 2026), one CBI (2017) and two CIT (2013, 2018) during its first 45 Division I campaigns.
• At 19-16, UIC posted its highest win total since 2017-18, when the Flames finished 20-16 and reached the CIT championship game. That was both UIC's most recent 20-win season and its only such campaign since it last won a conference tournament title and made the NCAA Tournament in 2004 (24-8 record).
• UIC went 12-8 in MVC play last year, its highest conference win total since joining the Valley and tied for its second-highest in any conference (done four times before, most recently with a 12-6 record in the 2017-18 Horizon League campaign).
• After going 12-8 last year and 10-10 in 2024-25, UIC has recorded its first back-to-back .500 or better conference seasons since the 2018-19 and 2019-20 seasons, when the Flames went 10-8 each year in the Horizon League. Of note, UIC had a combined eight conference wins in its first two seasons as a member of the Valley and has 22 in its first two years under head coach Rob Ehsan.
• The Flames' third-place MVC finish was its best in conference play since the 2017-18 campaign, when UIC took third in the Horizon League with the aforementioned 12-6 record.
• UIC also posted its highest overall KenPom rating since 2004 (No. 110) and highest defensive efficiency mark since 2008 (No. 91), along with its highest-ever NET (NCAA Evaluation Tool) ranking at No. 115.
• During Ehsan's first two years at UIC, the Flames have collected eight Quad 1 & 2 wins, the second-most in the MVC, as well as six wins over teams ranked in the College Insider Mid-Major Top 25 poll (four against top-10 squads).

UP NEXT: ROBERT MORRIS

• UIC continues its season-opening three-game homestand Friday when it welcomes former Horizon League foe Robert Morris to Credit Union 1 Arena for a 7 p.m. (CT) matchup.
• Tickets are still available for Friday's game, which will be one of the signature events of Homecoming Weekend at UIC (along with Sunday's women's basketball game at 1 p.m. (CT) against crosstown rival Northwestern).
• Friday's contest against Robert Morris can also be seen live on ESPN+.
• Prior to Friday's game, fans are encouraged to join the traditional Homecoming Tailgate in Lot 1 (across from Credit Union 1 Arena), featuring food, drinks, games and fireworks. In addition, the UIC baseball team (which won the MVC regular-season and tournament titles to advance to the NCAA Tournament) will receive their championship rings in a special ceremony during the Homecoming Tailgate.
• The Flames will be facing Robert Morris for the second consecutive season, while hosting the Colonials for the first time since UIC left the Horizon League for the MVC in the summer of 2022.
• The Flames won the first five meetings with RMU (four by 10 points or less) before the Colonials rode a hot-shooting afternoon to their first series win last year (88-74 in Moon Township, Pa.).

For more information on UIC men's basketball, fans are encouraged to visit UICFlames.com, or follow the Flames on social media through X (@UIC_MBB and @UICFlames) and Instagram (@uic_mbb and @uicflames).