Skip To Main Content

UIC Athletics

thevalley
Cupps_USF_110226
Ozzie Stern

Men's Basketball Welcomes Robert Morris Friday on Homecoming Weekend

UIC Homecoming Tailgate (free to all fans) will be held pregame across street from arena.

11/5/2026 5:51:00 PM

CHICAGO – UIC continues its season-opening homestand Friday as the Flames entertain one of their former Horizon League opponents, Robert Morris in a 7 p.m. (CT) matchup at Credit Union 1 Arena. Friday's game is one of the signature events of Homecoming Weekend at UIC, with the annual UIC Homecoming Tailgate scheduled to take place from 3:30-7 p.m. (CT) in Lot 1B across Harrison Street from Credit Union 1 Arena. The tailgate is free to all students, alumni and fans and there will be food, beverages, games and fireworks — and in a special ceremony during the tailgate, the 2026 MVC champion UIC baseball team will receive their championship rings.

All UIC home basketball games this season will be broadcast live, with Friday's contest airing on ESPN+. Sam Brief will call the play-by-play, with Keno Davis providing expert analysis.

GAME #2
Robert Morris "Colonials" (0-1, 0-0 Horizon) at UIC "Flames" (1-0, 0-0 MVC)
When: Friday, Nov. 6th  |  7 p.m. CT
Where: Chicago, Ill.  |  Credit Union 1 Arena
TV: ESPN+ (Sam Brief, p-b-p/Keno Davis, color)
Live Stats: StatBroadcast
Tickets: Purchase Here (all UIC students admitted free for every home game - details HERE!)
Promotions/Giveaways:
• Homecoming Game
• Free pre-game tailgate in Lot 1B across street from arena (food, drinks, games, fireworks - 2026 MVC champion UIC baseball team to receive championship rings in special ceremony)
• Free UIC red rally towels to first 250 fans

SERIES BREAKDOWN
  • UIC and Robert Morris will be playing for just the seventh time in their series history. The Flames have a 5-1 edge all-time over the Colonials, including a 4-0 record at Credit Union 1 Arena.
  • Four of the six prior matchups between UIC and RMU came while both were briefly members of the Horizon League during the Flames' final two seasons in that circuit (2020-21 and 2021-22).
  • The series has been a tightly-contested one during his abbreviated history, with four games between the Flames and Colonials decided by 10 points or less, including two that went to overtime.
  • Last year, RMU rode hot shooting from the three-point line (15-of-31, .484) to an 88-74 win over UIC at the UPMC Events Center in Moon Township, Pa. It was a five-point game through the first 10 minutes before the Colonials outscored the Flames, 27-11 to close out the first half and UIC didn't get closer than 12 points in the final 20 minutes.
  • Andy Johnson led UIC with 18 points, while Rashund Washington Jr. added 16 points and six rebounds, and Ahmad Henderson II ended up with 13 points for the Flames.
  • UIC will be playing host to RMU for the first time since Feb. 3, 2022, when the Flames posted an 80-75 win in a game that featured 10 ties and six lead changes. UIC ultimately would have the final say, outscoring the Colonials, 14-5 in the closing 2:19 to seal the victory.


MORE ON ROBERT MORRIS

  • There are a lot of new faces for Robert Morris this season, as the Colonials welcome 11 newcomers (four transfers, seven freshmen) to complement their four returnees (two starters) off last year's club that went 22-11 and finished second in the Horizon League.
  • RMU is playing a challenging schedule to open this season with seven of its first eight away from home, including five true road contests.
  • The Colonials opened their season Monday with an 86-49 loss at Nevada. Newcomer KJ Garris Jr. led RMU with 16 points and seven rebounds.
  • Head coach Andy Toole is in his 17th season at Robert Morris, having amassed a 274-253 (.520) record during his tenure and guiding the Colonials to seven postseason appearances (three NCAA, two NIT, two CIT). He is 1-5 all-time against UIC.


GAME 1 RECAP: ST. FRANCIS

  • Mekhi Lowery made his first eight shots from the field and finished with a career-high 20 points, while Jayce Nathaniel posted his second career double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds, pacing UIC to a wire-to-wire 96-47 win over St. Francis (Ill.) in its season opener on Monday afternoon at Credit Union 1 Arena.
  • Lowery and Nathaniel led five UIC players in double figures, with Rashund Washington Jr. scoring 15 points, Ahmad Henderson II tallying 13 points and Gabe Cupps chipping in a career-high 12 points, along with a career-best five assists.
  • As a team, UIC shot 58.1 percent from the field and nearly doubled up the Fighting Saints in the rebounding column, 40-21. The Flames also swiped 15 steals, including a career high-tying four thefts from Lowery.


NOTING THE ST. FRANCIS WIN

  • The 49-point margin of victory was UIC's second-largest winning spread ever in a season opener, as well as its largest in nearly 50 years (119-58 vs. Niles College in 1977-78) and largest in the program's Division I era.
  • UIC evens its all-time record in season openers at 40-40, including a 25-21 (.543) mark since moving to the Division I level in 1981-82.
  • The Flames are 59-21 (.738) all-time in home openers, including a 38-8 (.826) record in their Division I era — UIC has also now won its last 11 home openers.
  • Head coach Rob Ehsan has led the Flames to season-opening wins in each of his three seasons, making him just the second UIC head coach to pull off that feat and first since Tom Russo won his first five season openers from 1962-63 through 1966-67 (during the program's NAIA era).


BICENTENNIAL MAN

  • Monday's win over St. Francis was the 200th career game as a head coach for UIC's Rob Ehsan. The Flames' mentor is 113-87 (.565) in his seven seasons on the sidelines, the first four (2016-20) at UAB and his current three at UIC, where he is 37-30 (.552) thus far.


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: UNC GREENSBORO

  • It's a quick turnaround for UIC as the Flames cap off their season-opening homestand Monday with a 6 p.m. (CT) contest against UNC Greensboro at Credit Union 1 Arena.
  • Tickets are still on sale for Monday's game through Ticketmaster and the arena box office, while ESPN+ will broadcast the contest live.
  • This will mark just the second all-time meeting between UIC and UNCG. In the championship game of the 2023 Baha Mar Hoops Classic in the Bahamas, the Spartans edged the Flames, 58-57 on a pair of last-second foul shots.


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).
 

Tweet #ChicagosCollegeTeam

Print Friendly Version