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Challenging slate awaits Flames PLENTY OF ROAD GAMES (9/11/06)
The 31-game slate includes 18 road or neutral games and seven games against Illinois schools, including Illinois, Bradley, Illinois State, Northern Illinois, Chicago State and two Horizon League games with Loyola. The season opener comes Nov. 11 at the UIC Pavilion against St. Edward’s of Austin, Texas. The Flames’ game with Illinois at the United Center on Dec. 9 is the highlight. It will be part of a doubleheader with the Illinois’ women, who will take on Rhode Island. The Fighting Illini won the teams’ last meeting 75-60 at the UC in 2003. UIC will also play four games in the Chicagoland Challenge Invitational during Thanksgiving week. The Flames play road games with Bradley (Nov. 19) and Miami, Ohio (Nov. 21) before coming back to town to play two games at the brand-new Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates (Nov. 24-25). The field isn’t quite 100 percent official, but it appears that UIC will play Florida A&M in the early afternoon session on Friday the 24th and will take on either Savannah State or Jackson State on Saturday. Other teams in the field are Illinois and Rutgers. Coach Jimmy Collins’ Flames will also play road tilts at Davidson (Nov. 15), Northern Illinois (Dec. 5), Mississippi (Dec. 19), Penn (Dec. 21) and Chicago State (Dec. 30). It should probably a good test for a team with four returning starters, who have aspirations for the Horizon League championship. “It seems like we’re playing all of games on the road,” Collins said last month. “It could work to our advantage in terms of our guys getting experience and confidence. For whatever reason, these guys enjoy playing on the road.” UIC’s contest with Bradley in Peoria will be the first meeting between the schools since the 1980-81 season, which was the only matchup. Bradley won that game 99-48. The Braves went to the NCAA Sweet 16 last season after beating Kansas and Pittsburgh. Collins was frustrated that a meeting between the schools took so long to occur. “I think part of the reason is recruiting,” Collins said. “You would think that being mid-Division I schools that we could play each other and generate fan interest.” The Flames had extreme difficult attracting non-conference home games this season. After scaring Georgia Tech two years ago and whipping Northwestern and beating Mississippi in recent years, BCS schools have been hesitant to come to the Pavilion. “We would like to get home games that excite our season ticket holders and corporate sponsors,” Collins said. “We tried and no one wants to come here and play.” Besides the opener with St. Edward’s, UIC hosts Murray State (Nov. 28), Akron (Dec. 16), Illinois State (Dec. 23) and a Bracket Buster game (Feb. 17). The Flames played St. Edward’s, a Division II school, at the Pavilion in an exhibition game in 2004 and won easily, 75-45. Murray State leads the series with UIC 1-0 after a 72-68 win in the Bracket Buster event last season. The Flames will play Akron for the first time since 1992 and lead the series 3-2. The Zips and Flames were in the Mid-Continent Conference together for two years (1990-92). ISU and UIC renew their rivalry after a one-year break. Despite trailing 9-7 in the series, the Flames have won the last four meetings. UIC also plays six teams that made the NCAA tournament (Bradley, Illinois, Davidson, Penn, Murray State and Wisconsin-Milwaukee) and two that made the NIT (Miami (Ohio), Akron). The Flames open the 16-game Horizon League slate with Youngstown State on Dec. 2 at the UIC Pavilion. UIC is 15-0 all-time against the Penguins. Other key games include Horizon League favorite Loyola at the Pavilion on Jan. 13 and at the Gentile Center on Feb. 24. UIC plays Wisconsin-Green Bay, who eliminated the Flames last season, on Jan. 24 at the Resch Center and Feb. 14 at the Pavilion. Division-II Lewis will provide the opposition in an exhibition tilt on Nov. 7. The Flyers will also play Illinois and DePaul in exhibitions and Illinois State in a regular-season matchup. Former St. Xavier guards Jason Genova and Matt Marino, who helped beat UIC with the Cougars last year, are incoming transfers at Lewis. A quick look at the scheduled non-conference foes:
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