Friday, November 11, 2022 7:00 p.m.
Credit Union 1 Arena, Chicago, Ill.
It’s a new era for both UIC and Loyola as the two teams joined new conferences over the summer. The Flames’ elevation from the Horizon League to the MVC might be the tonic to rev up their program like the same move did for Loyola. Both teams also have a lot of new faces this season, which makes this game a little more unpredictable.
UIC was picked to finish 11th among the 12 teams in the MVC Preseason Poll. Likewise, The Almanac and KenPom have the Flames pegged just above last-place Evansville. That’s no surprise—Loyola had a really rough first year in the league; Valpo is 35-55 in conference play entering year six, and picked to finish 9th this season.
Like Loyola, UIC lost a lot of seniors from last year’s 14-16 team. Demaria Franklin (who transferred to Memphis suddenly in late summer), Kevin Johnson, and Zion Griffin combined for 42 points per game; the Flames also lost their rim-protector and three-point specialist. Coming in are a 6’8” guard from Duquesne, and a graduate transfer point guard from Idaho. Shaun Williams, a 6’4” transfer from Cal State Bakersfield has been taken off the roster. There are five freshmen and one redshirt freshman joining the team this season, and three of them are 6’9” or taller. With the late loss of Franklin and Williams, the Flames only have 11 players on the roster.
In their 82-48 home opening win against the Trinity Christian Trolls on Monday night, UIC blocked 10 shots, forced 20 turnovers, and held the Trolls to 28.1% shooting. UIC’s reported attendance was 1177 for their first regular season home game as a member of the MVC.
Third-year Coach Luke Yaklich (24-29 overall) is likely to start 6’5” sophomore guard Jace Carter, 6’2” freshman guard Jalen Jackson, 6’8” junior guard Toby Okani, 6’1” grad transfer Trevante Anderson, and 6’9” redshirt freshman forward Jaden Brownell. Carter (13 points), Jackson (12 points), and Okani (11 points) were the leading scorers against Trinity Christian.
Yaklich’s bench got a lot of time in that game, led by Cameron Fens, the 6’10”, 255-pound freshman center who had eight points, eight rebounds, and four blocks in 18 minutes. Sophomore forward Filip Skobalj (6’7”, 240) also had eight points (including two threes), and 6’5” freshman Christian Jones out of East St. Louis (three star recruit ranked #8 in Illinois) had five points, six assists, a block and a steal in 24 minutes.
As for the Ramblers, Monday night’s 88-82 overtime heart-stopper may have been the jolt that gets this team to play more consistently. After the unlikely basket to get to overtime, the team had better control of the game in the OT frame. This young team has a lot of inexperienced players at the D-1 level, and the intensity ebbs and flows more than it should; that will almost definitely get better with time. The worrisome three-point shooting in the exhibition and debut (a combined 12 of 65 for .184), 18 turnovers against Fairleigh Dickinson (many unforced), and an injury to starter Philip Alston that ended his night early are all big question marks going into Friday's game.
This will be an enormous game for UIC, and one circled on the calendar for a lot of MVC fans (MVCfans.com has a thread dedicated to the game, something they usually only do for postseason games). Loyola has won nine straight between the two teams, dating back to their last regular season meeting in the Horizon League. It’s the first road game for this young group of players, so it’s going to show a lot about what they’re made of. Will it be an especially hostile environment? Will there be enough Rambler fans there to make some noise?
Loyola game notes: https://loyolaramblers.com/documents/20 ... _Notes.pdf UIC game notes: https://uicflames.com/news/2022/11/10/m ... blers.aspxTV/Streaming video: ESPN+
https://loyolaramblers.com/watch/?Live=120&type=Live Radio/Streaming audio: https://loyolaramblers.com/watch/?Live=119&type=LiveLive stats: https://uicflames.com/sidearmstats/mbball/summaryVegas odds: Loyola by 9.5