2019–20 UIC Flames men's basketball team

The 2019–20 UIC Flames men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois at Chicago in the 2019–20 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Flames, led by fifth-year head coach Steve McClain, played their home games at Credit Union 1 Arena in Chicago, Illinois as members of the Horizon League. The finishted the season 18–17, 10–8 in Horizon League to play to finish in a tie for fourth place. As the No. 4 seed in the Horizon League Tournament, they defeated IUPUI, Youngstown State, and top-seeded Wright State to advance the to the championship game. There they lost to Northern Kentucky.[1]

2019–20 UIC Flames men's basketball
Conference	Horizon League
2019–20 record	18–17 (10–8 Horizon)
Head coach	Steve McClain (5th season)
Assistant coaches	Tony Harvey Dee Brown Rod Clark
Home arena	Credit Union 1 Arena

2019–20 Horizon League men's basketball standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Wright State	15	–	3		.833			25	–	7		.781
Northern Kentucky †	13	–	5		.722			23	–	9		.719
Green Bay	11	–	7		.611			17	–	16		.515
Youngstown State	10	–	8		.556			18	–	15		.545
UIC	10	–	8		.556			18	–	17		.514
Oakland	8	–	10		.444			14	–	19		.424
Cleveland State	7	–	11		.389			11	–	21		.344
Milwaukee	7	–	11		.389			12	–	19		.387
Detroit Mercy*	6	–	12		.333			8	–	23		.258
IUPUI	3	–	15		.167			7	–	25		.219
*ineligible for postseason due to APR violations
† 2020 Horizon League Tournament winner As of August 14, 2020; Rankings from AP Poll

Shortly after the season, the school announced that head coached Steve McClain would not return as coach of the Flames.[2] A couple of weeks later, the school named Texas assistant coach Luke Yaklich as the Flames' new coach.[3]

Previous season

The Flames finished the 2018–19 season 16–16 overall, 10–8 in Horizon League play to finish in a tie for fourth place. In the Horizon League Tournament, they were defeated by Green Bay in the quarterfinals.[4]

Roster

2019–20 UIC Flames men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Hometown G 0 Brian Taylor 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Fr Detroit, Michigan G 1 Marcus Ottey 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Sr Ajax, Ontario, Canada F 2 Michael Diggins 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Jr Las Vegas, Nevada F 3 Jacob Wiley 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Jr Houston, Texas G 4 Tarkus Ferguson 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Sr Belleville, Illinois F 10 Deon Ejim 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 235 lb (107 kg) RS Fr Toronto, Ontario, Canada F 13 Jordan Blount 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Sr Cork, Ireland G/F 20 Jamie Ahale 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Jr Montrose, Australia F 22 Rob Howard 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 230 lb (104 kg) Sr Gary, Indiana F 23 Braelen Bridges 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 225 lb (102 kg) So McDonough, Georgia G 25 Godwin Boahen 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Sr Toronto, Ontario, Canada F 35 Travell Washington 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 230 lb (104 kg) So San Bernardino, California	Head coach Steve McClain (Chadron State) Assistant coach(es) Tony Harvey (Cameron) Dee Brown (Illinois) Rod Clark (Lindsey Wilson) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster Last update: January 27, 2020

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Exhibition
November 3, 2019* 4:00 pm		Parkside	W 63–59		Credit Union 1 Arena (566) Chicago, IL
Non-conference regular season
November 5, 2019* 7:00 pm, ESPN3		Olivet Nazarene	W 75–72	1–0	Credit Union 1 Arena (2,003) Chicago, IL
November 8, 2019* 6:00 pm, ESPNU		at No. 14 Memphis	L 46–92	1–1	FedExForum (15,923) Memphis, TN
November 13, 2019* 7:00 pm, ESPN+		Ball State	L 48–67	1–2	Credit Union 1 Arena (1,906) Chicago, IL
November 16, 2019* 7:00 pm, ESPN3		at Bradley	L 56–65	1–3	Carver Arena (5,411) Peoria, IL
November 21, 2019* 7:00 pm, ESPN3		Robert Morris	W 72–62	2–3	Credit Union 1 Arena (1,766) Chicago, IL
November 23, 2019* 4:00 pm, ESPN+		Mercer Boca Raton Beach Classic	L 68–72	2–4	Credit Union 1 Arena (1,276) Chicago, IL
November 26, 2019* 7:00 pm, ESPN+		Canisius Boca Raton Beach Classic	L 64–94	2–5	Credit Union 1 Arena (1,343) Chicago, IL
December 1, 2019* 5:00 pm		at Florida Atlantic Boca Raton Beach Classic Hall of Fame Bracket Semifinals	L 70–71	2–6	FAU Arena  Boca Raton, FL
December 2, 2019* 4:00 pm		vs. San Diego Boca Raton Beach Classic Hall of Fame Bracket 3rd Place Game	W 89–83	3–6	FAU Arena  Boca Raton, FL
December 7, 2019* 3:12 pm, ESPN3		Purdue Fort Wayne	W 62–49	4–6	Credit Union 1 Arena (1,594) Chicago, IL
December 14, 2019* 1:00 pm, FS1		at DePaul	L 65–86	4–7	Wintrust Arena (4,620) Chicago, IL
December 18, 2019* 6:00 pm, ESPN3		at Illinois State	L 66–67	4–8	Redbird Arena (3,563) Normal, IL
December 20, 2019* 7:00 pm, ESPN3		UC Irvine	W 76–67	5–8	Credit Union 1 Arena (1,567) Chicago, IL
Horizon League regular season
December 28, 2019 3:12 pm, ESPN+		Cleveland State	W 71–66	6–8 (1–0)	Credit Union 1 Arena (1,489) Chicago, IL
December 30, 2019 6:00 pm, ESPN+		Youngstown State	L 64–70	6–9 (1–1)	Credit Union 1 Arena (1,210) Chicago, IL
January 3, 2020 7:00 pm, ESPN3		at Green Bay	L 71–85	6–10 (1–2)	Resch Center (2,124) Ashwaubenon, WI
January 5, 2020 1:00 pm, ESPN+		at Milwaukee	L 62–64	6–11 (1–3)	UW–Milwaukee Panther Arena (1,012) Milwaukee, WI
January 10, 2020 6:00 pm, ESPN2		Northern Kentucky	L 52–68	6–12 (1–4)	Credit Union 1 Arena (1,858) Chicago, IL
January 12, 2020 3:12 pm, ESPN+		Wright State	W 76–72	7–12 (2–4)	Credit Union 1 Arena (1,277) Chicago, IL
January 18, 2020 11:00 am, ESPN3		at IUPUI	W 75–66	8–12 (3–4)	Indiana Farmers Coliseum (1,309) Indianapolis, IN
January 23, 2020 6:00 pm, ESPN+		at Oakland	W 80–50	9–12 (4–4)	Athletics Center O'rena (3,091) Auburn Hills, MI
January 25, 2020 12:00 pm, ESPN+		at Detroit Mercy	L 69–70	9–13 (4–5)	Calihan Hall (1,866) Detroit, MI
January 30, 2020 6:00 pm, ESPN+		at Youngstown State	W 90–83 ^OT	10–13 (5–5)	Beeghly Center (1,596) Youngstown, OH
February 1, 2020 2:00 pm, ESPN3		at Cleveland State	W 64–62	11–13 (6–5)	Wolstein Center (1,170) Cleveland, OH
February 6, 2020 7:00 pm, ESPN3		Milwaukee	L 57–74	11–14 (6–6)	Credit Union 1 Arena (1,995) Chicago, IL
February 8, 2020 3:12 pm, ESPN3		Green Bay	W 71–58	12–14 (7–6)	Credit Union 1 Arena (2,704) Chicago, IL
February 14, 2020 8:00 pm, ESPN2		at Wright State	L 58–75	12–15 (7–7)	Nutter Center (4,261) Fairborn, OH
February 16, 2020 1:00 pm, ESPN+		at Northern Kentucky	W 73–43	13–15 (8–7)	BB&T Arena (3,545) Highland Heights, KY
February 22, 2020 3:12 pm, ESPN3		IUPUI	W 77–72	14–15 (9–7)	Credit Union 1 Arena (2,040) Chicago, IL
February 27, 2020 7:00 pm, ESPN+		Detroit Mercy	W 84–67	15–15 (10–7)	Credit Union 1 Arena (2,529) Chicago, IL
February 29, 2020 3:12 pm, ESPN+		Oakland	L 66–68	15–16 (10–8)	Credit Union 1 Arena (2,237) Chicago, IL
Horizon League Tournament
March 3, 2020 7:00 pm, ESPN+	(4)	(9) IUPUI First round	W 93–59	16–16	Credit Union 1 Arena (1,426) Chicago, IL
March 5, 2020 7:00 pm, ESPN+	(4)	(5) Youngstown State Quarterfinals	W 67–61	17–16	Gentile Arena (642) Chicago, IL
March 9, 2020 6:00 pm, ESPNU	(4)	vs. (1) Wright State Semifinals	W 73–56	18–16	Indiana Farmers Coliseum (1,923) Indianapolis, IN
March 10, 2020 6:00 pm, ESPN	(4)	vs. (2) Northern Kentucky Championship	L 62–71	18–17	Indiana Farmers Coliseum (1,861) Indianapolis, IN
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern.

Source[5]

References

1. "UIC vs. Northern Kentucky - Game Recap - March 10, 2020 - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2020-03-25.
2. "UIC parts with McClain after 5 seasons". ESPN.com. 2020-03-13. Retrieved 2020-03-25.
3. "Sources: Texas assistant Luke Yaklich to be next UIC head coach". Horns247. Retrieved 2020-03-25.
4. "@UICFlamesMBB Falls Short in #HLMBB Quarterfinal at Green Bay". UIC Athletics. Retrieved October 20, 2019.
5. "2019-20 Men's Basketball Schedule". UIC Athletics. Retrieved October 20, 2019.