# 2016–17 UIC Flames men's basketball team

The 2016–17 UIC Flames men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois at Chicago in the 2016–17 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Flames, led by second-year head coach Steve McClain, played their home games at the UIC Pavilion as members of the Horizon League. They finished the season 17–19, 7–11 in Horizon League play to finish in sixth place. They defeated Green Bay in the quarterfinals of the Horizon League tournament before losing to Milwaukee in the semifinals. They were invited to the College Basketball Invitational where they defeated Stony Brook and George Washington before losing in the semifinals to Coastal Carolina.

## Previous season

The Flames finished the 2015–16 season 5–25, 3–15 in Horizon League play to finish in last place. They lost in the first round of the Horizon League tournament to Wright State.

## Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Paris Burns | 1 | G | 5'11" | 165 | Senior | Chicago, IL | Graduated |
| Gabe Snider | 2 | G | 6'3" | 180 | Senior | Chicago, IL | Graduated |
| Julian Torres | 15 | F/C | 6'9" | 265 | Freshman | Bolingbrook, IL | Transferred to SIU Edwardsville |
| Drew Hackett | 22 | G | 6'2" | 180 | Freshman | Munster, IN | Transferred |
| Najeal Young | 23 | G/F | 6'6" | 225 | Junior | Milwaukee, WI | Transferred to Texas Wesleyan |
| Hans-Christian Lauer | 32 | F | 6'7" | 220 | Junior | Klein-Winternheim, Germany | Walk-on; transferred |
| Markese McGuire | 34 | G | 6'3" | 190 | Junior | Elkhart, IN | Graduate transferred to Central State |
| Jake Wiegand | 40 | F | 6'8" | 245 | Senior | Herndon, VA | Graduated |

### Incoming Transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous School |
| Kyle Guice | 22 | F | 6'8" | | Junior | Coeur d'Alene, ID | Junior college transferred from North Idaho College |

## Recruiting class of 2016

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| K.J. Santos #37 SF | Geneva, IL | Sunrise Christian Academy | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) | 185 lb (84 kg) | Nov 12, 2015 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 77 ||||||
| Marcus Ottey #58 SG | Ajax, ON | Spire Institute | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | 165 lb (75 kg) | |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 74 ||||||
| Jordan Blount SG | Geneva, OH | Spire Institute | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) | N/A | Nov 4, 2015 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Tarkus Ferguson SG | Belleville, IL | Althoff Catholic High School | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | 180 lb (82 kg) | Oct 3, 2015 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Godwin Boahen PG | Toronto, ON | The Hill Academy | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) | 175 lb (79 kg) | |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2016 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved October 19, 2016. ||||||

### Recruiting class of 2017

US college sports recruiting information for 2017 recruits :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Greg Eboigbodin #53 PF | Detroit, MI | Univ. of Detroit Jesuit High School | 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) | N/A | Oct 11, 2016 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 77 |||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: |||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2017 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved October 19, 2016. |||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | High points | High rebounds | High assists | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition |||||||||
| Nov 5* 3:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Judson | W 95–78 | | 34 – Dixson | 6 – Robinson | 4 – Santos | UIC Pavilion (1,661) Chicago, IL |
| Non-conference regular season |||||||||
| Nov 11* 10:00 pm | | at San Francisco | L 80–82 | 0–1 | 15 – Dixson | 8 – Santo | 7 – Boahen | War Memorial Gymnasium (2,163) San Francisco, CA |
| Nov 16* 7:00 pm, CSNCH/ESPN3 | | UTSA | W 86–78 | 1–1 | 31 – Dixson | 9 – Dixson | 2 – 4 tied | UIC Pavilion (3,571) Chicago, IL |
| Nov 19* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Trinity Christian | W 102–66 | 2–1 | 20 – Odiase | 9 – Dixson | 5 – Ferguson | UIC Pavilion (1,713) Chicago, IL |
| Nov 23* 4:30 pm | | vs. Elon NIU Thanksgiving Classic | L 80–91 | 2–2 | 32 – Dixson | 10 – Dixson | 3 – Dixson & Ferguson | Convocation Center (844) DeKalb, IL |
| Nov 25* 3:30 pm | | vs. Cal Poly NIU Thanksgiving Classic | W 84–71 | 3–2 | 24 – Dixson | 6 – 3 tied | 3 – Ferguson & Boahen | Convocation Center (712) DeKalb, IL |
| Nov 26* 3:30 pm | | at Northern Illinois NIU Thanksgiving Classic | L 81–92 | 3–3 | 31 – Dixson | 5 – Dixson & Odiase | 2 – Santos & Matthews | Convocation Center (1,398) DeKalb, IL |
| Nov 30* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Chicago State | W 74–58 | 4–3 | 20 – Dixson | 8 – Odiase | 4 – Boahen & Ferguson | UIC Pavilion (3,718) Chicago, IL |
| Dec 4* 3:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Eastern Illinois | L 76–90 | 4–4 | 16 – Ottey | 7 – Odiase & Robinson | 5 – Ferguson | UIC Pavilion (1,786) Chicago, IL |
| Dec 10* 8:00 pm | | at Grand Canyon | L 69–73 | 4–5 | 19 – Dixson | 9 – Odiase | 2 – Ottey & Kolawole | GCU Arena (6,804) Phoenix, AZ |
| Dec 14* 7:00 pm, FS1 | | at DePaul | L 70–75 | 5–5 | 14 – Guice | 6 – Ferguson & Robinson | 5 – Ferguson | McGrath–Phillips Arena (2,099) Chicago, IL |
| Dec 17* 3:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Loyola–Chicago | L 75–81 $^{OT}$ | 5–6 | 14 – Santos | 10 – Odiase | 4 – Boahen & Feruson | UIC Pavilion (2,376) Chicago, IL |
| Dec 20* 7:00 pm | | Northern Arizona | W 75–65 | 6–6 | 24 – Odiase | 11 – Odiase | 9 – Ferguson | UIC Pavilion (2,810) Chicago, IL |
| Dec 22* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Roosevelt | W 91–53 | 7–6 | 18 – Odiase | 12 – Boahen | 11 – Boahen | UIC Pavilion (2,647) Chicago, IL |
| Horizon League regular season |||||||||
| Dec 30 4:00 pm, ESPNU | | Valparaiso | L 59–70 | 7–7 (0–1) | 16 – Ferguson | 7 – Odiase | 5 – Guice | UIC Pavilion (3,826) Chicago, IL |
| Jan 6 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Detroit | W 78–64 | 8–7 (1–1) | 16 – Ferguson | 6 – Ferguson & Boahen | 7 – Boahen | UIC Pavilion (1,832) Chicago, IL |
| Jan 8 4:00 pm, ASN | | Oakland | L 57–58 | 8–8 (1–2) | 15 – Ferguson | 13 – Odiase | 4 – Ferguson | UIC Pavilion (1,970) Chicago, IL |
| Jan 12 6:45 pm, ESPN3 | | at Cleveland State | W 59–54 | 9–8 (2–2) | 11 – Robinson & Matthews | 9 – Santos | 3 – Santos & Ferguson | Wolstein Center (1,393) Cleveland, OH |
| Jan 14 6:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Youngstown State | W 92–89 $^{OT}$ | 10–8 (3–2) | 21 – Matthews | 10 – Ferguson | 3 – 3 tied | Beeghly Center (2,787) Youngstown, OH |
| Jan 17 6:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Milwaukee | W 71–57 | 11–8 (4–2) | 20 – Odiase | 12 – Odiase | 6 – Ferguson | UW–Milwaukee Panther Arena (2,726) Milwaukee, WI |
| Jan 22 4:00 pm, ASN | | at Valparaiso | L 65–96 | 11–9 (4–3) | 12 – Ferguson & Matthews | 5 – 3 tied | 6 – Ferguson | Athletics–Recreation Center (3,881) Valparaiso, IN |
| Jan 27 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Northern Kentucky | L 62–79 | 11–10 (4–4) | 19 – Boahen | 7 – 3 tied | 6 – Ferguson | UIC Pavilion (2,898) Chicago, IL |
| Jan 29 3:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Wright State | L 86–88 | 11–11 (4–5) | 17 – Kolawole | 10 – Fergusan | 9 – Fergusan | UIC Pavilion (2,508) Chicago, IL |
| Feb 2 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Green Bay | L 80–84 | 11–12 (4–6) | 22 – Matthews | 13 – Odiase | 5 – Ferguson | Resch Center (2,760) Green Bay, WI |
| Feb 4 2:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Milwaukee | W 105–100 $^{OT}$ | 12–12 (5–6) | 25 – Ferguson | 7 – Kolawole | 11 – Ferguson | UIC Pavilion (1,622) Chicago, IL |
| Feb 9 7:00 pm, CSNCH/ESPN3 | | Youngstown State | W 84–81 | 13–12 (6–6) | 28 – Matthews | 10 – Robinson | 6 – Ottey & Ferguson | UIC Pavilion (5,519) Chicago, IL |
| Feb 11 3:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Cleveland State | L 63–66 | 13–13 (6–7) | 17 – Odiase | 7 – Odiase | 6 – Ferguson | UIC Pavilion (4,711) Chicago, IL |
| Feb 17 6:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Detroit | W 74–69 | 14–13 (7–7) | 20 – Ferguson | 8 – Robinson | 3 – Ferguson | Calihan Hall (1,203) Detroit, MI |
| Feb 19 2:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Oakland | L 75–87 | 14–14 (7–8) | 16 – Odiase | 14 – Odiase | 16 – Ferguson | Athletics Center O'rena (2,638) Rochester, MI |
| Feb 21 7:00 pm, CSNCH/ESPN3 | | Green Bay | L 79–87 | 14–15 (7–9) | 16 – Odiase | 12 – Odiase | 8 – Ferguson | UIC Pavilion (3,583) Chicago, IL |
| Feb 24 6:30 pm, ESPN3 | | at Northern Kentucky | L 82–90 | 14–16 (7–10) | 25 – Ottey | 10 – Ferguson | 7 – Ferguson | BB&T Arena (3,025) Highland Heights, KY |
| Feb 26 1:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Wright State | L 49–87 | 14–17 (7–11) | 18 – Kolawole | 6 – Tied | 1 – 4 Tied | Nutter Center Dayton, OH |
| Horizon League tournament |||||||||
| Mar 5 5:00 pm, ESPN3 | (6) | vs. (3) Green Bay Quarterfinals | W 79–70 | 15–17 | 16 – Odiase | 10 – Fergusen | 5 – Fergusen | Joe Louis Arena (5,654) Detroit, MI |
| Mar 6 8:00 pm, ESPNU | (6) | vs. (10) Milwaukee Semifinals | L 68–74 | 15–18 | 21 – Matthews | 7 – Robinson | 4 – Boahen | Joe Louis Arena (3,708) Detroit, MI |
| CBI |||||||||
| Mar 16* 7:00 pm | | Stony Brook First Round | W 71–69 | 16–18 | 21 – Matthews | 7 – Ferguson | 10 – Ferguson | UIC Pavilion (1,197) Chicago, IL |
| Mar 20* 7:00 pm | | George Washington Quarterfinals | W 80–71 | 17–18 | 23 – Odiase | 10 – Ferguson | 12 – Ferguson | UIC Pavilion (1,048) Chicago, IL |
| Mar 22* 6:00 pm | | at Coastal Carolina Semifinals | L 78–89 | 17–19 | 27 – Ferguson | 7 – Ferguson | 4 – Tied | HTC Center Conway, SC |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time. |||||||||