2022–23 UIC Flames men's basketball team

The 2022–23 UIC Flames men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois at Chicago in the 2022–23 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Flames, led by third-year head coach Luke Yaklich, played their home games at Credit Union 1 Arena in Chicago, Illinois as first-year members of the Missouri Valley Conference.^[1] They finished the season 12–19, 4–16 in MVC play to finish in eleventh place. They lost to Missouri State in the opening round of the MVC tournament.

2022–23 UIC Flames men's basketball
Conference	Missouri Valley Conference
Record	12–20 (4–16 MVC)
Head coach	Luke Yaklich (3rd season)
Assistant coaches	Will Veasley (3rd season) Bill Wuczynski (2nd season) C.J. Rivers (1st season)
Home arena	Credit Union 1 Arena
Seasons ← 2021–22 2023–24 →

2022–23 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Bradley	16	–	4		.800			25	–	10		.714
Drake †	15	–	5		.750			27	–	8		.771
Southern Illinois	14	–	6		.700			23	–	10		.697
Belmont	14	–	6		.700			21	–	11		.656
Indiana State	13	–	7		.650			23	–	13		.639
Missouri State	12	–	8		.600			17	–	15		.531
Murray State	11	–	9		.550			17	–	15		.531
Northern Iowa	9	–	11		.450			14	–	18		.438
Illinois State	6	–	14		.300			11	–	21		.344
Valparaiso	5	–	15		.250			11	–	21		.344
UIC	4	–	16		.200			12	–	20		.375
Evansville	1	–	19		.050			5	–	27		.156
† 2023 MVC tournament winner

Previous season

The Flames finished the 2021–22 season 14–16, 9–10 in Horizon League play to finish in eighth place. In the Horizon League tournament, they beat Milwaukee^[2] in the first round before losing to Purdue Fort Wayne in the quarterfinals.^[3]

The season marked the Flames' final year in the Horizon League as the school announced it would join the MVC following the season.^[4]

Offseason

Departures

Departures

Name	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Notes
Jamie Ahale	G	6'5	205	Senior	Montrose, Australia	Graduated
Damaria Franklin	G	6'3	205	Senior	Chicago, IL	Transferred to Memphis
Zion Griffin	F	6'6"	215	Senior	Darien, IL	Transferred to Tennessee State

Incoming transfers

Transfers

Name	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Previous school
Tre Anderson	G	6'1	185	Graduate Student	Tacoma, WA	Idaho
Toby Okani	G	6'8	210	Junior	Orange, NJ	Duquesne
Shaun Williams	G	6'4	190	Redshirt Senior	St. Louis, MO	Cal State Bakersfield

2022 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes

Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
Steven Clay SG	Menomonee Falls, WI	Menomonee Falls High School	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	165 lb (75 kg)	Apr 18, 2022
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals:    247Sports:     ESPN grade: NR
Cameron Fens C	Dubuque, IA	Hempstead High School	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	255 lb (116 kg)	Apr 18, 2022
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: NR
Jalen Jackson PG	Fort Wayne, IN	Northrop High School	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	Sep 15, 2021
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A
Christian Jones PG	East St. Louis, IL	East St. Louis High School	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	May 20, 2022
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals:    247Sports:     ESPN grade: 79
Bessanty-Aime Saragba C	Marseilles, France	Trinity Collegiate School	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	N/A	Aug 19, 2022
	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: "2022 Team Ranking". Rivals.com.

Preseason

The Flames were picked to finish in 11th place in the conference's preseason poll.^[5]

Roster

2022–23 UIC Flames men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Hometown G 0 Jace Carter 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 210 lb (95 kg) So Titusville, Florida G 1 Jalen Jackson 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Fr Fort Wayne, Indiana G 2 Steven Clay 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Fr Milwaukee, Wisconsin G 4 Tre Anderson 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 185 lb (84 kg) GS Tacoma, Washington G 5 Toby Okani 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Jr Orange, New Jersey G 10 Christian Jones 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Fr East St. Louis, Illinois G 15 Griffin Yaklich (W) 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Jr Joliet, Illinois G 22 Shaun Williams 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 190 lb (86 kg) RS Sr St. Louis, Missouri F 33 Jaden Bronwell 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 230 lb (104 kg) RS Fr Sandy, Utah C 42 Bessanty-Aime Saragba 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Fr Marseille, France F 50 Filip Skobalj 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 240 lb (109 kg) So Belgrade, Serbia C 54 Cameron Fens 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 255 lb (116 kg) Fr Dubuque, Iowa	Head coach Luke Yaklich (Illinois State) Assistant coach(es) Will Veasley (Butler) Bill Wuczynski (UNLV) C.J. Rivers (Drake) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on   Injured   Current redshirt Roster Last update: August 30, 2022

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Site (attendance) city, state
Exhibition
November 1, 2022* 7:00 pm		Illinois Tech	W 90–52	–	20 – Anderson	7 – Tied	–	Credit Union 1 Arena  Chicago, IL
Regular season
November 7, 2022* 7:00 pm, ESPN3		Trinity Christian	W 82–48	1–0	13 – Carter	13 – Okani	6 – Jones	Credit Union 1 Arena (1,177) Chicago, IL
November 11, 2022* 7:00 pm, ESPN+		Loyola–Chicago	L 63–70	1–1	20 – Anderson	6 – Fens	3 – Anderson	Credit Union 1 Arena (3,550) Chicago, IL
November 14, 2022* 7:00 pm, ESPN+		Jacksonville State	W 67–60	2–1	22 – Carter	10 – Carter	5 – Anderson	Credit Union 1 Arena (1,019) Chicago, IL
November 19, 2022* 4:00 p.m., ESPN+		vs. Fordham Tom Konchalski Classic	L 65–79	2–2	21 – Okani	8 – Carter	3 – Jackson	Rose Hill Gymnasium  Bronx, NY
November 21, 2022* 3:00 p.m.		vs. Stonehill Tom Konchalski Classic	W 77–71	3–2	28 – Carter	7 – Carter	7 – Anderson	Rose Hill Gymnasium  Bronx, NY
November 22, 2022* 3:00 p.m.		vs. Holy Cross Tom Konchalski Classic	W 89–66	4–2	20 – Okani	13 – Okani	7 – Anderson	Rose Hill Gymnasium  Bronx, NY
November 26, 2022* 6:00 pm, ESPN+		at Green Bay	W 78–64	5–2	25 – Anderson	8 – Okani	5 – Anderson	Kress Events Center (1,200) Green Bay, WI
November 30, 2022 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		Missouri State	L 51–66	5–3 (0–1)	15 – Carter	12 – Okani	4 – Anderson	Credit Union 1 Arena (1,174) Chicago, IL
December 3, 2022 5:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Drake	L 64–77	5–4 (0–2)	18 – Carter	12 – Okani	5 – Anderson	Knapp Center (2,860) Des Moines, IA
December 10, 2022* 1:30 p.m., ESPN3		at Western Michigan	W 62–56	6–4	18 – Carter	6 – Okani	4 – Anderson	University Arena (1,682) Kalamazoo, MI
December 13, 2022* 7:00 pm, ESPN+		Prairie View A&M	W 70–61	7–4	16 – Okani	6 – Okani	6 – Okani	Credit Union 1 Arena (1,081) Chicago, IL
December 18, 2022* 1:00 pm, ESPN+		Northeastern	W 81–73	8–4	22 – Carter	6 – Okani	4 – Tied	Credit Union 1 Arena (1,218) Chicago, IL
December 20, 2022* 8:00 pm, BTN		at Northwestern	L 54–92	8–5	12 – Okani	6 – Carter	3 – Tied	Welsh–Ryan Arena (3,704) Evanston, IL
December 28, 2022 7:00 pm, ESPN+		Illinois State	W 55–51	9–5 (1–2)	18 – Okani	7 – Tied	4 – Carter	Credit Union 1 Arena (2,014) Chicago, IL
December 31, 2022 1:00 pm, ESPN+		at Bradley	L 45–79	9–6 (1–3)	17 – Carter	8 – Okani	2 – Okani	Carver Arena (4,890) Peoria, IL
January 4, 2023 7:00 pm, ESPN+		Belmont	L 71–77	9–7 (1–4)	21 – Carter	8 – Okani	6 – Jackson	Credit Union 1 Arena (1,194) Chicago, IL
January 7, 2023 1:00 pm, ESPN3		at Indiana State	L 60–80	9–8 (1–5)	12 – Skobalj	7 – Carter	4 – Anderson	Hulman Center (3,463) Terre Haute, IN
January 10, 2023 7:00 pm, ESPN+		Drake	L 71–76 ^OT	9–9 (1–6)	19 – Okani	8 – Carter	6 – Skobalj	Credit Union 1 Arena (1,778) Chicago, IL
January 14, 2023 3:00 pm, ESPN3		at Murray State	L 64–81	9–10 (1–7)	18 – Carter	5 – Tied	3 – Tied	CFSB Center (5,417) Murray, KY
January 17, 2023 6:00 pm, ESPN+		at Valparaiso	L 66–76	9–11 (1–8)	29 – Okani	11 – Okani	7 – Jones	Athletics–Recreation Center (1,850) Valparaiso, IN
January 21, 2023 7:00 pm, ESPN3		Northern Iowa	L 72–78	9–12 (1–9)	27 – Anderson	8 – Okani	7 – Anderson	Credit Union 1 Arena (2,312) Chicago, IL
January 24, 2023 7:00 pm, ESPN+		at Missouri State	L 59–63	9–13 (1–10)	19 – Carter	6 – Okani	4 – Carter	Great Southern Bank Arena (3,026) Springfield, MO
January 29, 2023 1:00 pm, ESPN+		Bradley	L 76–83	9–14 (1–11)	25 – Carter	10 – Carter	5 – Tied	Credit Union 1 Arena (2,240) Chicago, IL
February 1, 2023 7:00 pm, ESPN+		at Illinois State	L 62–68 ^OT	9–15 (1–12)	29 – Anderson	4 – 4 tied	3 – 3 tied	CEFCU Arena (3,409) Normal, IL
February 4, 2023 7:00 pm, ESPN+		Evansville	W 70–61	10–15 (2–12)	17 – Clay	12 – Carter	4 – Tied	Credit Union 1 Arena (1,545) Chicago, IL
February 8, 2023 7:00 pm, ESPN+		at Southern Illinois	L 66–68	10–16 (2–13)	17 – Carter	9 – Carter	4 – Tied	Banterra Center  Carbondale, IL
February 11, 2023 1:00 pm, ESPN3		at Belmont	L 71–98	10–17 (2–14)	21 – Jackson	6 – Okani	3 – Tied	Curb Event Center (2,341) Nashville, TN
February 15, 2023 7:00 pm, ESPN+		Indiana State	L 60–79	10–18 (2–15)	23 – Jackson	8 – Okani	6 – Okani	Credit Union 1 Arena (2,102) Chicago, IL
February 19, 2023 1:00 pm, ESPN+		Valparaiso	W 74–73	11–18 (3–15)	19 – Jackson	9 – Carter	6 – Anderson	Credit Union 1 Arena (1,805) Chicago, IL
February 22, 2023 7:00 pm, ESPN+		at Evansville	W 82–76	12–18 (4–15)	22 – Carter	8 – Carter	6 – Anderson	Ford Center (4,085) Evansville, IN
February 26, 2023 1:00 pm, ESPN+		Southern Illinois	L 65–68	12–19 (4–16)	22 – Carter	14 – Okani	5 – Skobalj	Credit Union 1 Arena (2,502) Chicago, IL
Missouri Valley tournament
March 2, 2023 8:30 pm, MVC TV	(11)	vs. (6) Missouri State Opening round	L 57–74	12–20	14 – Carter	8 – Okani	4 – Skobalj	Enterprise Center (3,564) St. Louis, MO
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time Zone.

Source^[6]

References

1. "UIC Officially Welcomed to Missouri Valley Conference" (Press release). UIC Flames. August 16, 2022. Retrieved August 30, 2022.
2. "Flames Push Past Panthers in #HLMBB Championship Opener". uicflames.com. Retrieved August 30, 2022.
3. "Furious Fight Falls Short for @UIC_MBB". uicflames.com. Retrieved August 30, 2022.
4. Wheeler, Wyatt D. "University of Illinois Chicago to join Missouri Valley Conference in 2022-23". Springfield News-Leader. Retrieved December 29, 2022.
5. MVC. "Murray State picked 8th, SIU 3rd in MVC preseason rankings". WPSD Local 6. Retrieved October 26, 2022.
6. "2022-23 Men's Basketball Schedule". UIC Athletics. Retrieved September 22, 2022.