UIC will take on in-state foe Southern Illinois in the final first-round game when the Missouri Valley Conference men’s basketball tournament tips off Thursday in St. Louis.
The Flames (11-20, 4-16) are seeded 11th in “Arch Madness” in their second season as a Valley member and their fourth season under coach Luke Yaklich. Coach Bryan Mullins’ Salukis (19-12, 11-9) are seeded sixth. Tipoff is approximately 8:30 p.m.
No. 7 seed Illinois State (15-16, 9-11) and 12th-seeded Valparaiso (7-24, 3-17) also open tournament play Thursday, while third-seeded Bradley (21-10, 13-7) has a bye into Friday’s quarterfinals. The Braves will play the UIC-SIU winner.
First-round and quarterfinal games will be broadcast on the MVC TV Network, which includes NBC Sports Chicago Plus. Saturday’s semifinals are on CBS Sports Network, and Sunday’s championship game is on CBS-2.
MVC Tournament schedule
Enterprise Center, St. Louis
Thursday’s first round
- (8) Murray State vs. (9) Missouri State, noon
- (5) Belmont vs. (12) Valparaiso, 2:30 p.m.
- (7) Illinois State vs. (10) Evansville, 6 p.m.
- (6) Southern Illinois vs. (11) UIC, 8:30 p.m.
Friday’s quarterfinals
- (1) Indiana State vs. Murray State-Missouri State winner, noon
- (4) Northern Iowa vs. Belmont-Valparaiso winner, 2:30 p.m.
- (2) Drake vs. ISU-Evansville winner, 6 p.m.
- (3) Bradley vs. SIU-UIC winner, 8:30 p.m.
Saturday’s semifinals
- First two quarterfinal winners, 2:30 p.m., CBSSN
- Last two quarterfinal winners, 5 p.m., CBSSN
Sunday’s final
- Semifinal winners, 1:10 p.m., CBS-2
