Men's Basketball Takes on University of Illinois-Chicago in Exhibition Game

The UW-Platteville Men's Basketball team will open their 2012-13 season with an exhibition game at the University of Illinois-Chicago tonight at 7:00 p.m.  The Pioneers finished the 2011-12 campaign with a 14-12 record, including a fourth-place finish and an 8-8 mark in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. 

Entering his fourth season at the helm of the Pioneers, Coach Jeff Gard had this to say about tonight's contest, "The reason for scheduling an exhibition game against the top NCAA Division I teams is one, it's not only good for our student-athletes but also good for the university and the fans.  It puts us on the biggest stage and under the brightest lights. Number two, it's the best way to get a good preseason evaluation of where we're at by playing the best."

The UIC Flames return four starters from the 2011-12 campaign where they finished the season 8-22 overall and 3-15 in the Horizon League. "We know they're going to be very talented and provide a lot of mismatches in size, speed and athleticism.  For us, we're concerned about just taking care of the ball and with rebounding. Those are the two areas we want to focus on in the UIC game," Gard said.

The game can be heard on WPVL and WSUP radio stations.  UIC will be providing live stats coverage of the game here.