GAME NOTES: Two cellar dwellers from last season will try to get the 2014-15 campaign off on a high note, as the Illinois-Chicago Flames battle the DePaul Blue Demons in a cross-town bout at McGrath-Phillips Arena.

Howard Moore's tenure as head coach at UIC has not been colored by much success. The Flames have amassed only 39 wins, compared to 87 losses, in his four seasons on campus, and 18 of those came during a surprisingly solid 2012-13 campaign. The Flames went into free-fall last season, finishing with a record of just 6-25, the worst record under Moore. One bright spot was an 80-58 victory over eventual conference champion Milwaukee at the end of February, but that was the only Horizon League victory for the club in 16 tries.

Oliver Purnell is also entering his fifth season as head coach at DePaul, and his squads have not really been any better than Moore's at UIC. The Blue Demons have not posted a winning record under Purnell, with finishes of 7-24, 12-19, 11-21 and 12-21, respectively. They fell all the way to the bottom of the Big East Conference standings last season, with a miserable mark of 3-15 in league contests. The hope is that with the Big East a bit diluted this season, the Blue Demons may show progress, and subsequently keep Purnell off the hot seat.

The good news for DePaul is it has the upper hand in this contest, at least based on previous results. The Blue Demons have won four of the five meetings with the Flames, including a 77-56 victory when they last did battle during the 2009-10 season.

How much success Moore has in his fifth season will depend greatly on the play of Marc Brown and Jake Wiegand, who are the only two returning starters for the squad. Brown was second on the team in scoring last season, despite shooting a lackluster 41.4 percent from the field. He ended the campaign on a high note, scoring 16 points in a 73-63 loss to Valparaiso in the first round of the Horizon League Tournament. Wiegand (7.5 ppg, 5.1 rpg) was one of the team's best rebounders, but will need to up his scoring numbers with the team searching for replacements for Kelsey Barlow (14.8 ppg), Jordan Harks (8.5 ppg, 5.6 rpg) and Hayden Humes (7 ppg). In fact, the entire roster needs to find a way to be more productive offensively. The Flames were last in the Horizon League in scoring last season (66.8 ppg), while shooting the second worst percentage from the field (.421).

Part of DePaul's struggles last season can be blamed on the loss of leading scorer Cleveland Melvin (16.7 ppg, 6.3 rpg), who was suspended 20 games into the season. However, even with Melvin on the floor, the Blue Demons were a weak team at both ends of the floor. They scored only 69.4 ppg on 42.3 percent shooting, while ranking last in the Big East in opponent field goal percentage (.480). Finding easier ways to score will be critical this season but it will also be difficult, as Brandon Young (16.3 ppg) is no longer around to carry the offensive burden. That puts a lot of pressure on Billy Garrett Jr.'s shoulders. Garrett Jr. averaged 12.4 points per game last season, but he only shot 36.6. percent from the field. Tommy Hamilton (7.7 ppg, 4.8 rpg) and Durrell McDonald (5.4 ppg) will be called on to up their production as well.

Although DePaul won't be favored in many games this season, it has the edge in this one. For how terrible the Blue Demons were last season, the Flames were even worse. Neither appears to be ready to make a giant leap forward, so expect the somewhat superior hosts to come out on top.