GAME NOTES: The Illinois-Chicago Flames and Yale Bulldogs will kick off the Men Against Breast Cancer Classic Friday with a non-conference showdown at the Memorial Athletic and Convocation Center.

UIC is 1-1 on the season with a close one-point loss to DePaul on opening night, and then a 67-64 victory over Western Illinois highlighting the team's early start. The game against Yale will be the first in the three-day tournament in Ohio.

Yale also finds itself at 1-1 to start the 2014-15 season. The Bulldogs opened the campaign with a double-overtime loss to Quinnipiac, but then rebounded for a decisive 97-51 win over Newbury on Monday.

This clash between UIC and Yale represents the first time these squads have ever met on the basketball court.

The Flames' most recent outing against Western Illinois was about as close as it could get. The two teams were knotted going into halftime, and it was UIC that managed to escape in the second half thanks to 16-of-18 free-throw shooting in the frame. Jake Wiegand led the Flames in the contest with 28 points, adding 11 rebounds for the double-double. Paris Burns was the only other player for UIC in double figures, chipping in 13 points and five rebounds off the bench. The Flames didn't shoot so well, going 37 percent from the field which included a 3-of-10 mark from 3-point distance. But the team made 24-of-29 shots from the charity stripe, compared to seven made for WIU.

In two games played, it's Wiegand that leads the team in scoring with a 21.5 ppg average. The forward is shooting at a 52 percent rate, and leads the team in rebounding averaging 11.5 boards per outing. D'Juan Miller is the team's best passer so far, having dished out 11 assists through two starts at guard. Marc Brown (14.0 ppg) and Burns (also 14.0 ppg) are the two other Flames players averaging scoring figures in double digits through two contests.

Right from the opening tip, Yale controlled the game against Newbury. The Bulldogs found themselves up by a 34-19 score at the intermission, and then went on to score 63 points in the second half to bury their opponent. Jack Montague led Yale in scoring with 18 points, going 6-of-7 from 3-point range. Sam Downey also contributed 18 points for the Bulldogs, coming off the bench. He pulled down seven rebounds as well. Matt Townsend chipped in with 14 points in the lopsided win for a Yale team that shot 51.3 percent from the field.

A group of four Bulldogs are averaging scoring totals in the double digits through two games played, led by guard Javier Duren's 17.5 ppg mark. Duren rounds out his stats well for the Bulldogs with 4.5 rpg, 4.5 apg and 2.0 spg. Montague is second on the team with 15.0 ppg, followed closely by Justin Sears and his 13.5 ppg average. The sophomore forward Downey, who has come off the bench in both games, averages 10.5 ppg. Sears leads the team with a 9.0 rpg margin for a program that averages 45.5 rpg.

Although UIC doesn't have last year's top scorer in Kelsey Barlow back, Wiegand appears to have taken over as the next guy up. He'll have some serious competition against Yale however, as the Bulldogs are a formidable rebounding team and can score in bunches.